Workshop Description

Life After High School: Navigating Education, Career and Debt

Young peoples’ small choices may have big effects. Give your students the knowledge, resources and a solid decision-making framework to make good choices about education, training, and career and how to manage their costs. This workshop earns you six recertification hours, three of them online synchronous and three asynchronous.

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George Mason University Center for Economic Education

Oct 11, 2021
Online synchronous portion: Monday, October 11, 3:30 - 6:30 pm
Asynchronous portion: three hours on Google Classroom, October 11 - October 31, 2021

Grade Level: High School, Middle School
Potential Recertification Credits: 6

Today’s high school student faces life-changing decisions. The first is whether or not to pursue a college degree or other post-secondary credential. Twenty years ago this was also an important decision, but then it didn’t carry the urgency or the complexity that it does today.

The cost of college has risen substantially over this period. And families have saved for the cost. In 2021, the average college graduate will hold $37,000 in loans. Today’s graduates are the most indebted class ever. But the cost of not going to college or pursuing another credential is also very high. The average college grad earns $1.19 million over the course of a career—almost double that of someone with only a high school diploma. Students need to recognize there are other educational options beyond a high school diploma with varying degrees of costs which may also offer a higher earnings potential  (e.g. industry credential, military, employer provided program.)

This lesson collection covers topics students need to understand around education, career and debt which will impact them for many years. These include decision-making skills; investing in yourself; choosing a path post-graduation: college, another education avenue, or career; choosing a college and a major; paying for higher education–loans, grants and scholarships; managing money; and controlling debt.

This workshop will take place in two sections. One will be a three-hour evening session, followed by three hours of asynchronous work on Google Classroom. All lesson demonstrations are designed to be immediately imitated and used in your classroom! Both online and in-person lessons are provided.

The workshop includes teaching resources valuable for middle and high school students and which align well with many SOLs in social studies and CTE. Counselors will also find it helpful and are welcome.

Stipends are available to qualifying teachers who currently teach at Title I middle and high schools within the George Mason University Center for Economic Education region.


Fee: NO CHARGE


Additional Information:

This workshop and the accompanying materials are made available to teachers through the generous support of Atlantic Union Bank and Atlantic Union Bank Wealth Management.


Instructor: O. Kate Scott, Associate Director
Contact Person:
O. Kate Scott, Associate Director
Center for Economic Education
George Mason University
703.268.8938
oscott2@gmu.edu

Register for Life After High School: Navigating Education, Career and Debt

Registration is closed for this workshop.


By registering for this workshop, I agree to allow photography to be taken during the program and used by VCEE or affiliated Centers in their print materials or electronic images.

Our privacy policy: We will not sell or release this information to any party other than VCEE, an affiliated center for economic education, and, on occasion, the Council for Economic Education. In all cases, it will only be used to promote economic and financial education and provide you information about programs and resources supporting this education.

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