PRIORITY 4:

READY FOR COLLEGE AND CAREER

All Maryland students graduate from high school college and career ready, and with an individualized plan to succeed in college, career, and life.

students with teacher pointing at their workThe Blueprint for Maryland’s Future has the central goal of ensuring that all Maryland students are college and career ready before graduation, thus signifying an ability to transition successfully to postsecondary coursework at a two- or four-year institution of higher education and/or to the workforce. Maryland is developing new college and career readiness standards, with goal of having students assessed and meeting the standards by the end of 10th grade.

Students meeting the college and career readiness standards will be prepared to succeed in multiple, rigorous college and career pathways at no cost to students. These pathways will enable students to develop in-depth knowledge of a subject area(s); earn post-secondary credits and/or in demand industry-recognized credentials; participate in registered apprenticeships that meet workforce needs and/or in rigorous college preparation programs.

All instruction and assessments in public schools will work toward this goal of preparing students to be ready for college and career. Each student in Maryland public schools, regardless of the student’s race, ethnicity, gender, zip code, socioeconomic status, abilities, or language spoken at home, will be supported to meet the college and career readiness standards before graduation.

The Blueprint’s Apprenticeship and Industry Credential Goal

(a)(1) On or before December 1, 2022, the Career and Technical Education Committee shall establish, for each school year between the 2023-2024 school year and the 2030-2031 school year, inclusive, statewide goals that reach 45% by the 2030-2031 school year, for the percentage of high school students who, prior to graduation, complete the high school level of a registered apprenticeship or an industry-recognized occupational credential.

(2) To the extent practicable, the Career and Technical Education Committee shall ensure that the largest number of students achieve the requirement of this subsection by completing a high school level of a registered apprenticeship program approved by the Division of Workforce Development and Adult Learning within the Maryland Department of Labor. (Education §21–204)

In 2021, Maryland had 57,423 graduates.

To meet the 45% goal, 25,840 of these graduates would have needed to complete an apprenticeship or industry credential.

In 2021, about 7% of graduates met these criteria.

College and Career Readiness Roadmap to Implementation

The Maryland State Department of Education’s College and Career Readiness Roadmap to Implementation report tracks the preparation necessary for implementing pillar 3: College and Career Readiness, which reimagines what today’s students must know and be able to do by the end of the 10th grade.

VIEW THE REPORT