What this is (and what it isn't)
Edstar Pathways is a free set of interactive lessons on planning life after high school: every post-secondary option, admission course requirements, financial aid, and a personal plan. It was built to support the work counselors already do, not to replace it. The lessons handle the walkthrough; you handle the judgment, the local knowledge, and the relationship.
- No student data is collected. No accounts, no logins, no emails, no analytics on students. Everything a student enters stays in their own browser. There is nothing for your district's data-privacy review to worry about, and nothing to sign.
- Works on anything. Phones, Chromebooks, library computers. No installation.
- Self-checking, not graded. Each lesson opens and closes with the same private self-assessment, so students see their own growth. You never see their answers, and that's by design; tell students this so they answer honestly.
- Ends in a conversation with you. The final product is a printed one-page plan built for your desk: paths the student wants to explore, classes to verify, and money steps with timing.
The four lessons at a glance
| Lesson | Time | Students learn | Lands on their plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · The Possibilities Map | 25–35 min | Seven post-secondary paths with honest costs and payoffs: four-year, community college, 2+2 transfer, apprenticeship, certificates, military, work + grow. | Paths they want to explore |
| 2 · Careers & Interest Matching | 20–30 min | An interest inventory that maps to career areas, with links into CareerOneStop for deeper exploration. | Career ideas (they jot them in) |
| 3 · The Right Classes | 30–40 min | Typical four-year admission course minimums, a transcript-detective game, and an audit of their own schedule against the minimums. | A gap list titled "classes to check with my counselor" |
| 4 · Money for School | 25–35 min | Grants vs. scholarships vs. loans vs. work-study, FAFSA timing, net price vs. sticker price, promise programs and full-ride matches. | Money steps with timing |
Eight more lessons extend the sequence when you have the time: The Skills Matcher (20 min), The Checklist by Grade (15 min, students send this year's to-dos to their plan), The Scholarship Hunt (25 min, includes a scam-detector), and a money-sense and test-readiness block: Paycheck Math, Debt and Interest, Build a Budget (20-30 min each), GPA Mechanics, and Free Test Prep (20-30 min each). All follow the same pattern; the core four above make the tightest short arc.
Lesson 3 is the one that will change your fall: students arrive at your desk with specific schedule questions while there is still time to act. Verify their gap lists against the actual requirements of the schools they care about; the lesson teaches "typical" minimums and tells them repeatedly that you and each college's own list are the authority.
Three ways to run it
- A. The advisory arc (four sessions). One lesson per session, in order, 30–40 minutes each. Session four ends with students printing their plan (or saving it as a PDF on their device). Follow with brief individual check-ins working from the plans. Best for: grades 9–11, advisory or homeroom blocks.
- B. The workshop (one block, 90–120 minutes). Run Lessons 1 and 3 live (options, then course requirements), have students print plans, and assign Lessons 2 and 4 as follow-up. Best for: a college-and-career day, or juniors who need requirement gaps caught NOW.
- C. Independent + conference. Assign all four lessons ahead of a scheduled counseling meeting; the student brings the printed plan. Your meeting starts at "let's look at your plan" instead of a blank page. Best for: senior meetings, caseload season, or one student at a time.
Practical notes
- Same device each session. Plans save in the browser, so a student should use the same device (or print at the end of each session). On shared machines: after printing, the site itself asks "Done printing?" and offers a one-tap Erase my plan from this computer. Teach students to tap it so the next student never sees their plan.
- Say this out loud before Lesson 1: "The before-and-after checks are private. Nobody sees them, not even me. Answer honestly or they can't help you."
- Pairs work fine for Lessons 1 and 4; Lessons 2 and 3 are personal (their interests, their transcript) and are better solo.
- Parent nights: the Resource Shelf is a vetted, annotated link list (FAFSA, net price calculators, scholarship searches, free test prep). It makes a solid handout on its own, and every item is free.
- Local gold: bring your own knowledge of dual enrollment, promise programs, and local employers into the discussion; the lessons point at these categories generically and your specifics make them real.
Discussion questions that work
- After Lesson 1: "Which path surprised you? Which one had you never heard described that way?" (Apprenticeships and 2+2 transfer get the most reactions.)
- After Lesson 2: "Do your career matches and your path picks point the same direction? If not, what would connect them?"
- After Lesson 3: "What's on your gap list, and what do we do about it this semester?" (This one is the whole ballgame.)
- After Lesson 4: "What would you tell a friend who says college is too expensive for their family?" (Listen for net price, FAFSA, and promise programs.)
- At the plan conference: "Walk me through your plan. What's the first thing on it you can do this month?"
Objectives, if you need them for paperwork
Students who complete the sequence will be able to: name at least five post-secondary paths with realistic cost and outcome expectations; identify career areas matching their interests; compare their course schedule against typical four-year admission minimums and name any gaps; explain the difference between aid that is repaid and aid that is not; describe FAFSA timing and how to find a college's net price; and produce a written post-secondary plan with concrete next steps. Aligns naturally with ASCA Student Standards (Mindsets & Behaviors) around post-secondary readiness and self-directed planning.