College and Career planning resources and tools to assist counselors, students and parents in supporting student’s education and career aspirations.
The College Board’s National Office for School Counselor Advocacy (NOSCA), has created guides for school counselors to create a comprehensive program of individual student planning for college and career readiness:
Diploma Pathways, Graduation, Scholarship, and Admission Requirements
Individual Graduation Plan
Counselors, students and parents should use thefillable form to complete the Individual Graduation Plan (IGP) and save it to the LOSFA Student Hub or school system platform for hosting IGPs.
Individual Graduation Plan (IGP) Fillable Form
Individual Student Planning Resources
Online Support Tools
LOSFA’s Louisiana Award System is an online tool that allows students, family members, and counselors to:
- Track TOPS and TOPS Tech eligibility
- Store an individual graduation plan
My Life My Way and LOSFA’s Unlock My Future are online career planning tools that help students:
- Explore and assess career interests
- Align academic and career goals
Star Jobs is a searchable data base of Louisiana-specific career and employer information that connects students to Louisiana career opportunities that are high-demand and align to career interests.
Individual Graduation Planning
Guidance for Individual Graduation Planning and Diploma Pathway Selection
A quality Individual Graduation Plan (IGP) is crucial for student success. Per BESE Bulletin 741, students work with their school counselors to complete an IGP by the end of grade 8. School counselors, students, and families review, update, and sign the IGP every year until the student graduates. Many school systems use the IGP fillable form as designed; some use the LDOE form as a model for creating their own.
Regardless of format, school system leaders must stay up to date on policy changes and legislative updates related to individual graduation plans to ensure their IGP process includes all required components.
Action Steps
Analyze student data from previous years (e.g., formative and summative assessments, course grades, attendance records).
Use career-planning tools to help students explore careers and align their academic work with their professional goals (e.g., My Life. My Way., Youth Works from Louisiana Works, college planning tools from the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance).
Meet with the parent/legal guardian and student annually to select courses, choose a graduation pathway, review and update goals, and secure signatures.
Document diploma pathway selection at the end of grade 10.
Store the updated IGP yearly until the student graduates.
Storing and Archiving IGPs
School systems should choose the method(s) they will use to store individual graduation plans. Some acceptable methods are the system’s career planning/student information system and the student’s cumulative folder.
Diploma Pathway Selection in Student Transcript System (STS)
The school counselor and STS data coordinator work together to ensure that diploma pathway selections are entered into STS for every student in grade 10 and beyond.
School counselors should ensure that the student has declared a diploma pathway by the end of the sophomore year, document the student’s selection in the IGP, and select the appropriate diploma pathway in the local software system.
Data managers must verify that the diploma type is on the student’s record and correct errors before uploading data to STS. This includes verifying that the corresponding career option code is included for students on the career diploma pathway (except for students assessed with LEAP Connect).
Graduation Pathways
TU- TOPS University (College Diploma) regular education and ACT 833 (no career option code required)
CA- Jump Start TOPS Tech (Career Diploma), regular education, and April Dunn Act criteria (career option code required)
L1- Jump Start TOPS Tech Career Diploma for students assessed with LEAP Connect (no career option code required)