(December 11, 2023 – New York, NY) — As our nation continues to prioritize earlier career preparation for high school students, a new third-party survey shows increased support for work-based learning, internships, and equipping the next generation with future-ready skills.
For the fourth year, NAF, a national education non-profit, which supports high school students’ efforts to be future ready, commissioned Echelon Insights – a respected research institute – to survey approximately 1,000 voters nationwide to gauge their perspectives on topics of interest, in both the education and workforce development spaces, and to better understand how the public can tie in.
Through these findings, key pieces of data have confirmed strong support for career preparation programs, in particular for students of color and those who lack access, in moving toward a future of upward mobility and success. As a result, local economies will be strengthened, and we can also ensure that businesses are future-proofing their talent pipelines with a skilled and diverse workforce.
In advocating for these goals, and similar to the last few years, support for government incentives for businesses to hire high school students for paid internships or provide other career preparation experiences remains solid and increasing (at 81%) across both party lines.
NAF CEO, Lisa Dughi, said, “We are proud to have supported over half a million students in NAF academies over the last 40+ years, but we know there is still so much opportunity to reach more students. It is incredibly encouraging to learn from these findings, as we continue to provide valuable college and career readiness experiences for our national network.”
NAF envisions a world in which all students have equal opportunity for successful futures and will continue to take bold steps to innovate in a way that challenges how we approach our work and deliver on our mission to meet the needs of todays and future students.
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About NAF:
NAF is a national education non-profit that brings schools and businesses together to better prepare students of all backgrounds. Since 1980, NAF has led a movement for immersive, career-focused teaching and work-based learning and helps students explore career options, create a plan for the future, and take part in hands-on, work-based learning unlike anything traditional public education systems can offer. NAF puts students on a path to achieving their full potential.
NAF has grown from one NAF Academy of Finance in New York City to hundreds of academies across the country focusing on growing industries including finance, hospitality & tourism, information technology, engineering, and health sciences; and support programs of study that are aligned with the National Career Clusters Framework. During the 2022-23 school year, over 112,000 students attended over 600 NAF academies across 35 states and territories. In 2022, NAF academies reported 99% of seniors graduated with 88% of graduates planning to go to college. www.naf.org