Junior Achievement has stepped into the blur space between high school and what comes next. The nonprofit’s 5th Year program gives young adults a structured year to live on a college campus and explore careers, gain work experience, and build life skills.
An initial cohort of 24 students graduated this May from a trial run of the program based in Toledo, Ohio. Each participant held two internships—one in the fall and one in the spring. They also visited 60 employers across the metro area. Represented industries included law, engineering, construction, accounting, healthcare, higher education, and nonprofit organizations.
The program is focused on helping students find a clear path forward, by guiding them to match their interests and abilities with in-demand careers and local job opportunities.
High school graduates are expected to know what they’re going to do with the rest of their lives after they walk across the stage to get their diploma, says Jim Pollock, the president of Junior Achievement of Northwestern Ohio. Many aren’t ready to commit to answering to that question, which isn’t getting any easier amid a rapidly evolving job market.
“We’re giving them the space to just pause,” he says. “To discover, to explore, to grow personally, to grow socially.”
In each of their site visits, the students saw the full range of possible careers. At a hospital, for example, that meant job shadowing with security and maintenance workers as well as doctors and nurses.
“How do we bridge that gap and connect students with companies in a meaningful way?” asks Pollock.
The Details: Students take on no debt during their 5th Year experience. Instead, they learn how to live on less than they make while paying rent, shopping, and investing.
Participants were paid $15 per hour for internships in their field of interest, where they worked 24 hours a week. Those wages helped cover the cost of living, including shared apartments at Lourdes University, a private nonprofit located in a Toledo suburb.
The rest of the 8 a.m.–5 p.m. days students commit to for 10 months is filled with training on finances, durable skills, and career readiness, as well as the job shadowing. Adulting skills are a big part of the process as well, including how to cook, do laundry, and deal with owning a car.
“They get to be independent and grow, without the weight of the world on their shoulders,” Pollock says.
Participating students came from a wide range of backgrounds and levels of academic preparation. Of the initial cohort, 13 have enrolled in a college. Some weren’t ready to commit to attending college before the experience, including one student who later accepted an offer from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
Pollock says he underestimated buy-in the program got from K-12 schools and educators. And interest from local employers was heavy. “We need talent. We need it tomorrow,” he says.
Junior Achievement is continuing to develop the program’s corporate engagement as it moves into a second year. Adding badges and certifications for career-connected learning is part of the plan going forward. And the group is seeking to expand and export the model, with a likely first move to other campuses around the region.
Feedback from parents of participants, employers, and the broader community has been overwhelmingly positive, says Pollock.
The Kicker: Pollock says he often hears, “Why didn’t this exist when I was a kid?”