High School Counselor Week

Education Department recalls fired attorneys amid civil rights complaint backlog
NPR – December 10, 2025
Employees at the U.S. Education Department who were fired in March got an unexpected email on Friday – telling them to return to work.

70% of high school principals say ICE is taking a toll on their schools
K-12 Dive – December 9, 2025
And more than a third of principals (36%) said students from immigrant families have been bullied or harassed by their peers, being told, for example, to “go back home” or asked to “see [their] papers.” School responses to heightened fear in immigrant communities vary from staff training to creating plans in case federal agents come knocking.

Do federal privacy laws require schools to protect — or reveal — students’ LGBTQ+ identity?
K-12 Dive – December 5, 2025
Federal lawmakers are divided over whether the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment should be used to protect student’s LGBTQ+ status from parents or to reveal it. “Many states and school districts have enacted policies that imply students need protection from their parents,” said U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon in a March statement. Representatives and witnesses on the other side of the issue say that policies requiring parents to know students’ gender identities, sexual orientations, or pronoun and name changes jeopardize student safety and housing security in some cases, and also violate student rights.

How parents and students are deciding which college to choose in an ever-changing landscape
PBS News – December 9, 2025
We are in the middle of that fraught period when high school students are finding out what colleges they’ve been accepted to, with about 60 percent of them going through this process right now. But not all of them will find the right fit.

Cyberbullying: Twenty Crucial Statistics
Security.org – December 4, 2025
Cyberbullying happens online and digitally. There’s no shoving or physical harm involved, so it’s not as easy to spot as physical bullying. What’s worse, it can happen even if your kid doesn’t leave the house. A hateful message or over-the-line teasing sent to their inbox, a demeaning video of them going viral, or degrading rumors spreading online are all types of cyberbullying. As parents, it’s scary to think that our kids might get bullied right under our noses. That’s why we have to arm ourselves with knowledge about cyberbullying to better protect them. Let’s start with 20 critical cyberbullying facts you need to know.

How Student-Led IEP Meetings Promote Self-Advocacy
Edutopia – December 5, 2025
When students lead their IEP meetings, they can speak up for their needs—and take an important step toward forging their own path, in school and in life.

15 Colleges Where Early Applicants Have an Edge
U.S. News & World Report – December 9, 2025
At some schools, submitting application materials at the beginning of the admissions cycle raises a candidate’s odds of acceptance…though some have restrictive policies on where else students can apply. There are also different types of early admissions programs. Below is a list of the 15 colleges where students who applied early had the greatest advantage over regular decision applicants, including program type.

First-generation college applications are surging in Texas. Here’s why.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram – December 8, 2025
Over the past decade, Texas lawmakers have adopted a number of policies aimed at getting more high school students to see college as a viable option, including a FAFSA requirement and opportunities for many students to take dual-enrollment courses tuition-free. School counselors say these and other changes are making a difference

Can You Use AI In Your College Essay? What 24 Admissions Offices Told Me
The College Investor – December 4, 2025
Freaked out students reach out to me all the time with questions about whether AI can be used at all, even as a checking tool…asking what is appropriate versus inappropriate use…and based on numerous examples of false postives, whether AI detectors, are even reliable. Central to it all, students wonder if a college can reject them if the college thinks, correctly or incorrectly, that the student used AI inappropriately on their college application. You would think colleges would be giving us clear answers to these questions. Unfortunately they are not.

Why a record number of students applied for federal financial aid this year
NPR – December 10, 2025
Partly thanks to an easier process, the number of high school seniors or their parents filling out the federal form for access to college financial aid, the FAFSA, is way up this fall

The FAFSA will now tell you if you’re applying to a school with historically low earnings outcomes
CNBC – December 9, 2025
The U.S. Department of Education has launched a new disclosure feature that warns students who fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid if they’re interested in colleges whose graduates have relatively low earnings, the agency said Monday.

20 Colleges That Charge the Least for Food and Housing
U.S. News & World Report – December 5, 2025
Dorm life is a major part of the college experience for many students, and it doesn’t always come with a hefty price tag. The average cost of food and housing for the 2025-2026 school year is $14,544 among the 1,027 colleges that submitted data (for a shared room and either 19 meals per week or a school’s maximum meal plan). But some schools charge far less than that – at the 20 schools ranked here the average fee is $6,944.