LOS ANGELES — Many high schoolers are finding out that majors are not just for college students.

Linked Learning Alliance, a California nonprofit that partners with school districts to improve education, offers over 600 "pathways" — similar to a college major, but targeted to high school — to over 330,000 students in more than 80 school districts statewide.

Pathways range across fields including engineering, information technology, agriculture, public policy and entertainment. High school students choose a career theme and their classes are tailored around that interest.

Linked Learning steps in by partnering with schools and guiding students on how to earn college credit through dual community college enrollment, internships and industry certifications. The organization also connects students with industry professionals, who often speak at their school.

A recent survey by the group showed that student participation and interest in exploring career pathways is increasing and the vast majority of participants said they found the experience valuable to their high school education.

"The voices of young people are the most important voices" for Linked Learning Alliance president Anne Stanton. "What do young people feel like? How are they experiencing this? Because ultimately, that's what we're interested in."

How the program engages students

Students overwhelmingly said exploring career interests is helping them make successful transitions into adulthood.

"I felt deeply connected to my learning when I used professional tools and programs to complete assignments. It was meaningful because it allowed me to feel like an actual expert," said a Los Angeles Unified 10th-grader in an anonymous survey response.

Another 10th-grader said that the first time they walked into the biomedical classroom they realized "all the possible options of careers and work choices," boosting her excitement to learn more.

Seven school districts were represented in the survey, including Antelope Valley, Fresno, Los Angeles Unified and Oakland.

Pathways across California vary according to the local economy. For example, L.A. Unified has 72 pathways available to students across 15 different industry sectors. Some of these pathways include Hollywood High School New Media Academy, Huntington Park Institute for Applied Medicine, and Global Media Studies Magnet at Cleveland Charter High School.

More than half of the survey participants were LAUSD students.

The project focuses on extending services to socioeconomically disadvantaged students and "making sure that they're getting the opportunities they should have," Stanton said. "We're trying to break the cycle of what used to be tracking — 'those kids who aren't college bound over here and then everybody who's college bound over here' — everybody is capable of doing both."

The state of California invested $500 million when it established the California Career Pathways Trust in 2014. The program helped expand career pathways for high school students, work-based learning infrastructure and regional partnerships aligned to the Linked Learning approach.

As part of California's broader strategy to align education with workforce needs and boost post-secondary readiness, California established the Golden State Pathways Program in 2022 with a $500-million investment in order to help local education agencies expand or enhance existing career pathways.

Hollywood High School New Media Academy Magnet and Performing Arts Magnet Coordinator Ali Nezu has seen Linked Learning transform the school she has taught at for the past 23 years. She said students say the program helped prepare them for the workforce or post-secondary education.

They speak of the "ability to meet deadlines, manage projects over a long period of time, be flexible, pivot when problems arise, and work with a group of people who might not be their immediate friends," Nezu said.

Through the Linked Learning program, "they're already getting a foot in the door in some form of career pathway," according to Alycia Escobedo, lead teacher for Hollywood High School New Media Academy.

Students who do not complete internships have the opportunity to network with industry professionals.

For example, students at the New Media Academy complete a presentation at the end of each semester in which industry professionals serve as judges. Students receive valuable feedback while teachers implement the judges' comments into their teaching approach.

The program's interdisciplinary approach takes into account changing interests.

"What I was learning in my history class is what my video production project would be about," said Andrea Altamirano, a Hollywood High School New Media Academy '22 video production pathway alumna.

Rosa Lopez, as an incoming freshman at UC Santa Barbara, said she learned valuable life skills within her fine arts pathway at Robert F. Kennedy School in Los Angeles, even though she is now an aspiring pediatrician.

"The things I learned from art class — using organization skills, learning to communicate problems with my teachers and also my classmates — I'm willing to apply them in the future, when I'm older and I get to work with younger patients and with families."

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