High school students say that school is too easy.

Several national surveys of high school students find that across the board, students feel high school is too easy, which leaves them feeling unmotivated and wishing we were expecting more from them.

• Only 30 percent of students in college-prep programs and 17 percent in a general education course of study think that they are significantly challenged in high school. (Achieve)

• 38 percent of the teens polled by the National Governors Association (NGA) say that high school is easy; in contrast, only 6 percent say high school is very hard. (NGA)

• During the 2004 school year, 71 percent of respondents to the High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE) in their senior year specified they had written three or fewer papers or reports of more than five pages in length. (HSSSE)

• One in five (20 percent) high school students do not feel motivated or inspired to work hard. Nearly 70 percent say that high school expectations are moderate to low. (Horatio Alger)

High school students say they want to work harder and be challenged.

Surprisingly, students themselves say that high school would be better if it were more rigorous and challenging.

• Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of young people say high school would be more meaningful if they could take courses that count for college credit. (NGA)
• That same percentage of students (64 percent) say that high school would improve a great deal if there were more opportunities to take more challenging courses. (Horatio Alger)
• Requiring all students to take four years of math and courses in biology, chemistry and physics before graduating would improve high school a great deal, according to 41 percent of respondents. (Horatio Alger)
• The vast majority of students favor proposals that would raise graduation standards. Nine out of 10 (91 percent) students believe that providing opportunities to take more challenging courses would be an improvement. They also endorse taking exit exams. Four out of five (81 percent) say that their schools would be improved if they required students to pass exams in math and English to graduate. (Horatio Alger)
• 88 percent say they would work harder if their high school demanded more of students, set higher standards and raised expectations. (Horatio Alger)

Most students plan to go on to college.

Poll after poll finds that most students intend to go to college and expect to be prepared for the work when they get there. But too often, students are not informed about what coursework they need to get into college or to be successful in credit-bearing courses.

• A full 94 percent of high school students say that they are planning to continue their education after high school. For most (76 percent) of these students, continuing their education means attending a four-year college or university. (Horatio Alger)
• 70 percent of respondents primarily enrolled in general education or career/vocational courses report college aspirations. (HSSSE)
• More than four out of five (84 percent) high school graduates not currently in college believe that they will need more formal education or training to achieve what they hope for in life. More than half (52 percent) say they plan to attend college within the next year, and another 26 percent plan to take classes sometime further down the road. (Achieve)