Pathways to College Success helping make college worth the price

(WJBC file photo)

By Dave Dahl/Illinois Radio Network

SPRINGFIELD – Before you go to college, you might want to ask yourself why.

Is it to become a well-rounded person? Is it to try to get a job later? Jim Applegate, executive director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, says the two are not mutually exclusive.

“You’re expecting students to develop critical thinking, and communication, and working with diverse colleagues,” says Applegate, “But when you graduate with a degree in health sciences, or the STEM fields, or whatever, you are prepared, in fact, to move into those careers – not a job, but a career – and be successful.”

Applegate, promoting the Pathways to College Success program of Complete College America, says the idea is to be a good consumer and make the college experience worth the cost.

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