ABSTRACT
The transition into emerging adulthood for many young people coincides with embarking on postsecondary plans. As they turn 18, high school graduates face a number of decisions about their educational futures and, in turn, their prospects for who they want to become and the careers they want to have. They must choose, for example, whether to attend college, the institutions to which they want to apply, the majors and cocurricular opportunities to pursue, the mechanisms for financing their education, and where, ultimately, to enroll. When they head to college, emerging adults may encounter other questions such as whether to persist to graduation, and perhaps, too, to advance to graduate programs or enter the job market. Each choice does not determine the paths and plans that unfold thereafter, but can indeed shape—and magnify—the process of moving toward adulthood.
