Higher Ed Utah

(SL Tribune) – Want to know how much money you need to earn to live a certain lifestyle? Or what career best suits you? Or where to go to college, find scholarships and how to write a résume?

A new, largely state-funded website is helping Utahns figure out what they want to do when they grow up. UtahFutures.org, which launched in October, is geared toward kids in grades 6-12 and adults and has already had more than a million hits.

Visitors to the free site can fill out questionnaires to help them determine which careers best fit their interests. They can learn about the salaries and requirements of hundreds of occupations — everything from explosives workers to manicurists to software designers. They can even do a “Reality Check,” which involves answering questions to find out how much money they would need to earn to lead various lifestyles in different Utah cities.

“We know that the kids that view their education as relevant are going to be a lot more serious and find education a rewarding experience, and that relevancy really comes about by knowing your direction in life and where you want to go,” William Sederburg, Utah’s commissioner of higher education, recently told lawmakers. “This is really a great tool for doing that.”

The entire article can be read at the Salt Lake Tribune.