The White House wants America to have the highest proportion of college grads in the world by 2020. According to First Lady Michelle Obama, that will require hard work from school counselors.
If you talk to 2,100 counselors who heard from the first lady at the American School Counselors conference at the Walt Disney Dolphin Resort, they say that task is getting harder.
"It’s a job that becomes almost impossible to do,” said American School Counselors Association Chairman Shari Sevier said.
Experts said on average there is one school counselor for every 450 students. Conference leaders said school counselors are often stretched thin, forced to do other tasks like proctor exams and are overloaded with students.
Michelle Obama called that outrageous.
“School counseling is a necessity to make sure our young people get the education that they need to succeed in today’s economy," the first lady said.
Obama said emphasizing the importance of school counselors is part of her Reach Higher Initiative to get more students to complete some form of higher education.
“The fastest growing jobs in the country require higher education," Obama said.
"The need for college counseling has skyrocketed," she said. "The staffing and resources have not kept pace with this increased need.”
Leaders at the conference said having the first lady shows she understands how importance of the role they play as counselors to get more students a higher education.
"We're all about helping students get to those post-secondary opportunities,” said Dr. Sharon Sevier. “We want every single student to know that college or post-secondary training is reachable. We are thrilled that she's partnering with us."
Following her speech, the first lady headed to Miami for a private Democratic National Committee event in South Florida.