Social skills, extracurricular activities in high school pay off later in life

Phil Ciciora, News Editor
217-333-2177;pciciora@illinois.edu

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — It turns out that being voted “Most likely to succeed” in high school might actually be a good predictor of one’s financial and educational success later in life.

According to a University of Illinois professor who studies the sociology of education, high school sophomores who were rated by their teachers as having good social skills and work habits, and who participated in extracurricular activities in high school, made more money and completed higher levels of education 10 years later than their classmates who had similar standardized test scores but were less socially adroit and participated in fewer extracurricular activities.