By Kendra Pintor
Scripps College’s Career Action Plan (CAP) Initiative integrates career preparation into all four years of the student experience, giving students a progressive framework for exploring interests, building professional skills, gaining hands-on experience, developing networks and preparing for life after graduation.
At Scripps, career preparation begins early—and now, it is built into every student’s four-year experience through the new Career Action Plan (CAP) Initiative. Developed through Career Planning & Resources (CP&R), and officially launched last year, CAP gives students a clear, progressive framework for exploring careers, developing professional skills, gaining experience, and preparing for life after graduation.
What is CAP?
Available to students through Canvas alongside their academic courses, CAP includes 12 career-development goals that students can complete across their four years at Scripps. A 13th goal asks students to reflect on what they have learned about themselves, their interests, and the world of work.
The goals span four areas:
- career exploration and skill-building
- experiential learning
- networking
- postgraduate preparation
Students meet with CP&R to discuss career interests, learn to write resumes and search for internships; complete an internship and additional experiential learning activities; build connections with alumnae, employers and other professionals; and prepare for life after graduation through mock interviews, advising appointments and workshops on topics such as salary negotiation.
Importantly, CAP recognizes that career development is not a one-time task reserved for senior year. Instead, students are encouraged to take meaningful steps throughout their time at Scripps, with opportunities ranging from research, study abroad and campus employment to professional conferences, leadership experiences, and career exploration treks from the moment they step on campus. Networking goals can include connecting with Scripps alums through Olive Grove, LinkedIn, panels, treks and other events.
The Impact of Career Planning
“Over the course of my Scripps career, I’ve learned so much about myself, both in terms of personal connections and how I want to pursue my future career. Working with professors, CP&R staff and Scripps alums has pushed me to question assumptions I hadn’t realized I held and pointed me toward a field I had always loved but never seriously considered as a career: museum education,” says Annika Gauthier ’26, a History major during her time at Scripps and who took full advantage of CAP along the way.
“Being in new environments gave me the freedom to trust my own observations and follow my curiosity. That freedom helped me recognize that museum spaces weren’t just places I loved—they were places I wanted to shape.”
CP&R also expands access to hands-on experience through internships, employer treks, alum connections, and grant support. More than 87% of Scripps students complete at least one internship, while donor-funded internship grants help reduce financial barriers for students pursuing unpaid opportunities that align with their goals. In 2025, the Internship Challenge raised $51,420 from 114 donors, creating at least 20 more additional internship grants and demonstrating the important role the Scripps community plays in expanding access to career-building opportunities.
“CAP makes that process intentional. It gives every student a roadmap while still leaving room for their individual interests, identities, and aspirations.”
“Career development is most powerful when students have the time and support to explore, try things, learn from experience and adjust their goals along the way,” says Brooke Grasso-Lavin, Director of Career Planning & Resources. “CAP makes that process intentional. It gives every student a roadmap while still leaving room for their individual interests, identities, and aspirations. Our goal is for students to graduate not only with a strong academic foundation, but also with the confidence, skills, experiences, and relationships to navigate what comes next.”
The CAP experience culminates not simply in new professional skills, but in reflection. After completing the first 12 goals, students consider what they have learned about their strengths, values, interests and career possibilities—and how they will use those lessons to shape their next steps.
The Scripps Difference
As a liberal arts institution, Scripps approaches career preparation as more than a direct school-to-career pipeline. CAP is designed to help students connect the passions, questions, and intellectual habits they develop in the classroom with a range of possible career pathways. Rather than narrowing students toward a single outcome, the initiative encourages them to translate curiosity, creativity, and interdisciplinary learning into purposeful choices about work, graduate study, and civic engagement.
Scripps alum Meris Mullaley ’05 has experience navigating a nonlinear career journey—from archaeology and museum education to video game worldbuilding—her story illustrates how a Scripps education prepares students not simply for a first job, but with the critical thinking, adaptability, and transferable skills to navigate change and pursue new possibilities throughout their lives.
“The ability to transfer skills is my biggest return-on-investment from my interdisciplinary education at Scripps,” shares Mullaley.
Together, CAP and CP&R’s broader resources reinforce a distinctive approach to a Scripps education: rigorous academics paired with the experiences, networks and individualized support students need to put their education to work in the world. Alongside strong post-graduation earnings and lower-than-average student debt, these investments underscore the lasting value of preparing students not just for their first job, but for meaningful and adaptable careers.
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