Supporting more pathways to jobs and opportunities.
As the college degree pathway becomes ever more expensive, Americans—including young people—want more and different education and training pathways to good jobs and opportunity. One such path is through career and technical education, or CTE—an established and growing way to realize opportunity.
CTE prepares young people for skilled, high-demand, and well-paid jobs through classroom instruction and on-the-job training. It is an example of opportunity pluralism, which enjoys widespread support. Opportunity pluralism encourages policymakers to create a variety of education and training pathways and personal support programs so that individuals can acquire the knowledge, skills, and networks they need for jobs, careers, and human flourishing.
In what follows, I offer to foundation staff and individual donors an overview of CTE, its benefits, and the importance of linking it to K-12 career education frameworks. It concludes with initial questions staff and donors can ask to help them determine how to support CTE’s continued expansion.
Career and Technical Education Today
Federal support for CTE began with the 1917 Smith-Hughes National Vocational Education Act. In 2006, the Carl. D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act renamed vocational education as career and technical education. Federal 2023 CTE funding was $1.462 billion, with additional funding coming from the states. CTE is unlike the old-style vocational education that placed students into different tracks based mostly on family background. These programs became dumping grounds for students thought to be incapable of doing academic work.
Instead, K-12 CTE programs typically prepare middle and high school students for careers in fields like advanced manufacturing, health sciences, and information technology. They provide students with academic work, skill training, and work experience, including connecting them with local employers for internships and apprenticeships. (Note: there are also programs for adults.)
These on-the-job experiences build social capital, or strong relationships between participants and adult mentors. Programs often include student support services like job placement assistance. After completing a program, students typically receive a credential, such as industry certification or a license.
CTE pathway programs typically have five features:
- An academic curriculum aligned with labor-market needs and leading to an employer-recognized credential;
- Work experience with mentors;
- Advisors that help participants navigate the program;
- A written civic compact among program partners; and
- Policies, regulations, and frameworks to guide implementation.
CTE programs with multiple courses and credentials can order them so they become building blocks or stackable credentials. This sequencing can become a course of study that leads to an associate's or bachelor’s college degree if an individual chooses to pursue one. CTE programs can also be pathways from youth apprenticeship programs that are not formally registered at the state or federal levels to registered programs.
A Fordham Institute synthesis of research on CTE identifies five benefits that come from program participation:
- They are not a path away from college since participating students are just as likely as peers to attend college.
- They increase graduation rates.
- They improve college outcomes, especially for women and disadvantaged students.
- They boost students’ incomes.
- They enhance other skills like perseverance and self-efficacy.
Americans Want More Career Pathways
As I said at the outset, CTE aligns with what the American public and young people want from schools. A 2023 Wall Street Journal–NORC poll found that 56% of Americans do not think a college degree is worth the cost, up from 47% in 2017 and 40% in 2013. Skepticism today is strongest among those 18-to-34 years old and those with college degrees. Other surveys report similar findings.
Moreover, Gen Z high schoolers want continuous learning on the job and throughout life. Two-thirds (65%) believe education after high school is necessary but prefer options like online courses, boot camps, internships, and apprenticeships. More than half (53%) want learning opportunities throughout life. Only a third of these students say their ideal learning occurs only through coursework. They also have an enterprising spirit—a third want to start their own business.
Finally, Americans, including Gen Z high schoolers, have a practical mindset. They want schools to provide academics but also to teach life skills like financial literacy, communication, and problem-solving, which they say are overlooked in classrooms. Nearly eight in ten (78%) high schoolers believe it is important to develop these skills before they graduate so they are prepared to choose career paths.
The good news is, American education is increasingly shifting to meet this demand. Nearly all public school districts (98%) offer high school CTE programs, with about three-fourths offering courses that earn dual credit from high schools and postsecondary institutions. More than eight out of ten (85%) high school students today earn at least one CTE credit, with technology courses the most popular. More than one-third (37%) of 9th-graders have a CTE concentration, meaning they earn two or more credits in at least one CTE program of study. This concentration is associated with higher levels of student engagement, increased graduation rates, and reduced dropout rates. Those with a CTE concentration also are more likely to be employed full-time and have higher median annual earnings eight years after graduation.
CTE and Career Education
An effective CTE pathways strategy should be guided by a career education framework and specific program activities. For example, Colorado’s work-based learning framework for middle and high schools is organized by workplace activities: learning about work (e.g., career fairs, guest speakers), learning through work (e.g., site visits), and learning at work (e.g., job shadowing, apprenticeships). Maryland’s approach is based on career exploration, career preparation, and career seeking and advancement. Texas Education Agency’s Work Based Learning Continuum includes descriptions of the roles and responsibilities of providers, including K-12 schools, colleges, workforce boards, and community organizations.
These frameworks can be combined with technology platforms like YouScience that use artificial intelligence to create assessments for young people to discover personal strengths and aptitudes and match them to potential careers.
The role of career navigators and navigator organizations is central to CTE approaches. Navigators provide guidance and information to individuals and families as they explore learning options and career pathways. They help people make informed choices as they identify their strengths, understand job requirements, and get the education and credentials they need for career success. Navigator organizations have technology platforms that collect and aggregate information to assist in this process, including using artificial intelligence to help navigators serve their students.
Going Forward
None of this CTE discussion implies or requires uniformity in implementation. States and communities will try different programs based on different priorities, leading to implementation pluralism. That is all for the better as new approaches are tested and tailored to community needs, making communities laboratories of democracy and opportunity.
As donors consider whether and how to support apprenticeship programs, here are four topics worthy of careful consideration:
- Program type:What CTE programs and course progression pathways exist in your community? To whom are they directed—e.g., young people in K-12 schools, adults who are being retrained? How many are enrolled in them, what are their demographics, and how many earn a concentration? In what occupations are CTE courses offered?
- Program partners:What organizations and individuals are involved in creating and supporting these programs? Are there K-12 schools, employers, community colleges, community organizations, four-year colleges, and community leaders? What formal partnerships exist?
- Program organization:How are programs funded? What is the mix of local, state, federal, employer, and philanthropic dollars? What career education framework structures the overall CTE program? Is there a navigator organization that helps participants? Are internships or high school course credits part of the program? Is dual enrollment between high schools and colleges available?
- Program results:What credentials or certificates are awarded to those who complete apprenticeships? What are program completion rates and starting salaries? Are employers satisfied with their new employees?
In other words, donors and foundations must consider what your community needs, which partners will support that program, what financial and other types of assistance are needed, and how to monitor your progress.
CTE programs deepen young people’s knowledge of the culture of work and foster their capacity to aspire to, create, and navigate the work pathways that make their ambitions a reality. CTE also helps students develop an occupational identity and vocational self, a better sense of their values and abilities. On a practical level, CTE creates faster and cheaper pathways to jobs and careers. Finally, career education fosters local civic engagement from employers and other community partners by cultivating the connections and bonds essential to innovation, economic dynamism, and a flourishing local civil society.
