Data and Research Archives

Spanish Translation: “CTE Works!” Fact Sheet

Today, ACTE released a Spanish-translated version of our “CTE Works!” fact sheet to help CTE supporters inform learners and families in the Spanish-speaking community about recent research on CTE’s benefits.

This resource provides an evidence-based overview of CTE’s impact on student achievement, education and employment outcomes, and the skills gap and economy in the Spanish language.

We encourage you to share this fact sheet with Spanish speakers currently involved or new to CTE as well as those who interact with the Spanish-speaking community, including students and families; educators, counselors and administrators; and federal, state and local education and workforce leaders.

Click here to access the English version of this resource.

GAO Report on CTE Challenges and Strategies

The U.S. Government and Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a study on how CTE programs are supporting learners. Researchers interviewed state education officials in Delaware, Georgia, Ohio and Washington; representatives from eight CTE program providers; 14 stakeholders such as employer partners; and individuals from six national CTE organizations. This blog post summarizes the report’s key findings on funding sources and strategies that states and programs use to assist CTE learners and challenges faced in supporting CTE learners.

Funding Sources and General Support Strategies: In addition to Perkins V grants, the majority of CTE providers interviewed reported using other federal education grants, such as Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants, Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants and Adult Education State Grants, to fund programs. Half of providers stated they primarily use state and local education funds to service CTE classrooms and labs. Additionally, a few providers reported utilizing philanthropic donations and other federal grant funding, such as Department of Labor grants, the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technical Education Program and the Department of Defense’s Manufacturing and Engineering Education Program.

CTE providers also employed non-funding strategies to assist CTE learners through the comprehensive local needs assessment and business and industry partnerships, among other methods.

Programmatic Challenges: The report also outlined programmatic challenges to supporting CTE learners. The following are three key areas respondents identified as challenges:

Delivery: Respondents cited major delivery challenges related to limited funding; limited staff capacity, including a lack of racially and ethnically diverse educators; and negative perceptions of CTE. To address these challenges, providers and officials described braiding different sources of funding; recruiting CTE graduates of Tribal schools to return as teachers; and conducting outreach activities to inform parents about the benefits of CTE.

Access: Interviewees also identified access challenges in CTE for work-based learning, mostly due to lack of transportation options; limited social supports, including language barriers; inflexible scheduling; a lack of childcare services; and difficulties accessing aid for postsecondary nondegree programs. Respondents cited efforts to increase student access including hiring a work-based learning coordinator to identify opportunities and transportation options; translating CTE materials into multiple languages; and offering online instruction.

Replication: State officials and CTE providers reported difficulties in identifying and replicating effective CTE program strategies due to a lack of data, particularly longitudinal data that crosses systems, and evidence-based strategies. Some ways interviewees addressed replication challenges include developing a data-sharing partnership with federal and state agencies; creating a postsecondary data system; and researching existing evidence-based strategies that demonstrate positive outcomes for special populations.

The GAO report also outlines ways in which the U.S. Department of Education supports CTE programs. These strategies include administering grants, providing technical assistance, partnering with other federal agencies and expanding research.

Fiscal Year 2022 CTE Earmark Analysis

The recently signed fiscal year (FY) 2022 omnibus appropriations bill marked the first spending bill in a decade to include earmarks. Earmarks, also known has “community project funding” or “congressionally directed spending,” are used by Members of Congress to guarantee funding for specific projects or grantees that would benefit their state or district.

Each Member office submits project funding requests from constituents, which must then be reviewed by the appropriations subcommittees. For FY 2022, members of the House could submit a maximum of 10 earmark requests to be reviewed while members of the Senate had no request limit, and the total funding for earmarks could not exceed 1% of overall discretionary funding. In the coming days, ACTE will publish a blog post on steps our members can take during the earmarking process for FY 2023.

The FY 2022 omnibus appropriations bill earmarks a total of $2.3 million for vocational rehabilitation projects, $140 million for K-12 projects, $249 million for higher education projects and $137 million for employment and training projects. ACTE analyzed this funding and found that 119 earmarks provided over $107 million for CTE-related projects in FY 2022:

Elementary and secondary CTE-related projects received $16.2 million through 22 earmarks
Postsecondary CTE-related projects received $49.8 million through 49 earmarks
Employment and training CTE-related projects received $41.4 million through 48 earmarks

Of the 39 states that received earmarked funding for CTE-related projects in FY 2022, Virginia was allocated the most funding, totaling $8.97 million, and California had the most earmarks with 11 different projects funded. Specific CTE-related projects that received the most funding include:

$5.1 million for Northern Virginia Community College’s Data Center Operations degree and certificate program.
$4.5 million for an apprenticeship initiative at Marshall University in West Virginia.
$3.7 million for Skills for Rhode Island’s Future, a work-based learning program.

Readers can use this spreadsheet created by ACTE to learn more about which CTE-related projects in their state received FY 2022 earmarked funding.

Research Roundup: Readiness, Performance and Outcomes Data

CTE in the High School Transcript Study: Recently, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released results from the 2019 High School Transcript Study. Researchers examined a nationally representative sample of 2019 high school graduates and the courses they took, how many credits they earned, their GPAs and their performance on NAEP Grade 12 assessments. The following are key findings relevant to CTE:

In 2019, graduates earned 3.3 CTE credits compared to 3.8 credits in 1990. The biggest declines in CTE credits earned were among Black and female graduates.
Graduates had higher average GPAs in CTE courses (3.33) than in 1990 (2.87). Female and Asian/Pacific Islander students had the highest CTE GPAs, and Black students had the lowest.
Of the 28% of graduates who took a dual enrollment course, about 13% were enrolled in CTE dual enrollment courses, the highest percentage among all types of dual enrollment courses.
Since 1990, the percentage of graduates earning at least one CTE credit increased the most in fields such as health science, IT, and hospitality and tourism. In contrast, fields like business and marketing, architecture and construction, and manufacturing faced the largest declines.

Career Readiness Benchmarks: In 2021, MajorClarity released a career & college readiness (CCR) benchmark self-assessment tool for K-12 leaders to score their districts on five key areas of CCR: postsecondary options, data, supports, stakeholder engagement and resources. MajorClarity analyzed responses from over 140 self-assessments in a recent report. Overall, the median score on the benchmark was 68.5%, with the highest average score in postsecondary options and the lowest in stakeholder engagement.

Postsecondary Completion Rates: This winter, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center released its tenth report in the Completing College Series, tracking postsecondary enrollment and six-year completion outcomes. The following are key findings from the cohort that began postsecondary education in fall 2015:

The completion rate reached 62.2%, an increase of over one percentage point compared to the fall 2014 cohort, with the largest increases (+1.5 percentage points) among public community colleges.
Completion rates increased for two-thirds of states (32 out of 46) examined, and in 26 states, completion rates grew by at least one percentage point for students who started at community colleges.
Among all racial/ethnic groups, Black students experienced the largest increases in completion rates (+1.9 percentage points) and had the greatest growth in students enrolling in community college (+1.6 percentage points).
Completion rates for adult learners increased by 2.5 percentage points compared to traditional college-age students, whose completion rates declined. For adult learners who started at community colleges, their completion rate increased by 2.3 percentage points for a total rate of 37.9%.

Employment and Earnings Outcomes: Recently, the American Enterprise Institute compiled a collection of 9 reports that address the history, arguments and data resources regarding postsecondary outcomes and earnings. The featured reports include those of New America, the Higher Education Advisory Group and the Urban Institute and discuss the effect that accountability policies, college advising programs, intermediaries and student demographics have on earnings and employment outcomes. Read the full collection here.

DC Digest: March 14-20

Last week, action in Congress was relatively limited after President Biden signed a Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 appropriations package early last week. With FY 2022 appropriations now complete, Congress now turns its focus to the FY 2023 appropriations process. The first step is the release of the president’s budget, which is now expected to arrive on Monday, March 28. ACTE will continue to work with its partners on Capitol Hill and within the Biden Administration to advocate for more robust federal investments in CTE, so stay tuned for more updates over the coming weeks! Only the Senate will be in session next week, as House members are back in their districts for a district work period. Our focus at ACTE will be on the National Policy Seminar! As we await more congressional action, here are a few notes:

ACTE Publishes New “CTE Works!” Fact Sheet: ACTE published a new “CTE Works!” fact sheet that provides an evidence-based overview of CTE’s impact on student achievement, education and employment outcomes, and the skills gap and economy. We encourage CTE supporters to share this fact sheet with students and families; federal, state and local education and workforce leaders; policymakers; and the media to convey the value of CTE. It can be used along with our “What is CTE?” infographic that introduces people new to CTE to its scope and benefits. A Spanish-language translation of this new fact sheet will be coming soon!

President Biden Signs Fiscal Year 2022 Appropriations Bill: On March 15, President Biden signed the omnibus bill to fund the government for the remainder of fiscal year (FY) 2022, providing over $1.5 trillion across the entire federal government. Overall investments in education were lower than what the President had originally proposed, but the Perkins Basic State Grant was given a much needed $45 million increase! While this represents a steady increase in CTE funding since 2017, ACTE will advocate for larger investments in the FY 2023 budget. Read more about FY 2022 appropriations here.

President Nominates Nasser Paydar as Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education: On March 18, President Biden announced his intent to nominate Dr. Nasser Paydar, Chancellor Emeritus of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and Executive Vice President Emeritus of Indiana University (IU) as the Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education in the U.S. Department of Education. You can read more about Dr. Paydar’s qualifications here.

Northern Virginia Community College Visit: If you are attending NPS or located in the northern Virginia area, you can participate in a school tour of Northern Virginia Community College on Wednesday afternoon, March 23^rd, from 1:30pm – 3:30pm. Be sure to check out ACTE’s NPS website for the latest information on the school visit and the RSVP!

New Resource: “CTE Works!” Fact Sheet

Today, ACTE published a new “CTE Works!” fact sheet that provides an evidence-based overview of CTE’s impact on student achievement; education and employment outcomes; and the skills gap and economy.

Research shows that CTE students excel in high school and postsecondary education. The average high school graduation rate of CTE concentrators is 94% – 9 percentage points higher than the overall U.S. graduation rate – and CTE concentrators are just as likely as non-concentrators to earn a postsecondary degree or certificate.

The benefits of CTE extend into employment. For instance, associate degree holders in CTE fields like engineering, IT, health care and skilled trade occupations can earn up to $2.8 million over their lifetimes – the same as the median lifetime earnings for workers with bachelor’s degrees.

Additionally, filling roles in CTE fields is critical to supporting the economy. Over the next decade, the United States faces a projected shortage of 6.5 million skilled workers.

We encourage CTE supporters to share this fact sheet with students and families; federal, state and local education and workforce leaders; policymakers; and the media to convey the value of CTE along with our “What is CTE?” infographic that introduces people new to CTE to its scope and benefits.

Research Roundup: Early Postsecondary Opportunities

Benefits of CTE Dual Enrollment: North Carolina’s Career & College Promise (CCP) is a statewide dual enrollment initiative that offers three pathways to high school students, including a CTE pathway. Recently, the CTE Research Network compared 2012-19 data on CCP CTE students in grades 11 and 12 to non-CCP students to reveal that CCP CTE students earned six times more college credits in high school, were two percentage points more likely to graduate and were 9 percentage points more likely to pursue postsecondary education than non-CCP participants. The benefits were even higher for students from economically disadvantaged households and learners from racial and ethnic groups that are historically underrepresented in postsecondary education.

Dual Credit Funding Policy: In 2016 Idaho adopted the Advanced Opportunities policy, which dedicates $4,125 of state funding to each high school student to pay for dual credit courses. To determine the impact of the policy, the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education analyzed payments, dual credit participation and postsecondary outcomes data from 2016 to 2020 and uncovered the following:

Since the introduction of Advanced Opportunities, postsecondary credits earned by graduating public high school students increased by 51%.
Student savings outweigh the policy’s costs to Idaho. For instance, Idaho’s 2019-20 dual credit graduates saved $20.8 million compared to a $12.8 million state investment.
Postsecondary enrollment and retention rates were 27 percentage points and 7 percentage points higher, respectively, for dual credit participants than non-participants.
About 63% of dual credit participants who enrolled in a postsecondary institution had first-semester GPAs above 3.0, compared to only 37% of non-participants.

Landscape of CTE Early Postsecondary Opportunities: Currently, CTE courses make up one-third of all enrollments in early postsecondary opportunities (EPSOs). Recently, Advance CTE, in partnership with the College in High School Alliance, surveyed state CTE directors to better understand how EPSOs are serving CTE learners. The following are key findings from the survey:

While 87% of states said expanding access to EPSOs is a top or their highest priority, less than 30% find EPSOs to be “very” or “mostly” equitable. Many states indicated that the decentralized nature of EPSOs is a barrier to implementing statewide equitable supports.
Most states collect CTE EPSO enrollment and outcomes data, but fewer than half disaggregate outcomes by learner group or special population status and only 20% make data publicly available.
While 71% of states reported having statewide articulation agreements for CTE EPSO credits, these credits may not be accepted by individual institutions.
Credential requirements can be a barrier for recruiting CTE EPSO teachers. About 42% of states report that CTE EPSO teachers need the same qualifications as both high school and postsecondary CTE instructors.

Similar challenges were raised in a Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) report examining dual enrollment programs across 16 southern states. Both the Advance CTE and SREB reports highlight innovative practices states are using to tackle these issues.

Recruiting Dual Credit Teachers: The College in High School Alliance has published a report about strengthening the dual credit teacher pipeline. The publication discusses the recent growth in dual enrollment programs, how instructor credential requirements limit student access and participation in dual enrollment, and strategies to address the dual credit teacher shortage.

Spanish Translation: “What is CTE?” Infographic

As CTE Month comes to a close, ACTE has released a Spanish-translated version of our “What is CTE?” infographic to help CTE supporters inform about CTE in the Spanish-speaking community.

This resource providers an overview of CTE and highlights the benefits that CTE can provide for students, businesses and communities in the Spanish language.

We encourage you to share this resource with Spanish speakers new to CTE as well as those who interact with the Spanish-speaking community, including students and families; educators, counselors and administrators; and federal, state and local education and workforce leaders.

Click here to access the English version of this resource.

Research Roundup: Reengaging Community College Learners

Causes of Disengagement: StraighterLine and the University Professional and Continuing Education Association conducted a joint study to determine what causes students to leave their postsecondary institution before completion. Researchers collected survey responses during spring 2021 from individuals between the ages of 20 and 34 who had college credits but were no longer enrolled in a postsecondary institution to reveal the following key findings:

The top cited reasons for leaving an institution included family commitments (32% of respondents), finances (24%) and work (11%). Younger learners more often cited that their institution was not the right fit, while older learners primarily cited financial motives.
About 20% of respondents reported that their institution could reengage them and identified providing a certificate for credits earned, offering courses at a lower price and creating workshops that address student challenges as the most effective tactics for reengagement.
Roughly 43% of respondents stated that they were “extremely likely” or “very likely” to continue their education, with those who had disengaged more recently and those who had been enrolled in health programs being most likely to plan to continue their schooling.

Relatedly, the Brookings Institution recently published an article summarizing research that examined postsecondary disengagement specifically in adult learners. Researchers analyzed the labor market trajectories of 200,000 adults who earned some credits from the Virginia Community College System between 2009 and 2014 but stopped out before completing their credential. The report’s key findings are outlined below:

Fewer than one in seven adult learners earned at least 30 college-level credits and maintained a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher prior to their departure, suggesting that many of these adults would have difficulty maintaining enrollment and academic progress if they were to return.
Of those who earned at least 30 credits and maintained a GPA higher than 2.0, on average, individuals earned $5,000 per quarter in the year leading up to their departure from college and nearly double this figure five years after their departure.
Only six out of 19 programs of study were associated with significantly higher earnings for graduates. In fact, fewer than 3% of adults in the study, if they were to return to college, could easily re-enroll in fields of study that result in a significant earnings premium from completing a credential.

Reconnecting Adult Learners: According to an article in Work Shift, beginning in summer 2021, five of North Carolina’s community colleges participated in an outreach campaign called “Better Skills. Better Jobs.” This initiative aims to re-enroll adult learners who completed at least 50% of a degree or credential program within the past five years. The five colleges placed calls, emails and texts to 12,000 prospective adult learners. As a result, 753 additional students enrolled in fall 2021, and roughly 87% of these learners received grades and 63% completed a credential or re-enrolled for the spring semester. This spring, five more North Carolina community colleges are expected to participate in the outreach campaign.

Student Supports: Community colleges offer more than an education. For many, they also provide supports to address non-academic barriers to enrollment, persistence and completion. Recently, the Education Commission of the States released a policy brief that discusses how states and community colleges can provide wraparound supports. The brief highlights examples of wraparound supports, different approaches to providing supports (such as two-generation programs that combine postsecondary education for adult learners with childcare and early childhood education for their children) and examples of states and community college systems that have coordinated multiple supports for students.

New Education Statistics Released

Last week, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released their Digest of Education Statistics 2020, an annual compilation of education statistics gathered from a variety of government and private sources. This year’s digest features new data from years 2018 to 2020 on secondary and postsecondary enrollment, educational attainment, types of degrees conferred and more.

Enrollment: Overall enrollment in fall 2018 for public elementary and secondary school totaled nearly 50.7 million students while enrollment in fall 2019 for postsecondary institutions consisted of more than 20 million students. More than 5.4 million students were enrolled in public two-year institutions and almost 59,000 were enrolled in public less-than-two-year institutions, an 11% increase from the year prior.

Credentials: During the 2018-19 academic year, public two-year institutions conferred over 687,000 associate degrees and more than 529,000 certificates. Public less-than-two-year institutions conferred nearly 34,000 certificates.

When examining all public postsecondary institutions, both associate degrees and certificates that take longer than a year to complete shared the same most popular fields of study: liberal arts and sciences, general studies, and humanities; health professions; and business. For shorter term certificates, mechanic and repair technologies joined health professions and business as the most popular fields of study.

Earnings Outcomes: In 2019, the median annual earnings for associate degree holders were $50,550 and for those with some postsecondary education were over $47,000. Male associate degree holders made 33% more and males with some postsecondary education made 27% more than their female counterparts.

Data from various NCES surveys are an important source of information about CTE students and programs, with the most relevant data for our community located on the center’s CTE Statistics webpage. This year, NCES is launching the High School & Beyond Longitudinal Study of 2022 (HS&B:22), which will follow 26,000 students as they make the journey to and through high school and into the workforce or postsecondary education. If your school is contacted to participate in HS&B:22, ACTE encourages your participation.