This was the House’s final week in session before adjourning for August recess. The Senate will follow next week and both chambers will spend a little over a month in their states and districts. This is an excellent time to connect with your lawmakers and advocate for CTE, especially as back-to-school activities and preparation commence. Meanwhile, the Administration is preparing for a new school year as they continue to work on FAFSA and Title IX implementation. Keep reading for more details!
- New Title IX Regulations Blocked in 21 States: A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Department of Education cannot enforce e its new Title IX regulations, set to take effect Aug. 1, in Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska or South Dakota, Additionally, the Biden Administration has asked the Supreme Court to partially lift two lower-court injunctions blocking the rule from taking effect in ten states, aiming to expand access.
- New Grant Opportunity with YouthBuild Grant Program: The Department of Labor will fund approximately 75 projects nationwide with grants ranging from $700,000 to $1.5 million as part of their YouthBuild Program, which supports organizations that provide pre-apprenticeship services, including education, occupational skills training and employment services. Eligible organizations must apply by September 16.
- Department of Labor Shares Apprenticeship Connections Newsletter: The Department of Labor shared their Apprenticeship Connections Newsletter to provide updates on new technical assistance resources, grantee reporting updates and reminders, grantee projects and innovative apprenticeship strategies, upcoming events and apprenticeship in the news.
- House Subpoenas Department of Education Over FAFSA: Several members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce have subpoenaed the Department of Education officials over documents they hope will share more information over issues surrounding the Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) . This follows a letter sent to the Department from five national associations urging Cardona to offer a fully functional FAFSA, even if that means a delay.
- Senator Warren Introduces Legislation to Codify Chevron Doctrine: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) recently introduced the Stop Corporate Capture Act, which would require federal courts to give deference to agencies’ reasonable interpretation of ambiguous statutes. This is relevant to the education community because the overturning of Chevron deference could dramatically impact the power the Department of Education has to issue regulations affecting states.
- National Center for Education Research Announces New Grants: The National Center for Education Research made 42 awards in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 under the Education Research grant program. Among these awards for two were for CTE projects, “Assessing the Quality and Reach of Student Pathways to Economic Security: Building Evidence to Enhance the Impact of NYC Pathways Initiatives” and “High School CTE Credentials and Postsecondary Outcomes in Pennsylvania: Implementation, Impact, and Cost.”
Fortifying America’s Future: Pathways for Competitiveness: The Aspen Strategy Group at the Aspen Institute has published a report with the recommendations from thinkers throughout business, education, nonprofit and national security sectors to strengthen the U.S. education system, protect national competitiveness and identify key industries like semiconductor manufacturing.
Top recommendations below:
- Leverage the national security community’s bipartisan support to create a sense of urgency in improving the U.S. education and career pathway ecosystem. Combine funding streams to promote work-based learning, flexibility of public-private partnerships and better coordination of high-quality pathways beginning in K-12.
- Since 92% of future careers need digital skills, promote STEM mastery and computer science through evidence-based practices. Learners with high exposure to technology-related topics are 2.6 times more likely to declare a STEM major and 5.3 times more likely to eventually be employed in a STEM field.
U.S. Workers and Their Levels of Exposure to AI By Profession: A recently published report by the Pew Research Center examined the levels at which U.S. workers across multiple fields and professions are exposed to artificial intelligence (AI). Researchers classified 19% of workers as having high AI exposure jobs, with exposure being higher for jobs that require more education.
More findings below:
- Nearly 13 million men and 14.6 million women worked a high AI exposure job in fields like office administration, auditing and accounting.
- Workers in more AI-exposed industries like information and technology; professional, scientific and technical services; and banking, finance, accounting and real estate perceive less economic risk from AI.
- High AI exposure jobs require diverse types of skillsets, with 59% using fundamental skills like critical thinking, 48% using analytical skills, 34% managerial and 26% social skills.
Aligning State Systems to Support Students: The National Conference of State Legislatures has published a report that analyzes how states are working to support community college goals of responding to the nation’s workforce needs by aligning, connecting and coordinating efforts across state agencies, postsecondary institutions, businesses and labor partners. Researchers discovered that several states are merging or redesigning their workforce systems to avoid program duplication and streamline support processes for learners.
Highlights of innovative efforts across states below:
- In 2023, Virginia passed B.1470 to create a new department with oversight of all workforce development activities and streamline over 1,500 state programs.
- In 2023, Texas passed B.2315 to consolidate workforce development programs administered across various state agencies into one.
- In 2019, Arkansas passed B. 522 to create a statewide workforce development system, reduce program duplication and create a catalog of industry-recognized credentials, among other things.
- In 2021, Delaware passed B.166 to create the Elevate Program, providing up to $10,000 per learner in approved noncredit programs identified by the Workforce Development Board.
Lumina Foundation State of Higher Education 2024: The Lumina Foundation and Gallup have partnered to publish the 2024 State of Higher Education report, which measures the attitudes of U.S. adults toward postsecondary education, their interest in pursuing a credential, enrollment or persistence barriers, as well as the issues that currently enrolled learners face in their programs. Researchers found that, among adults without a degree, the same percentage of respondents value an industry certification (75%) as much as a bachelor’s degree (75%).
More findings below:
- 84% of respondents cite career outcomes (salary increase, promotion or higher-paying job) as the reason they are enrolled or considering enrolling in a postsecondary credential program.
- 51% of currently unenrolled adults say they intend to pursue a credential within the next five years, more so for individuals 25 or younger than for older populations.
- The most common persistence barriers include cost and work conflicts.
- Across enrolled learners, 74% rated their program quality very good or excellent, but fully in-person students responded more positively (81%) than those completely online (68%).
Guided Career Pathways and Community College Students: The Community College Survey of Student Engagement in collaboration with Jobs for the Future has published a report about how guided pathways are preparing community college students to meet their postsecondary and career goals. Researchers learned that over 90% of learners reported choosing a career path but were missing vital information for career advancement, with only 21% of students saying their college contributed “very much” to their local job market knowledge.
Top findings below:
- Work-based learning participants were likelier (71%) to say their coursework provided information about the skills needed for their chosen career path than non-participants (44%).
- 64% of individuals who have chosen a career path never used counseling services.
- Only 22% of students who have chosen a career path reported that their college “very much” helped them learn about the average earnings for their chosen career.
- 30% of learners received career pathway guidance from counselors, 29% from friends/family, 28% from instructors and 13% from current employers.
College-to-Jobs Stakeholder Briefs: The Project on Workforce at Harvard University has published a series of briefs for policymakers, educators and employers that offer practical recommendations and an outlined vision for an integrated education-workforce system. Researchers published briefs covering a range of topics, including college-industry partnerships, work-based learning (WBL), economic development and more.
A few recommendations from across the series are described below:
- Postsecondary institutions: Select a single department as the decision-making authority for employer relations to streamline processes and contacts for businesses.
- Employers: Compensate learners for WBL to ensure that underresourced individuals who cannot dedicate time to unpaid work can have meaningful experiences.
- Policymakers: Use the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act’s authority to implement a state strategy with an agenda for a unified education, workforce and economic development system that includes cross-sector collaboration, clear outcomes and direct investment in key areas.
CTE is a Hidden Weak Spot in Many High School’s Teacher Workforces: The Brookings Institution has published a report that analyzes the CTE teacher shortage across the U.S. with insights about the factors that are perpetuating the problem, the ways in which schools are struggling to fill these positions, policy recommendations and more. Researchers discovered that administrators are having difficulties filling CTE teacher positions 57% of the time compared to only 39% of the time for openings in academic subjects.
Top findings include:
- CTE teachers with professional teaching licenses were less likely to leave teaching than occupationally licensed CTE teachers. Occupationally licensed CTE teachers were 25% likelier to leave the field than non-CTE teachers.
- Occupationally licensed CTE instructors who do leave the profession earn about 20% more upon exit than other teachers (potentially contributing to their higher exit rates).
- Health science teacher exits (a specific area of focus for the study) often do not get fully re-staffed, leading to net losses of student participation, course sections and staff the following school year.
Some College, No Credential Student Outcomes: The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center has released the annual Some College, No Credential (SCNC) report, which explores the educational trajectories of U.S. adults who left postsecondary education without ever receiving an award or credential. The report found that the SCNC population at the end of July 2022 was 42 million with more than 37 million of these individuals being under the age of 65.
Top findings include:
- Between January 2021 and July 2022, there were fewer stopouts compared to the similar prior period (-0.7%). Particularly, public two-year institutions experienced larger decreases (-4.1%), which could be contributed to overall pandemic-related enrollment declines.
- In 2022-23 SCNC re-enrollees primarily chose associate degrees (51.9%), 28.2% bachelor’s degrees and 13.3% undergraduate certificates.
- Of the 864,00 learners who re-enrolled in 2021-22, over 39,000 earned a credential during that year, 467,000 persevered into 2022-23 and 80,000 earned a credential in their second year of re-enrollment.
- In 2022-23, of nearly 41,900 re-enrollees that earned credentials, 48.7% earned an undergraduate certificate, 29.4% earned an associate degree, and 19.7% a bachelor’s degree.
How States Can Use Data to Incentivize Student Postsecondary and Workforce Success: American Student Assistance and the Education Strategy Group have published a report that examines how can states use data to demonstrate the value of public education and support the long-term success of students through reporting, accountability and incentive systems. Researchers highlighted striking differences in the value of postsecondary credentials with entry-level graduates in liberal arts majors earning 24% less than STEM majors and 29% less than health-related graduates.
Top finings and recent state developments below:
- 35 states publicly report both postsecondary success and workforce outcomes but only few report metrics related to return on investment and/or postsecondary value.
- 29 states use outcomes-based funding (OBF) mechanisms with only six incorporating workforce outcomes and 22 including two- and four-year institutions.
- 11 states plus D.C report only on college success outcomes but no state reports only on workforce outcomes.
- Seven states have funding incentives incorporating college and career readiness metrics or postsecondary outcomes with five of these only including the former.
- 41 states include one or more college and career readiness metrics into federal or state accountability systems, eight incorporate both college career readiness and postsecondary outcomes and 33 plus D.C include only the former.
Today ACTE published CTE: Developing the Education & Training Workforce and CTE: Developing the Hospitality & Tourism Workforce as part of our revamped series of Sector Sheets describing CTE’s role in growing the workforce for vital industry sectors. The Sector Sheet series is published with support from ACTE’s long-time partner Pearson.
The Education & Training Sector Sheet describes how CTE supports this workforce, which employs more than 8 million people nationwide supporting preschool through adult learners, while the Hospitality & Tourism Sector Sheet describes CTE’s role in preparing individuals to work in travel and tourism, hotels and lodging, and restaurant fields.
The Sector Sheets share information on occupations, earnings and credentials that enable individuals to succeed in these sectors. And demonstrate the importance of CTE in developing these workforces by describing how CTE prepares learners through courses, industry credentials, work-based learning, career and technical student organizations and more.
Both the newer and older Sector Sheets are available on the ACTE Sector Sheet webpage for download and use. We encourage you to share these tools with students, families, counselors, policymakers and others to spread the message about CTE and its benefits for learners and the workforce.
Later this summer, a National Center for Education Statistics’ research team is offering a free professional development opportunity on the use of the College Scorecard. See the note below and instructions on how to register from NCES!
The U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard is a free online tool to help students of all ages, families, educators, counselors, and other college access professionals make data-informed decisions when choosing a college or university to attend. Through an open and easy-to-use website, the Scorecard supports students on their pathway to college and future careers by increasing the transparency of information that will help them understand the benefits of a higher education, such as college costs, student debt, graduation rates, admissions test scores and acceptance rates, student body diversity, post-college earnings, and much more.
This session is designed for counselors, advisors, and other educators involved in training college access professionals. Participants will learn how to use the College Scorecard to support students and parents in making data-informed decisions about college attendance. The training includes a comprehensive toolkit tailored for professional development, equipping advisors with the necessary skills to effectively teach others how to utilize the College Scorecard.
Training will be offered online by College Scorecard experts. Click HERE to register for one of the following dates:
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- Tues, July 30, 10:00am-noon EDT
- Thur, Aug 1, 4:00-6:00pm EDT
- Thur, Aug 22, 10:00am-noon EDT
- Tue, Aug 27, 4:00-6:00pm EDT
The Strada Education Foundation has published a report that highlights key findings from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s 2023 National Survey of College Internships. In a previous report on student’s internship expectations and experiences, researchers described how, despite 70% of students planning to complete an internship during college, less than half go on to find and complete one and less than a quarter secure a paid opportunity.
The following are major findings about the internship experiences of students attending two-year postsecondary institutions:
- Only 13% of community college learners had participated in an internship during the prior 12 months compared to 41% of four-year institution seniors and 22% of four-year juniors.
- Most two-year learners participated in internships in the social service profession (19%), followed by physical sciences, mathematics, and computer science (18%) and communications, media and public relations (15%).
- 79% of two-year students completed an in-person opportunity and 18% online. The median internship duration was 16 weeks. In comparison, 75% of four-year students completed an in-person internship and 19% online, working a median of 13 weeks.
- Only 46% of two-year students completed high-skill tasks with supervision or autonomous work compared to 65% of four-year learners.
- Skills gains were similar across the board with two-year and four-year students reporting developments in communication, problem-solving, teamwork and leadership.
- 74% of four-year students and 72% of two-year students reported being very or extremely satisfied with their experiences.
- 71% of two-year students reported being provided with written learning goals and activities prior to their internship experiences, compared to 63% of four-year students.
The report also included recommendations and calls to action for educational institutions, employers and researchers to work together to ensure better internship experiences for all learners. Action steps include the following, among others:
- Using internships intentionally to support structured learning plans and objectives for learners.
- Forming employer-university partnerships to design and scale industry-specific learning opportunities for students.
- Increasing documentation to better understand employer perspectives and the value of internships and other work-based learning models.
Addressing the Mismatch Between Future Workers and the Supply of Postsecondary Awards: A recently published report by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce analyzed the misalignment between credential supply and labor market demand at the subbaccalaureate level. Researchers determined that the U.S. economy is expected to create an average of 18.5 million job openings annually through 2031, with approximately 31% of these openings for workers with an associate degree, certificate or some postsecondary credit but no degree. However, the report also uncovered substantial misalignment between the current supply and projected demand for these credentials across multiple local labor markets throughout the nation.
The supply-demand relationship for subbaccalaureate credentials differs widely across career fields. For instance, jobs in sales and office support will account for 27% of openings, but only 4% of certificates and associate degrees are awarded in these fields. Relatedly, skilled trades jobs will account for 23% of openings, with only 12% of subbaccalaureate credentials awarded in these programs. On the other hand, 10% of subbaccalaureate credentials are awarded in education but only 3% of job openings are projected in education occupations that require less than a bachelor’s degree.
More findings below:
- Rural areas experienced the highest levels of misalignment with the most alignment found in or near large cities.
- American Indian/Alaska Native adults were the most likely (5.3%) to live in communities with no local subbaccalaureate credential provider in comparison to white (1.6%), Hispanic/Latino (0.7%), Black/African American (0.6%) and Asian American adults (0.3%).
Noncredit Workforce Training, Industry Credentials and Labor Market Outcomes: The Annenberg Institute at Brown University has released a research paper that examines the labor market returns of industry-recognized credentials connected to community college noncredit programs. The analysis is based on data of around 24,000 working-age adults enrolled in FastForward noncredit workforce training programs at the Virginia community college system. Results indicated that earning industry-recognized credentials, on average, increased quarterly earnings by $1,000 as well as the likelihood of gaining employment by 2.4%.
Top findings below:
- Among the six career fields examined, transportation produced the most earnings gains from attaining an industry credential, with earnings increasing by more than $1,800 (a 21% increase from before FastForward participation).
- A major factor in earnings increases from FastForward is mobility from lower-paying to higher-paying occupations and industries like transportation and construction.
- Findings suggest that variations in return on investment across race/ethnicity, gender identity and age are primarily associated with students choosing higher-earning or lower-earning career fields.
Spring 2024 Community College Enrollment: The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center has published its spring 2024 enrollment estimates. Top findings for two-year institutions and comparisons between 2024 and 2023 enrollment levels below:
- Community college enrollment gains again led growth across the higher education sector, with an increase of 4.7% or more than 200,000 students.
- The following CTE program areas saw enrollment increases at two-year institutions: mechanic and repair technologies (+14.2%), precision production (+10.2%), construction trades (+8.1%), and personal and culinary services (+7.7%). In addition, the general health services major at community colleges increased by 27.5% as part of an overall growth in enrollment in health care fields.
Congress was busy this week, with both chambers working on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a bill that must be passed each year. There was also activity on WIOA reauthorization and discussion of ways to implement short-term Pell Grant expansion. While there isn’t much news with appropriations, we still expect to see the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education markup in two weeks on June 27. Keep reading for more information and be sure to check out this week’s CTE Policy Watch Blog posts for more in-depth updates.
- HELP Committee Holds Hearing on WIOA Reauthorization: On Wednesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing about reauthorizing the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Check the CTE Policy Watch Blog for more information on the hearing and WIOA reauthorization!
- Short-term Pell Expansion Comes Up in House and Senate: Sponsors of the Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act, which would expand the Pell Grant to include short-term workforce training programs, attempted to attach the bill to the NDAA as an amendment in the House. Unfortunately, it was not made in order, but over in the Senate, a potential committee markup of the JOBS Act, the short-term Pell bell bill that we have primarily endorsed, was discussed for later this summer.
- IES Announces Availability of CTE Research Grants: In late May, the National Center for Education Research within the national Institute of Education Sciences (IES) released a funding announcement for Fiscal Year 2025 research grant competitions. For more information, see the CTE Policy Watch Blog.
- NCES Highlights CTE in 2024 Condition of Education Report: The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has published its Condition of Education report, which presents key indicators on the status of education at all levels throughout the country. This year the report includes a special highlight section about CTE. Read more about the report on the CTE Policy Watch Blog.
- Department of Education’s Recent Dear Colleague Letter on Correctional Education: The Office for Career, Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE) at the U.S. Department of Education circulated a Dear Colleague Letter advocating for strong investments in correctional education to promote safer communities and help reintegrate incarcerated individuals into the workforce through allocations of funds designated for CTE and adult education. Read more on the CTE Policy Watch Blog.
- Department of Labor Shares Resources on Registered Apprenticeship in Healthcare and Social Assistance: The Department of Labor has published new resources and materials on how to initiate new healthcare or social assistance registered apprenticeship programs.
- Department of Labor Announces Focus Calls to Inform New Registered Apprenticeship Opportunities: The Department of Labor announced a new series of Industry Focus Calls to provide information to state apprenticeship expansion grantees seeking to launch or expand Registered Apprenticeship Programs in education, green/clean energy, public sector and mental and behavioral science.
- Department of Labor Shares New Resource to support Registered Apprenticeship: The Department of Labor shared a new interactive resource to help promote to expansion of Registered Apprenticeship, “Setting the Stage for Sustainability Through Data Storytelling.”
In late May, the National Center for Education Research within the national Institute of Education Sciences (IES) released a funding announcement for Fiscal Year 2025 research grant competitions.
Education Research Grants through IES are designed to “expand the understanding of what works for whom, in what context, and why to provide reliable information about how to improve education outcomes for learners at all levels, including early childhood, elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and adult education.” Grants of up to $4 million are available to researchers in 11 different topic areas, including CTE. The CTE topic area is designed to support research on the implementation and effects of CTE programs and policies on students’ education and workforce outcomes. Specific topics mentioned in the research description include work-based learning, middle school CTE programs, and CTE teacher recruitment and retention and the impact on learner outcomes. Research looking at longer-term outcomes, such as college completion and earnings is also a priority. Applications for these grants are due September 12, 2024.
Those interested in applying for these research grants can access virtual office hours hosted by the National Center for Education Research. To learn more, visit https://ies.ed.gov/funding/technicalassistance.asp or reach out to the CTE program officer, Dr. Corinne Alfeld, at Corinne.Alfeld@ed.gov. More information about IES grants overall can be found at https://ies.ed.gov/funding/.
