What is CTE?

  • CTE equips secondary and postsecondary students with academic, technical and employability skills for further education and careers in high-wage, high-demand occupations.
  • CTE programs are delivered in a variety of settings: middle schools, comprehensive high schools, CTE-specific high schools, area technical centers, community and technical colleges, four-year universities, and corrections and detention facilities.
  • Through CTE, students can earn educational credentials like postsecondary certificates and degrees and industry credentials like licenses and certifications in program areas from business to broadcasting, manufacturing to marketing, health care to hospitality.
  • CTE is not just coursework: it includes career exploration, and opportunities to earn credentials and postsecondary credits.
  • CTE programs are increasingly organized into vertical pathways that start with broad, foundational knowledge and skills and progress over time to incorporate more occupationally specific knowledge and skills.
  • CTE students go onto college, apprenticeships, the workforce, the military and more.

CTE By the Numbers (2022-23)

  • CTE programs served over 7.8 million high school students and 3.3 million postsecondary students.
  • Within that total, 3.5 million high school students were CTE concentrators, taking 2+ courses in the same CTE program area, and 1.8 million postsecondary students were CTE concentrators, earning 12+ credits in a CTE program area (or less if the program is shorter).
  • High school CTE students were most likely to concentrate in Health Science; Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources; and Business and Marketing Career Clusters, while postsecondary CTE concentrators were more likely to concentrate in Health Science, Business and Marketing and IT.
  • In the 21 states/territories that collect this data, about 400,000 secondary CTE concentrators earned a recognized postsecondary credential.
  • In the 12 states/territories that collect this data, about 116,000 secondary CTE concentrators earned postsecondary credits in their CTE program area.
  • In the 29 states/territories that collect this data, about 215,000 secondary CTE concentrators participated in work-based learning.