Career & Technical Education

Career & Technical Education (CTE) provides students with the academics, technical skills, knowledge, and training necessary to succeed in future careers and to become lifelong learners, with an emphasis on real-world, real-life skills.

Helping All Students Become Career and College Ready

Career and Technical Education (CTE) promotes and supports locally-based middle and high school programs that provide 21st-century, academic, and technical skills for all students. Whether you plan to go to work straight out of high school or eventually earn a PhD, whether you have a clear career goal or just want to learn something practical and new, you can benefit from CTE.

Through CTE, students

• Explore careers in middle and high school, especially careers in high-demand, high-growth fields such as healthcare and green technologies

• Identify a career goal

• Write a High School and Beyond Plan, with help from school career and guidance counselors, that identifies the high school and college-level academic and skills-based classes, training programs, and apprenticeships that will best prepare them for their career path of choice.

• Take classes in high schools, at skills centers, and at community and technical colleges that apply math, science, and other academic subjects in real-life, hands-on ways

• Pursue a rigorous Programs of Study to a registered apprenticeship, industry certifications, and two- and four-year college options.

• Earn tuition-free college credits as well as high school credits required for graduation

• Become leaders by participating in skills competitions and community service