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U.S. high school enrollment in career and technical education courses rose 10% between 2022-23 and 2023-24, reaching 8.6 million students. The opinion report argues that growth alone does not show whether programs lead to durable earnings, further education or valued credentials, and cites gaps in employer involvement and outcome tracking.
U.S. high school participation in career and technical education rose 10% from 7.8 million students in 2022-23 to 8.6 million in 2023-24, according to the Department of Education, but an opinion report in The 74 argues that expanding enrollment is not enough to show whether programs deliver lasting benefits. The piece points to research finding that outcomes vary by program design, while many districts have limited employer involvement and do not track whether graduates find jobs.
The report draws on studies of different CTE models rather than treating the field as one uniform intervention. A review by Hannah Kistler and Shaun Dougherty found that young men who attended specialized technical high schools in Connecticut earned about 32% more in their first years of work than similar applicants who narrowly missed admission. The researchers attributed about one-fifth of that earnings gain to work experience related to students’ studies. The report describes those schools as having sequenced courses, stable student cohorts and strong local employer ties.
Results were more mixed in a study by Yerin Yoon and Dougherty of Massachusetts high schools that added state-approved programs. The programs required 900 hours of instruction, licensed teachers and employer placements. Students with access earned about 9% more one year after graduation and worked more through age 23, but were about 2.4 percentage points less likely to enroll in a four-year college. The earnings advantage had faded by age 23, around the time college graduates begin entering the labor market, the report says.
Outcomes varied within the Massachusetts programs. Health, information technology and teaching courses, which the report says had stronger links to further education, increased employment with only a small reduction in college enrollment. Construction and transportation programs were associated with a larger decline in college-going. The report also says schools upgrading existing programs appeared to do better than those starting from scratch, possibly because they already had experienced staff and established arrangements.
Growth Depends on Program Design
The findings make the enrollment increase an incomplete measure of CTE’s success. The report argues that course sequencing, access to further learning and employer-recognized credentials shape whether a program supports students beyond graduation. It calls these features the “three Ss”: sequencing courses toward relevant work experience, stackability so credentials can lead to more education, and signaling through qualifications employers value.
That distinction matters to students weighing work and college options, and to districts deciding how to spend limited resources. A credential may help a student enter a job, but the report’s evidence suggests its value can depend on the field, the student’s access to later education and whether local employers recognize it. A 2020 analysis by ExcelinEd and Burning Glass cited in the report found that just 18% of credentials earned by high school students were sought by employers.
The article also cautions against assuming benefits are shared equally. In the Connecticut research, effects on young women’s earnings were limited; in Massachusetts, the early earnings increase was largest for young men. An Ohio study of industry credentials, as summarized in the report, found that the earnings advantage for young men grew over time, while the advantage for young women shrank and later turned negative. The report links part of this difference to men earning more credentials in higher-paying fields such as construction, manufacturing and transportation.
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Districts Must Match Programs Locally
Federal law already calls for local planning. Under the 2018 rewrite of the federal Perkins Act, districts receiving federal CTE funds must conduct a local needs assessment every two years. The intended process brings employers, colleges, workforce boards, families and students together to consider labor-market needs before programs are selected.
But an evaluation cited in The 74 found that the process has not consistently produced that collaboration. In 2022-23, more than a third of districts did not closely involve any outside group, and only 37% closely involved employers. Among districts that identified a need to change programs, just a third said the assessment helped much in reaching that decision. Nearly half of states said the process was burdensome enough to deter some districts from applying.
Other indicators in the report point to gaps between student interest and access to work experience. A RAND survey found that two-thirds of high school seniors planned to take part in an internship or apprenticeship, but 22% had done so by spring of senior year. The report says only 37% of districts offer internships and 21% offer apprenticeships. It also cites weak outcome tracking: only 15% of high schools track whether graduates find jobs, and 29% of districts in a federal evaluation did not know whether they were expected to meet CTE performance targets.
““The lesson isn’t that CTE fails outside specialized schools. It’s that CTE isn’t one thing.””
— The 74 opinion report
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Long-Term Returns Remain Uneven
The cited studies examine particular places, programs and student groups; their findings do not establish that every CTE program will produce the same earnings or college outcomes. The Massachusetts earnings advantage had faded by age 23, but the source material does not establish what happens to students’ longer-term earnings or education after that age. It also does not provide enough detail to identify which specific programs or credentials will retain employer value over time.
The report’s account ends as it introduces six recommendations for state and district leaders, but the available source text includes only the opening suggestion: make local needs assessments simpler and more useful. The other recommendations are not provided, so their content cannot be confirmed here. The article also does not give a full account of the studies’ methods or uncertainty estimates.
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Better Assessments and Follow-Up
The report points toward more useful local assessments, stronger employer and college participation, and better tracking of what happens to graduates. Those steps could help districts judge whether programs should be maintained, changed or ended, rather than relying mainly on enrollment or labor-market data when opening new courses.
The source does not specify a new policy deadline or a scheduled federal action. The next observable developments are likely to be how districts carry out their biennial assessments, whether they expand internships and apprenticeships, and whether schools begin reporting job outcomes and other measures that show how students fare after leaving high school.
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Key Questions
How much did high school CTE enrollment grow?
The Department of Education figures cited in the report show enrollment rising 10%, from 7.8 million students in 2022-23 to 8.6 million in 2023-24.
Does CTE participation guarantee higher earnings?
No. The studies summarized in the report found different results across settings and programs. Some showed early earnings gains, while one Massachusetts study found that the advantage had faded by age 23.
Why do employer connections matter?
The report says employers can help schools shape programs around local work needs and provide relevant placements. It also cites a 2020 analysis finding that only 18% of credentials high school students earned were sought by employers.
Are internships and apprenticeships widely available?
Not according to the figures cited. Only 37% of districts offered internships and 21% offered apprenticeships, while 22% of surveyed seniors had taken part in either by spring of senior year.
What remains uncertain about CTE outcomes?
The source material does not establish long-term earnings effects beyond the ages covered by the cited studies, or whether findings from particular programs apply broadly. It also does not include the full set of six recommendations mentioned in the opinion report.
Source: rss
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