High School CTE Course-Takers’ Postsecondary Enrollment Rates and Field of Study

Title: Postsecondary Occupational Education Among Students Who Took Career and Technical Education in High School

Source: National Center for Education Statistics

A recent report published by the National Center for Education Statistics uses the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 to examine postsecondary enrollment rates for students who took Career and Technical Education (CTE) credits in high school. The study was draws from a sample of approximately 11,600 students who started at public high schools in 2009 and graduated high school in 2013.

Key findings reveal that about three-quarters of CTE course-takers in high school enrolled in postsecondary education. This is lower than students who did not take CTE courses, of whom about 80 percent enrolled in college. The data also reveals that 70 percent of CTE concentrators in high school continued their CTE training in college, although only about one-quarter picked the same CTE area of study (from 10 designated CTE areas) as they did in high school.

To learn more details about the study’s results, CTE classifications, and methodology, please click here.

—Darsella Vigil