Career and Technical Education in High School: Relationships to Postsecondary Trajectories and Employment Outcomes

• In Event: Career and Technical Education Roundtable 1

Abstract

Using the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, this paper examined the relationship between the number of CTE units taken in high school and the postsecondary trajectories students take after high school, whether the student is employed and what their annual income is three years after high school using OLS regression and propensity score matching. Results from the study indicate that each additional CTE credit in high school is associated with a higher probability of working full-time and attending 2-year colleges and a decreased probability of attending 4-year colleges. Each additional CTE credit in high school is also associated with an increased probability of working full-time three years after high school and higher wages.

Author

• Monica Mean, U.S. Department of Education