The Effect of CTE on Long-Run Education and Labor Market Outcomes: New Evidence from Texas

• In Event: Using Statewide Administrative Data to Examine the Inputs and Outcomes of Career and Technical Education (CTE)

Abstract

This paper describes the causal effect of taking career and technical education (CTE) coursework during high school on long-term education and labor market outcomes. Using thirty years of schooling and wage data from over seven million students in Texas, we first document growth in both students completing coherent sequences of CTE coursework and schools offering CTE classes. We also describe the characteristics of students and schools that predict CTE completion and course offerings, and how these factors change over time. To identify the causal effect of CTE coursework, we utilize plausibly exogenous variation in CTE course offerings within school over time driven by CTE instructor transitions, including retirements as well as teacher mobility across schools and districts.  We estimate effects by type of CTE program, and examine effect heterogeneity by student characteristics such as gender and academic ability.

Author

• Brian Aaron Jacob, University of Michigan
  Presenting Author