Attainment of Industry Recognized Credentials in Michigan’s CTE Programs: Variations Within and Across Career Clusters

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

Abstract

With the adoption of Perkins V in 2020 Michigan chose the attainment of recognized postsecondary credentials as a Core Performance Indicator for CTE program quality. In the Perkins V State Plan for 2020-2023, the state’s target for credential attainment was 10% by FY 2023, meaning that 10% of all CTE concentrators would earn a state-approved industry recognized credential. The state not only met this goal – reaching a credential attainment rate of 11.5% in 2023 – but the rate nearly doubled to 19.9% in 2024. 

As with many high-level measures, this overall attainment rate obscures important differences across CTE clusters and across student groups. While the overall rate was 20%, the credential attainment rate for White men was twice as high as for Black men (24% vs 12%) and considerably higher than the rates for both White and Black women (17% and 13%, respectively). 

Some of these gaps can be explained by patterns of student sorting into different CTE clusters and differences in attainment rates across clusters. Over 42% of Transportation, Distribution, & Logistics (TDL) concentrators earned a state approved credential in 2024 and 74% of TDL concentrators were White men. Meanwhile only 6% of Education & Training concentrators earned a state-approved credential and only 9% of Education concentrators were White men and 72% were White women. 

Using administrative data on every CTE student in Michigan, our paper looks at the variation in credential attainment rates within and across CTE career clusters. We analyze the extent to which student sorting into different clusters contributes to overall disparities in credential attainment and how much of the variation is at the school level with some schools having much higher attainment rates across the board than others.

Author

• Lynn Meissner, University of Michigan Ann Arbor
  Presenting Author