The Case for Increasing the Priority of Community College Career Technical Education Programs

The Career Technical Education (CTE) mission of the California Community Colleges is a vital part of the agenda to increase college completion and shore up economic competitiveness; yet this area of college academic programming gets too little emphasis and support. There is growing evidence of high market value of certificate and associate degree programs in select areas. There is also evidence that career-oriented programs can increase student motivation and improve outcomes, helping to meet workforce, equity, and productivity goals for California postsecondary education.

Yet the attention given to CTE has not matched that given to the junior college transfer mission or to developmental education.

This seminar will review the evidence produced to date in a multi-year research agenda on community college CTE. Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy (IHELP) researchers will document the high student interest in CTE along with the very low numbers of certificates and associate degree awarded. They will summarize the results of a system-wide inventory of CTE programs, by college, that suggests the need for far more attention to developing coherent program structures that deliver value to students and employers.

Researchers will also discuss some of the challenges facing the colleges presented by the organizational structure around the CTE and workforce development mission and draw some contrasts with other states that have assigned a higher priority to the CTE mission.

Speakers:

• Nancy Shulock, Executive Director, Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy, California State University, Sacramento
• Colleen Moore, Assistant Director, Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy, California State University, Sacramento
• Jeremy Offenstein, Research Specialist, Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy, California State University, Sacramento

Moderated by David N. Plank, Executive Director, PACE