The number of Michigan students taking career and technical education courses has surpassed pre-COVID enrollment for the first time, according to the Michigan Department of Education. Those courses, which provide career training for high school students for free, experienced higher enrollment and completion rates than 2019.
Career and technical education programs span 17 sectors or “clusters” in Michigan. They range from hospitality to automotive to health sciences. The programs are a way for students to jump-start their careers, said Celena Mills, director of the state Office of Career and Technical Education.
“It offers students a competitive advantage to get started in a career faster and move along their career pathway in a quicker fashion,” she said. Students will graduate with a regular high school diploma, but can also complete high school credit, college credit or work towards specialized certification while enrolled.
Interest in these kinds of programs has grown over the past several years, said Brian Jacob, a professor at the University of Michigan and co-director of the Youth Policy Lab.
“Regular four year college costs have gone up and concerns about student debt load have gone up,” he said. More students are finding it difficult to complete a four-year degree as well, he said.
The programs can also help students who are struggling in high school.
“The courses themselves can be more engaging. They're more kind of applied, hands on, real world,” he said. “And I think for many students that can be a motivating factor to stay in school.”
But there are gaps in accessing these programs. Jacob studies those gaps and where they might be in Michigan. The biggest barrier is whether any programs are available nearby, he said.
“There's pretty substantial differences in availability, like access across different regions and even within some regions in the state,” Jacob said.
Mills agreed. But providing more programs in more school districts will require more funding.
“CTE programs are more expensive to run due to the way that they're structured and the amount of equipment that they require,” she said. “In order to get [new programs] up and running, we need more funds to be able to help them do that.”
The broadest, most accessible programs are part of intermediate school districts with a millage dedicated to funding the programs, according to Jacob’s research.
He also found that Black and Hispanic students are less likely to have access to the same quantity and variety of programs as white students. That’s partly because they are less likely to live somewhere that has such a millage, according to a 2022 study he co-authored.
That’s why the Youth Policy Lab and state office are partnering up to study how many programs are available in each district across the state. They’ll start in early 2025.
“We can determine ‘what do we need to do to reach out and increase our participation across diverse populations?’” Mills said. “And then [determine] ‘are there things that we can do to continue to support students once they're in the program to help them be successful?’”
The current numbers are still good news, Mills said.
“The fact that we've increased [enrollment and completion] each year and we've had such a great increase since 2020 has been amazing. And we're excited that we're able to offer those opportunities to students. And we think all students should be able to have those.”
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