Earning a bachelor’s degree is not the only option for students to succeed in the workforce. There are many pathways to landing a job, including enrolling in a career and technical education program.
“Evaluate your goals, your strengths, your interests and maybe be open to opportunities that you haven’t thought about before,” says Catherine Imperatore, research and content director at the not-for-profit Association for Career & Technical Education. “There’s so much more than just thinking about, ‘Oh, I’m going to be a doctor, lawyer, nurse, teacher.’ Those are great careers, but there are many different occupations.”
What Are Career and Technical Education Programs?
Career and technical education programs, sometimes referred to as vocational school, are available for middle school and high school students, as well as those seeking a postsecondary credential. CTE programs at the postsecondary level are commonly offered at community colleges and technical colleges.
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“These are usually nursing programs, like an RN program, (or) it could also be your traditional trades, like construction, HVAC, carpentry,” says Richard Kincaid, senior executive director of the Office of Career and College Pathways at the Maryland State Department of Education. “Some of them are degree programs, but a lot of them actually happen on the workforce side of the community college through nondegree programs because they culminate in a license or an industry-recognized credential that you would need to move into an industry.”
Many CTE pathways are aligned with secondary programs within a state, he adds.
“A high school student moving through a CTE program would then have an opportunity to sort of choose their own adventure when they go into postsecondary,” Kincaid says. “And the way that we really are working to redefine that — postsecondary could be a number of options, of which college is one of them. It could be an apprenticeship. It could be national service. It could be getting a two-year degree.”
Timing to completion varies, but these programs can range from a few weeks to two years, Imperatore says.
CTE programs prepare students with “increasingly specific technical and employability knowledge and skills for entry into occupations or for advancement within an industry or sector,” she says.
[Read: A Guide to Different Types of College Degrees.]
How to Choose a CTE Program
Choosing any postsecondary program — whether an apprenticeship, community college or four-year university — starts with research. Students should first consider their career goals, what type of credential they want to earn, a program’s history and the overall return on investment, experts say.
“Most public community and technical colleges have pretty low tuition rates, and also accept things like Pell Grants that help further fund education,” Imperatore says. “You don’t want to be spending tens of thousands of dollars, particularly for a shorter-term program.”
Pell Grants are a form of need-based federal financial aid and help eligible low-income students cover college costs.
David Smith, director of higher and continuing education at Lancaster County Career & Technology Center in Pennsylvania, advises students to talk with graduates of a particular program of interest.
“One of the things we like (potential students) to do is to come in and see the program and speak with the instructors, so they get a sense of what they’re getting into before they sign up with us,” he says. “See the lab space, see the classroom space … maybe talk to some of our students that we have currently in the programs to make sure it’s a good fit for them.”
Experts advise students to be wary of programs that have hidden fees, a poor reputation and no accreditation.
[READ: How to Find Financial Aid for Vocational Schools]
Examples of Jobs That Don’t Require a College Degree
By 2031, 72% of U.S. jobs will require postsecondary education and/or training, according to a 2023 analysis by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. Although fewer than half of positions — 42% — will go to workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher, that’s a six percentage point increase since 2021.
With the ever-changing job market, having any postsecondary credential — whether a certificate, license or degree — remains valuable.
“You look at fields like IT, it evolves so rapidly,” Kincaid says. “Just a decade ago, you were required to have a four-year degree to go into most IT fields. Now it’s a lot of on-the-job training. You can go through an apprenticeship program. You can go through workforce development … or any other of a number of rapid training programs to get that same job that you would have been required to get a four-year degree. These sort of options, students need to be made aware of them so that they understand all of the different routes needed to get to the place that they want to go.”
Below are examples of jobs that don’t require a college degree, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. At least a high school diploma or equivalent, as well as some on-the-job training or completion of a postsecondary educational program, is needed for these positions. The median yearly U.S. compensation for each of these occupations is based on BLS data from May 2023.
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A Guide to Career and Technical Education Programs originally appeared on usnews.com
