Career and technical education (CTE) plays a key role in preparing students for postsecondary education and the workforce by blending academic and technical instruction with opportunities to earn college credit, gain work experience, and obtain industry-recognized credentials. This study provides a comprehensive landscape analysis of CTE in the state over the last decade. The analysis followed more than 750,000 Washington students through high school and into postsecondary education and employment between 2013–14 and 2023–24 to understand their access to and participation in CTE programming, as well as the high school graduation, postsecondary, and labor market outcomes they achieved.
Key findings:
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At the state level, the provision of CTE has been steady since 2013–14. Rural schools, low-income schools, and small schools offered fewer pathways, on average. The stability of CTE offerings across the state is somewhat surprising given changes in the state’s economy over this time.
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Opportunities for students to earn college credit through CTE Dual Credit have become more equitable over the last 10 years. Schools across income levels offer a similar percentage of CTE Dual Credit courses, a program that enables students to earn college credit through CTE.
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Participation in CTE is high and has been growing over time. Among students in the 2024 cohort, 94 percent earned at least one credit in CTE overall. The share of students earning four or more credits in CTE overall rose from 42 percent (2017) to 56 percent (2024).
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Students are more likely to explore CTE broadly than to pursue in-depth study in a single pathway. Overall, 84 percent of students in the 2024 cohort earned at least two CTE credits across all pathways, while only 45 percent did so within a single pathway. Rates of earning at least two CTE credits in a single pathway were between 6 and 10 percentage points lower for several underserved groups, especially those who experienced homelessness, identified as American Indian/Alaska Native or Black, or were nonbinary.
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Students who earned more credits in CTE were more likely to graduate from high school. Compared to students who only took up to one credit in CTE, observationally similar students who earned more than one credit overall were 5.7 to 12.0 percentage points more likely to graduate from high school.
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Students who focused their CTE studies in a single pathway were generally more likely to experience stronger postsecondary or labor market outcomes six years following high school, with outcomes varying by cluster. Students focusing their studies in a single pathway—especially in Agriculture, Finance, Manufacturing, and Transportation—were more likely to complete a credential and earn a living wage six years after high school.
Documentation: