CTE Policy Watch: A blog for CTE advocates

Research Roundup: Community College Enrollment

Supporting Working-age Adults: Although community colleges nationwide are experiencing historic enrollment declines due to COVID-19, interest in these institutions among working-age learners remains strong. Through large-scale surveys and interviews with adult learners, a report by Strada Education Network documents 20.5 million working-age adults that intend to enroll in a community or technical college within the next two years. The following are challenges that working-age learners who intend to go to college face and recommendations community colleges can implement to help these learners succeed:

• Guidance and coaching: About 58% of these prospective students would be first-generation students and almost half worry they won’t succeed in college. Some effective ways to increase confidence and access to information among these learners are implementing career coaching programs and mapping curricula to in-demand skills.
• Wraparound supports: Approximately 31% earn an income less than $24,000. These learners can succeed in their academics at higher rates when provided assistance with food, housing, transportation and technology, which has been shown to double completion rates.
• Flexible and affordable education: About 52% of respondents are employed full time and 53% have children. Learners with multiple responsibilities can benefit from acceleration options like prior learning assessments, which can increase the number of graduates by 20 percentage points, and on-the-job learning through apprenticeships, which can nearly triple graduation numbers.
• Equity-based approaches: More than half of respondents are Black or Latino. These learners can be supported by equity-focused practices, such as earlier advising and support with academic and career planning, which have been shown to improve enrollment and completion gaps by race.

Building Back Enrollment: To determine whether community colleges enable students to access high-quality career or transfer opportunities, the Community College Research Center created a data tool that allows users to view which credentials and programs are being completed within each state and college. Using the data tool, CCRC found misalignment in transfer opportunities between associate degree programs and bachelor’s degree programs, specifically for liberal arts and sciences programs, as well as the need for certificate and associate degree programs to improve connections to high-wage job opportunities.

Enrollment Silver Linings: The American Association of Community Colleges has outlined innovative strategies that colleges have used to increase their enrollment in fall 2021. Some colleges are focusing on recruiting high school students through dual enrollment courses. For instance, Northeastern Technical College in South Carolina created a summer program for high school students with mid-range GPAs who were at risk of falling through the cracks. This fall, all 121 participants signed up for dual enrollment courses and, owing to this and other recruitment and retention strategies, the college’s enrollment increased by 34%. Other colleges are addressing barriers to enrollment by offering free tuition for adult learners or providing transportation options. In addition, a few colleges like, Windward Community College in Hawai’i, created short-term certificates for their most popular programs.

Assessing Pandemic Predictions: When the COVID-19 pandemic closed postsecondary institutions across the country in April 2020, researchers predicted declines in enrollment, increases in transfer rates and permanent closures. To determine whether these predictions were fulfilled, the Chronicle of Higher Education published an article using fall 2020 data from the U.S. Department of Education to reveal how institutions actually fared. The following are key findings from the article:

• While overall enrollment did not decline as significantly as predicted, declines in enrollment for first-time, full-time students reached high rates across all institutions. Public two-year institutions faced the steepest declines in first-time, full-time students, at a rate of 16.5%.
• Although closures of postsecondary institutions were predicted, only 15 colleges closed permanently, merged with or were acquired by another institution. Two of these colleges were private two-year institutions and the rest were four-year universities.
• It was predicted that students would start their postsecondary education at community colleges or transfer to them at higher rates than in years past. However, transfer student enrollments at public associate-degree-granting colleges dropped by 19% in fall 2020 from the year prior.

Updated: Financial Services Sector Sheet

This fall, ACTE has updated its Sector Sheet on CTE’s role in developing the workforce for the finance sector with current labor market information, descriptions of how CTE prepares individuals for careers in financial services, and examples of exemplary programs in finance.

The U.S. economy is rapidly evolving and employers in financial services are seeking an adaptable workforce that can respond to industry changes. Employment in business and financial services is predicted to grow faster than average and will add more than 476,000 new jobs by 2029. These occupations can pay well above the national median wage, including jobs that require education below the bachelor’s degree level. For example, insurance sales agents earn more than $52,000 annually, on average, while claims adjusters, appraisers, examiners and investigators make $68,000 – more if they work for the federal government.

CTE programs are at the forefront of preparing individuals for financial services careers. On the secondary level, the Academy of Finance at Como Park Senior High School in Saint Paul, Minnesota, offers a rigorous, cohort-based program. The academy, which received Advance CTE’s Excellence in Action Award in 2019, includes extensive work-based learning opportunities such as the on-campus Hiway Federal Credit Union branch. Students can receive up to 16 college credits as well as a business certificate from Saint Paul College. On the postsecondary level, the Applied Finance Institute at Metropolitan Community College (MCC) in Nebraska gives students access to high-demand credentials in the field of finance. In 2020, the Applied Finance Institute began offering a financial counseling certificate program, making MCC the first community college in the nation to provide a pathway to becoming an Accredited Financial Counselor®. All programs at the Applied Finance Institute offer opportunities for students to stack credentials or articulate to an Associate in Applied Science degree in Business Administration.

ACTE’s Sector Sheet series is generously supported by Pearson.   

Factors that Impact Lifetime Earnings

A recent report by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce finds that higher educational attainment does not always correlate with higher earnings – industry, geography and other factors play a role, too.

Using survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau, researchers explored variations in lifetime earnings based on education level, industry, gender, race and ethnicity, and geographic location. While the report confirms that lifetime earnings typically grow with higher levels of education – compared to a high school diploma, some postsecondary education increases earnings by 19%, an associate degree by 25% and a bachelor’s degree by 75% – there are many exceptions:

• 40% of workers with some postsecondary education earn more than half of all workers with an associate degree.
• 28% of associate degree holders and 23% of workers with some postsecondary education earn more than half of all workers with a bachelor’s degree.

Differences in earnings widen over time and workers with lower education levels, especially those with less than a high school diploma, typically experience lower growth in earnings.

Industry is another factor that influences lifetime earnings. Associate degree holders earn the most in health care practitioner, computer and mathematical, and architecture and engineering occupations. In fact, associate degree holders in computer and mathematical occupations and in health care practitioner occupations have the same median lifetime earnings as all bachelor’s degree holders. Food preparation and serving, personal care and service, and building and grounds cleaning occupations are among the lowest-paying jobs.

Gender, race and ethnicity impact earnings as well. The report finds that women have lower median lifetime earnings than men across all levels of education and require one more degree than men to reach equivalent earnings. Disparities in earnings persist across all racial and ethnic groups. For example, among associate degree holders, white workers earn a median of $2.1 million, compared to $2 million for Asian workers, $1.9 million for Latino workers and $1.7 million for Black workers.

Lastly, researchers found that lifetime earnings vary by state, even when adjusted for the cost of living, in part because of different concentrations of industries and occupations among states. Lifetime earnings for associate degree holders are highest in Alaska, Wyoming, Connecticut, Wyoming, Ohio, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Indiana and Louisiana.

ACTION ALERT: Ask Members of Congress to Support CTE Funding on Twitter!

Recently, the House Education and Labor Committee approved its portion of the budget reconciliation bill, known as the Build Back Better Act, containing $4 billion for CTE! ACTE is now calling on Congress to maintain the robust funding levels provided in that bill for CTE and other workforce development programs as the budget reconciliation negotiations continue!  

Members of Congress and their communications teams are constantly keeping an eye on Twitter to monitor the biggest conversations that are taking place among their constituents, the media and advocates. As CTE stakeholders, it has never been more important to engage in the #careerteched conversation on Twitter to meet Members of Congress where they are and urge them to prioritize critical investments in CTE. 

At this stage of the reconciliation process, congressional leadership is in the midst of heavy negotiations, so now is the time to act – we need your help to keep CTE programs top of mind for Members of Congress as they make key funding decisions affecting CTE! 

Engaging with your policymakers on social media will take less than five minutes! Sending messages is particularly important if you live in a state or district with Democratic Members of Congress, as they have the most influence over these negotiations! 

ACTION NEEDED: 

If you have a Twitter account, CLICK HERE to send a Tweet urging Members of Congress to support CTE funding in the Build Back Better Act. Below are tips to utilize the Twitter function of ACTE’s Action Alert system:

 

• Input your address, then check or uncheck the blue checkboxes to choose the Tweets you want to send. 
• The Tweets are customizable, so if you want to add your own thoughts to the pre-written Tweet in the text box, you can do so! 
• Next, a window will pop up asking you to authorize the Congress Web application for use on your Twitter account. Authorize the app and press the blue “send” button to complete the process. 

 

Additionally, if you are not active on Twitter and would like to send a letter to your Members of Congress, please click here to send an email through  ACTE’s Action Center! Please connect with them on Twitter or send a letter today!

DC Digest: October 4-10

This week in Washington, the House was in recess while the Senate was in session to focus on nominations and hearings. The Senate passed an increase to the debt ceiling to avert a fiscal crisis, and the House will return to Washington early next week to vote on the debt ceiling increase as well. Congressional leaders are still negotiating on the budget reconciliation package, and little movement on the bill has occurred publicly this week. In the meantime, here is the most important news from Washington this week: 
 

• Department of Education Announces Changes to Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program: The Department of Education has announced changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF). These changes include: a limited PSLF waiver that allows all payments by student borrowers to count toward PSLF, regardless of loan program or payment plan; automatically providing credit toward PSLF for military service members and federal employees using federal data matches; and reviewing denied PSLF applications for errors and giving borrowers the ability to have their PSLF determinations reconsidered. 
   
• Department of Education Approves Additional ARP-ESSER Funds: The Department of Education has announced that it has approved ARP-ESSER plans for Michigan, Wyoming, Missouri and Arizona. ARP-ESSER funds are used to support schools and students as they reopen for in-person learning, and to help sustain the safe operation of schools. 
   
• Jobs for the Future (JFF) Announces Grant Opportunity: JFF will be awarding $50,000 grants to three organizations across the country that are working to build regional IT career pathways. Workforce development boards, community colleges and other training and education providers, industry associations, intermediaries, and community-based nonprofit organizations may apply for these grants. Organizations across the country are encouraged to apply, especially those in the Miami, Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, New York, and Washington, DC, metro areas. Applications will be accepted through November 1, 2021, and recipients must complete all grant activities within six months of receiving the award. Please submit any questions regarding the RFP or the application process to Emily Pipes (epipes@jff.org) and notify her of your intent to apply by 5 p.m. PT on October 25, 2021. Click here for more information on how to apply. 
   

• ACTE Joins Over Fifty Education Organizations to Support Internet Access: Fifty-seven education-related organizations sent a letter to congressional leaders on October 7 urging them to continue funding for student devices and broadband access through the budget reconciliation bill. Initial funding for the "Emergency Connectivity Fund" to assist schools was provided in the American Rescue Plan Act earlier this year but is in danger of running out soon.  
   
• Senate Moves Forward on Biden Administration Nominations: Several Department of Education nominations were confirmed this week by the full Senate, including Gwen Graham to be the assistant secretary for legislation and congressional affairs; Roberto Rodríguez to be the assistant secretary for planning, evaluation, and policy development; and Elizabeth Merrill Brown as general counsel. In addition, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing on the nomination of Jose Javier Rodriguez to be the assistant secretary for employment and training at the Department of Labor.  
   
• Department of Education Launches Negotiated Rulemaking Session: The Department held its first of three expected discussions on proposed regulatory changes, specifically focused on student aid programs including Public Service Loan Forgiveness. You can read more about the topics discussed in this Inside Higher Ed article.

Research Roundup: Improvements and Insights for Workforce Education

Recovery Through Credentials: With over 37 million workers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, postsecondary and workforce leaders are enhancing supports for adult learners through education and training. To facilitate these efforts, the Education Strategy Group created a playbook to help state and institutional leaders develop structures to serve adult learners. After completing a self-assessment, leaders can explore strategies, action steps and exemplars in five priority areas:

• Accessibility: Leverage funding to increase adult learner enrollment and persistence, ensure institutional and state aid aligns with adult learners’ needs and conduct comprehensive outreach.
• Program Change: Deliver adult-friendly programs using culturally inclusive classrooms and active learning, create flexible programs, and develop pathways that support all skill levels.
• Operational Change: Centralize student services and develop efficient systems for personalized student advising.
• Data: Strengthen data measurement and collection systems to effectively track the outcomes of adult learners.
• Partnerships: Collaborate with employers and workforce systems to ensure program relevance and create wrap-around supports.

 

Connecting Education to Work: Multiple workforce development entities can result in uncoordinated efforts that may not meet the needs of learners and employers. To help ensure that education and training are connected to good jobs, the Education Commission of the States, with the support of Strada Education Network, created the following principles to assist state policymakers when designing workforce development policies:

• Support adult learners by addressing barriers to education through credit for prior learning, flexible financial aid policies and access to stackable credentials.
• Ensure postsecondary outcomes align with labor market needs by establishing collaboration across state, local and regional stakeholders.
• Improve data systems to generate efficient, transparent and actionable data analysis that is useful for education and workforce leaders as well as learners.
• Align existing and new funding streams to support state workforce goals.

Digital Skills Forecast: As employers across all industries increasingly value digital skills, jobseekers and education and training programs need greater clarity about which tech skills are in high demand. Recently, Emsi Burning Glass and General Assembly developed The Digital Talent Forecast to provide insight into digital skill trends for major industries and occupations. Using skills information from over 13 million job postings, the following outlines their major findings:

• Data analysis is the most relevant skill across all occupations, appearing in 18% of all postings and 60% of postings for business occupations.
• In the manufacturing industry, digital skills are highly valued in a few specific roles. For example, 83% of all semiconductor job posts and 58% of all machining job posts mention at least one digital skill.
• Employers are in search of candidates that combine tech skills with interpersonal skills, like collaboration, and business skills, like project management. For instance, half of all computer occupations mention at least one of these interpersonal or business skills.
• Marketing is rapidly digitizing, with 100% of job postings mentioning at least one digital skill. Similarly, 83% of all retail postings mention at least one digital skill.

Realistic Reskilling: With proposals to reskill the workforce becoming more popular, it’s important to understand whether policies align with the priorities of workers themselves. Recently, Penn Foster published a survey of 1,000 middle-skill workers in jobs that do not require a bachelor’s degree. The following findings provide an insight into workers’ opinions on reskilling and challenges they anticipate in a recovering economy:

• Most respondents switching occupations are looking in the field in which they already work, and more than half believe learning new skills on the job is more important than earning a degree or certificate.
• The need for and cost of training are among the most cited barriers keeping workers from looking for new jobs. Workers reported that they believe job-specific skills and so-called hard skills would be more important than employability skills for a new job, although research suggests that employers value skills like collaboration, communication and critical thinking.
• Better pay and long-term stability are important considerations when considering a job change, especially for respondents with a high school diploma or some college.

DC Digest September 27-October 3

This week in Washington, House and Senate committees held hearings and considered pending nominations. Congressional leaders have been working to bring the Build Back Better Act, also known as the budget reconciliation package, to the House floor for a vote alongside the companion bipartisan infrastructure deal, but these negotiations remain fluid. In the biggest news of the week, both chambers passed a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded beyond September 30, the end of fiscal year. As we wait for more details on the timing of further action, here are the latest news and notes from DC: 

 

• House and Senate Education Committees Hold School Reopening Hearings: On September 29 and 30 respectively, the House Education and Labor Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held hearings on the safe reopening of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. Witnesses discussed mitigation strategies and policies surrounding school reopening. 

  

• Department of Labor Announces Grant Funding to Support Workers: The Department of Labor has announced the award of nearly $68 million in grant funding to help 29 organizations in 20 states and territories connect job seekers to employment as the economy continues its recovery from the impacts of the pandemic. The grant funding is part of the CAREER National Dislocated Worker Grants, which are designed to help individuals most affected by the pandemic.

Research Roundup: Improving Equity in CTE & Postsecondary Completion

Brave Dialogues About Race in CTE: Advance CTE recently published Brave Dialogues: A Guide to Discussing Racial Equity in Career Technical Education. The guide equips state CTE leaders with tools to discuss racial equity in CTE with staff and local practitioners and address equity gaps that have emerged from the Perkins V comprehensive local needs assessment. The guide uses a framework that encourages critical self-reflection through three components:

• Awareness: Understanding how an individual’s values, assumptions and biases impact policy design in CTE.
• Knowledge: Education about how an individual’s culture and life experiences show up in their academics and ways CTE policies contribute or reduce oppression for marginalized learners.
• Skills: Application of awareness and knowledge components to evaluate and develop CTE policies that are rooted in equity.

The guide is organized into six sessions along with educational readings, videos and other work to complete outside of the sessions. In addition to this participant version, Advance CTE has created an accompanying facilitator addendum to help facilitators lead the discussions included in the guide.

Creating the conditions for open, honest dialogue is also important when engaging CTE learners in developing, assessing and improving CTE programs and support services, as further described in With Learners, Not for Learners: A Toolkit for Elevating Learner Voice in CTE from Advance CTE and ACTE. 

Equitable Guided Pathways: Since 2015, the Community College Research Center (CCRC) has studied the adoption, implementation, costs and effects of guided pathways at over 100 community colleges. A report by CCRC describes how guided pathways have evolved over the years and provides suggestions for community colleges to ensure equitable and successful guided pathways. The following outlines CCRC’s key recommendations:

• Build academic and career communities that prepare students for well-paying jobs and guarantee transfer opportunities in their major fields of study.
• Ensure new student onboarding includes guided exploration, relationships with an academic and career community, and a personalized plan aligned with one’s career and transfer goals.
• Replace standardized placement testing with diagnostic testing to identify where students need improvement and enhance academic support across the curriculum.
• Provide case-management advising according to field of study and track progress and schedule classes based on students’ individualized educational plans.
• Incorporate active learning opportunities across all programs and provide professional development to faculty on best practices for effective college teaching.

Debt and College Completion Gaps: Currently, the college completion gap between Latino students and their white and Asian peers exceeds 10 percentage points and some experts believe that aversion to education debt is the cause of the Latino college completion gap. However, a report by the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and UnidosUS concludes that debt aversion does not operate as a stand-alone driver of the college completion gap. Researchers surveyed more than 1,500 people who began but did not complete a college program, followed by interviews with Latino survey participants and postsecondary policy experts, to reveal the following findings:

• Latinos exhibit greater debt aversion and report the desire to avoid debt as a barrier to college completion at a rate of almost 8 percentage points higher than non-Latinos.
• Although Latinos show disproportionately high levels of debt aversion, researchers found that the most salient predictors of the college completion gap are transportation and the overall cost of college. Latinos reported transportation as a barrier at a 19% higher rate and the cost of college as a barrier at a 22.5% higher rate than non-Latinos.
• Participants feared borrowing for education due to lived experiences of their family members who are unbanked and have been subjected to predatory credit markets, an issue that disproportionately affects Latinos, and several discussed the burden that debt put on their families.

Read the report’s qualitative findings here and related quantitative findings here.

Disparities in College Opportunity by Gender and Race: While a growing number of Black Californians have a college education, postsecondary attainment gaps between Black men and women and their white counterparts persist. The Campaign for College Opportunity recently released a report examining graduation rates among California’s Black men and women in California Community Colleges (CCC), the California State University (CSU) and the University of California (UC). The following highlight researchers’ key findings:

• Approximately 70% of Black men and over 60% of Black women undergraduates in California are enrolled at CCC. While three- and four-year completion rates have improved for both Black men and women at CCC, only 8% of men and 10% of women earned a credential within three years. Furthermore, Black men and women are supported to transfer at lower rates.
• At CSU, the primary transfer destination for CCC students, more than two-thirds of Black men and women who transferred graduate in four years. However, Black men and women graduate at a rate of 10 to 11 percentage points lower than white men and women.
• Over 80% of Black transfer students graduate from UC within four years of enrolling, but graduation rates for Black men and women are lower than for their white peers.

Congress Passes Continuing Resolution

On September 30, Congress passed a continuing resolution (CR) to continue funding for current programs and avert a shutdown of the federal government until December 3rd. The CR was necessary because Congress has not finished work on its FY 2022 appropriations bills and the new fiscal year was set to begin on October 1.

The CR passed by a 65-35 vote in the Senate and a 254-175 vote in the House and was quickly signed into law by President Biden. The CR that was enacted followed an earlier attempt to continue funding in tandem with lifting the debt ceiling. That combined effort had been rejected Republican Senators, so the CR signed by President Biden did not address the debt ceiling, which Secretary of Commerce Janet Yellen says Congress must do before October 18th to prevent the United States from defaulting on its debts for the first time in history.

For almost all education programs, including Perkins, funding was not at risk because they are funded in advance. These programs are not due additional money until July 2022, meaning they will not be directly impacted should Congress fail to keep the government open on December 3rd. It is highly common for Congress to use continuing resolutions to stopgap funding – Congress has utilized this method every year except four since 1976. Going forward, in addition to completing work on the appropriations bills, Congress must also come up with a plan to lift or suspend the debt ceiling while it negotiates the infrastructure bill and Build Back Better Act, which contain most of President Biden’s economic agenda.  

CTE and COVID-19: Responses, Innovations and Implications

The COVID-19 pandemic presented unique challenges for CTE programs, especially in regard to hands-on learning experiences. Recently, the CTE Research Network published a report addressing how CTE program offerings and student participation changed during spring 2020 and the 2020-21 academic year. To develop this report, Network researchers conducted interviews with teachers, administrators and curriculum developers from 22 CTE programs at the secondary and postsecondary levels.

Delivery Methods: Of the 22 CTE programs, researchers found that one program ceased operating in spring 2020 while 21 programs delivered instruction remotely, primarily online although some programs supplemented with paper packets and equipment kits. More than half of the programs cited lack of broadband and technology access as a challenge. In the 2020-21 academic year, 17 programs moved from remote learning to other delivery formats, primarily hybrid formats or shifting delivery formats owing to changes in state and local guidance.

Learning Activities: Although most programs reported cancelled or reduced hands-on and work-based learning opportunities, some implemented modularized instruction with theory taught virtually and hands-on practice in person, used online platforms to connect students to industry professionals or established new pathways. Several programs also reported strengthened employer partnerships due to flexible online meeting options. Additionally, many programs shifted professional development for educators online, which increased educator engagement for some.

Student Enrollment and Engagement: A few programs described lower than expected enrollment for fall 2020 while some reported increased enrollment. For the 2021-22 academic year, most programs cited enrollment concerns due to the loss of in-person recruitment events. Many programs also reported that students struggled to balance core subject classes with CTE classes that focused more on theory than the hands-on learning students originally expected. In addition, participation in CTSOs sharply declined.

Student Performance Impacts: Some CTE programs revised grading measures or extended grading periods in response to COVID-19 disruptions. In addition, 11 programs stated that students lost opportunities to take industry certification exams and some that did offer industry certification exams reported lower participation and proficiency rates.

Changes to Continue: While COVID-19 presented challenges, CTE programs noted innovative elements that will likely continue when the pandemic ends. Many programs found increasing educators’ proficiency with technology resulted in valuable recorded lessons and virtual collaboration with employers, families and students.

The report also outlined questions CTE researchers should consider as they measure program and student outcomes during and after the pandemic, including understanding how programs responded to the pandemic, studying what aspects of programs changed, and examining outcomes and data reporting issues.

ACTE serves as one of the CTE Research Network Leads, in partnership with the American Institutes for Research, JFF and Vanderbilt University. The Network’s findings align with ACTE’s own research on this topic, captured in our report High-quality CTE During COVID-19: Challenges and Innovations.