CTE Policy Watch: A blog for CTE advocates

ED Launches CTE CHIPS Challenge With $1M Prize Pool

This week, the U.S. Department of Education launched the CTE CHIPS Challenge, a $1 million multi-phase prize competition to expand student recruitment, training and placement strategies in semiconductor fabrication (fab) construction and advanced manufacturing careers aligned with the CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS). Learn how you can take advantage of this opportunity with the first CTE CHIPS Challenge informational webinar on October 29.

Through this Challenge, the Department invites educators to submit innovative action plans by December 20 to:

• Increase students’ opportunities to develop skills and experiences that better prepare them CHIPS-aligned careers;
• Expand student recruitment, training and placement strategies in these high-skill, high-wage in-demand careers; and 
• Support teachers in building out CTE programs. 

Semi-finalists and finalists will be eligible to receive targeted technical assistance, opportunities to learn from subject experts, access to peer networks, recognition on a national scale and a portion of the $1 million prize pool. 

Join the CTE CHIPS Challenge Community and encourage others in your network to do the same. Learn more at CTECHIPSChallenge.com. 

Department of Education Proposes Significant Perkins Changes

Earlier this week, the Department of Education released a set of proposed changes to Perkins state plans and data reporting through the Federal Register. The changes are open for public comment through November 12.

The proposal, packaged as revised “Information Collection Requests,” would amend both the State Plan Guide that dictates what must be included in each state’s Perkins V plan and the Consolidated Annual Report that states submit each year to the Department of Education. While some of the proposed changes are relatively minor, others are more significant. Combined, these proposals are likely to require every state to submit a new Perkins V plan by the spring of 2026 and make changes to the structure of measures within their Perkins accountability system.

We are working with states and other CTE leaders to determine the full implication of these changes and will be sharing concerns with the Department as the comment period unfolds. As we analyze the details of the proposal and gather feedback, we will follow up with additional information and resources so that the entire CTE field can weigh in during the public comment process.

Commerce Department Announces Workforce Policy Agenda

On May 14, the Department of Commerce announced a Department Administrative Order (DAO) to establish a workforce policy agenda focused on preparing the workforce with the skills necessary to accelerate the development and deployment of emerging technologies. Historically, the Departments of Education and Labor have been the federal agencies most focused on workforce education, but recent investments, particularly in the CHIPS and Science Act, that are administered by the Department of Commerce, have brought that agency more to the forefront of our work.  

The DAO lays out a three-part approach to meet employers’ needs: 

1. Invest in employer-driven education and training systems.  
2. Foster transformative employer practices.   
3. Produce timely data to help Americans develop and advance. 

The DAO also establishes a Commerce Workforce Council to develop and implement the Department’s workforce policy, programs and initiatives and coordinate with other federal agencies. 

In a statement, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, “The diversity of our workforce is our greatest asset, and to make our country even more competitive, we can’t have any Americans stuck in the margins of our economy. The order I’m announcing today highlights how the Department of Commerce is investing more than $1.6 billion in our workforce and the support services needed to upskill and connect workers with family sustaining jobs in their communities in key industries that will keep the United States at the forefront of our 21st-century economy.” 

Vice President Harris Delivers Remarks for National Apprenticeship Week

Today marks the beginning of National Apprenticeship Week! Occurring annually, National Apprenticeship Week recognizes the value of apprenticeships, and this year the theme is “Registered Apprenticeship: Superhighway to Good Jobs.” 

In the lead up to this week, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at an apprenticeship event on Thursday in Boston in a moderated Q&A session with union members that have completed apprenticeship programs. As part of the conversation, she emphasized the importance of apprenticeship programs in supporting the economy and providing pathways to good jobs.

When asked about why she values apprenticeships, the Vice President discussed their ability to provide opportunities to many Americans and enable the United States to lead around the world. She also praised the community created within apprenticeship programs that provides a valuable support network for participants. 

Vice President Harris also emphasized that the Administration is working to ensure “that apprenticeship programs will very much be the way to go to build up the workforce to then do the work we have funded.” She sighted funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act as creating demands for a larger skilled workforce that apprenticeship programs can help address.

Additionally, the Vice President discussed the importance of building pathways for minorities through apprenticeships and emphasized the need to bring more underrepresented groups into these programs. 

She concluded her remarks by committing to continued support: “When we are thinking about what we are working for, we have you guys in mind.”

Department of Commerce Releases Progress Report on Building the Semiconductor Workforce

The Department of Commerce recently released a brief on progress in implementing the CHIPS and Science Act. This legislation, signed into law by President Biden in August of 2022, aims to support domestic manufacturing and research within the semiconductor industry. 

The brief builds on the Administration’s vision for CHIPS, which includes doubling the semiconductor workforce, tripling the number of graduates in semiconductor-related fields, training 100,000 new technicians, and launching semiconductor industry careers for underserved or underrepresented populations. 

To achieve this vision, CHIPS for America, which encompasses two federal offices responsible for implementing the law, has partnered with industry leaders, education providers, and labor unions to engage in key strategies:

1. Catalyzing employer investment in the workforce
2. Encouraging high-quality jobs
3. Promoting state and local participation
4. Engaging community organizations, labor unions, industry and academia 
5. Leveraging research and development investments for workforce needs 
6. Expanding the workforce pipeline 

Through these strategies, CHIPS for America expects total public and private workforce investments for CHIPS-funded facilities to surpass $500 million. Additionally, since the signing of the legislation, over 50 community colleges across 19 states have announced new or expanded semiconductor programming and 7 states have dedicated new funding to support semiconductor workforce training. 

The brief also emphasized a commitment to a research and development approach for determining the most effective training models. The National Semiconductor Technology Center, composed of stakeholders ranging from industry leaders to educational leaders, would facilitate this approach through a variety of research initiatives. 

To continue defining and pursuing its goals within the coming year, CHIPS for America will conduct community forums starting this month to gather constructive input. Be on the lookout for more information and opportunities to collaborate on these initiatives in your communities.

Education Department Releases Final Gainful Employment Rule

On September 26, the Department of Education released its final Gainful Employment (GE) rule. The rule is set to take effect July 1, 2024, with the first data reported in early 2025. 

The final GE rule, which is largely unchanged from the draft rule that the administration released in May, would apply to all certificate programs at public institutions, including community and technical colleges, and all programs at for-profit institutions. These programs would be subject to two new measures of performance.  

First, there is  a new debt-to-earnings rate that compares the median annual payments on loan debt borrowed for the program to the median earnings of its Federally aided graduated. For a program to pass, the debt payments must be no more than 8 percent of annual earnings or 20 percent of discretionary earnings.  

The final rule also includes a new earnings premium test, which would require at least half of program graduates to have higher earnings than a typical high school graduate between the ages of 25 and 34 in their state’s labor force who never enrolled in a postsecondary institution.  

If a program fails either metric in a single year, they will be required to provide warnings to current and prospective students that their program could be at risk of losing federal funding. If a program fails the same metric in two of any three consecutive years, it will no longer be eligible to participate in federal student aid programs. The department estimates that about 1,700 programs serving nearly 700,000 students would fail the debt-earnings ratio test or not pass the earnings threshold. 

The final GE rule also contains a new Financial Vale Transparency (FCT) framework that will “provide information to all students in all programs on the typical earnings outcomes, borrowing amounts, cost of attendance, and sources of financial aid to help students make more informed choices.” 

As the department moves forward with the implementation process, ACTE will continue to keep you informed on what this rule means for your programs and the postsecondary community. 

Department of Ed’s Public Comment Request Provides Opportunity to Advocate for CTE

The Department of Education invites public comments on regional educational needs to guide its Regional Advisory Committees (RACs) in their administration of technical assistance to states and school districts. This provides an opportunity to identify growing demands for expanding CTE programs and challenges programs currently face. 

The 10 RACs collect information on educational needs within their assigned region and then determine how comprehensive centers as described in the Educational Technical Assistance Act (ETAA) can provide technical assistance to address these needs. These committees rely on public comments to guide their work, and these comments, alongside data and resources, will be considered at the next committee meeting. In order for the committee to consider offering enhanced technical assistance to CTE programs, comments must present the current need for these programs and why it should be considered a priority. For example, you might want to share any challenges you are facing around the CTE teacher pipeline or providing students access to work-based learning.

Access the form to submit public comments here which includes the following questions:

1. What are 1 to 2 educational needs within your region the RAC should prioritize?
2. Why do you believe these are educational priorities that your region should address?
3. What information can the RACs collect about these priorities to better understand and address the need(s)?
4. Please add any other comments about educational needs in the region and how they could be addressed.

The committees also encourage public attendance of these meetings, and the schedule and registration link will be posted here. There isn’t much time to submit comments - they should be submitted two business days before the upcoming committee meeting for your respective region:

Appalachia RAC (KY, TN, VA, WV): October 13

Northwest RAC (AK, ID, MT, OR, WA): October 13

Central RAC (CO, KS, MO, NE, ND, SD, WY): October 16

Southeast RAC (AL, FL, GA, MS, NC, SC): October 11

Mid-Atlantic RAC (DE, DC, MD, NJ, PA): October 17

Southwest RAC (AR, Bureau of Indian Education, LA, NM, OK, TX): October 12

Pacific RAC (American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Hawaii, Palau, and Republic of the Marshall Islands): October 16

Northeast and Islands RAC (CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, RI, VT, PR, Virgin Islands): October 12

West RAC (IL, IN, IA, MI, MN, OH, WI): October 16

National Evaluation of CTE Surveys to be Distributed Soon!

Be on the lookout THIS WEEK for surveys related to the National Evaluation of CTE under Perkins V (NECTEP), a major research project authorized under the National Program section of the Perkins Act!

Surveys will be distributed the week of August 28 by the American Institutes for Research (AIR), on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences (IES). Surveys will be distributed to CTE state directors and a random sample of school districts across the country. Within school districts, the surveys should go to the CTE Director or Perkins Coordinator, but could end up with other contacts, so keep an eye out!

If you receive one of these surveys, please take the time to fill it out carefully as soon as possible. These surveys are your opportunity to directly inform both IES and Congress about what’s happening in the field. Reporting on your experiences implementing Perkins V will help ensure federal policymakers have an accurate picture of how Perkins V is working nationwide. Without your survey responses, that picture will be incomplete.

Here is a bit more information on why the NECTEP surveys are a critical part of the study:

• IES and its contractor—AIR—will use information from the surveys to report on key aspects of Perkins V implementation.
• The surveys will provide new data on how states and districts are administering CTE under Perkins V. The last comparable survey data on federally funded CTE was collected over 13 years ago, and a lot has changed since then!
• Reports based on the survey results will inform Congress about how states and districts are implementing Perkins V and may inform future reauthorizations of Perkins.

Thank you in advance for doing your part to inform federal CTE policy! Please let us know if you have any questions.

Department of Education Hosts National Summit on Equal Opportunity in Higher Education

On July 26, the Department of Education (ED) hosted the National Summit on Equal Opportunity in Higher Education to discuss strategies and resources to expand access to postsecondary education opportunities following the recent Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action.

At the event, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona announced a $45 million postsecondary student success grant competition focused on evidence-based strategies that help underrepresented students access and successfully complete postsecondary education programs. Applications are due September 25, and technical assistance webinars will be hosted by ED’s Office of Postsecondary Education on August 15 and 31.

The postsecondary student success grant competition is targeted toward Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges or Universities (TCCUs), Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) and other institutions with high enrollment of high-need students, including community colleges.

The Secretary and other panelists also discussed additional strategies for supporting postsecondary success and equal access, including underrepresented student recruitment, making K-12 connections, improving transfer, expanding need-based financial aid and more. Secretary Cardona also highlighted the expansion of CTE and dual credit programs as additional ways to support students seeking rewarding career opportunities. ED plans to share a comprehensive resource list later in the fall.

Acting Secretary of Labor Testifies to House Education and Workforce Committee

On June 7, Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su testified before the House Education and Workforce Committee on Department of Labor FY 2024 policies and priorities. During the hearing, there was substantial discussion of the opportunities available to support workforce development through registered apprenticeships, secondary and postsecondary CTE programs and more.

Acting Secretary Su discussed the workforce needs that will be required to ensure successful implementation of federal investments such as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, CHIPS and Science Act and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Several members noted the impact of youth apprenticeship programs, including House CTE Caucus co-chair Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), who highlighted several youth apprenticeship programs in her district. Bonamici also called attention to the importance of industry partnerships that link employers with community colleges, particularly in the manufacturing and semiconductor fields.

Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA) added that telecommunications training programs, such as those at Atlanta JATC Electrical Training Center, are preparing students to become technicians in these in-demand fields.

“It's clear that we need to be doing more to get Americans into these careers so that we can see the full benefit of our bipartisan investments through the infrastructure package and the CHIPS and the Science Act,” said McBath.

Continuing the messages echoed by Reps. Bonamici and McBath, Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT) asked how Congress can scale up investments and WIOA training programs, such as career counseling, American Job Centers and other employer programs, to better meet workforce needs, and how the Department and Congress can partner to boost and strengthen community college programs as part of the workforce development pipeline. Acting Secretary Su identified the Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants program as one such example.

Su also highlighted the proposed Sectoral Employment through Career Training for Occupational Readiness (SECTOR) program, which would support the development and expansion of partnerships between employers, education and training providers and community-based groups to focus on training the workforce in growing industries.

You can view the full hearing here.