Career and Technical Education in High School and Postsecondary Career Pathways in Washington State

35 Pages Posted: 2 Nov 2020

See all articles by James Cowan

James Cowan

American Institutes for Research

Dan Goldhaber

University of Washington - Center for Education Data and Research

Harry J. Holzer

Georgetown University - Public Policy Institute (GPPI); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Natsumi Naito

University of Washington

Zeyu Xu

American Institutes for Research

Abstract

In this study, we describe the postsecondary transitions of students taking CTE courses in high school using administrative data on one cohort of high school students from Washington State. Our findings indicate that CTE students are less likely to enroll in college overall, especially four-year college. But among students who do enroll in college, CTE students are significantly more likely to enroll in and complete vocational programs, especially in applied STEM and public safety fields. Among students not enrolled in college, CTE students also are more likely to obtain full-time employment—and to work more intensively—within the first three years following high school graduation. Thus, despite the reduction in four-year college enrollment, the higher completion rates of vocational credentials among CTE concentrators in college indicate some important positive outcomes for this population.

Keywords: career and technical education, postsecondary education, pathways

JEL Classification: I21, I23

Suggested Citation

Cowan, James and Goldhaber, Dan and Holzer, Harry J. and Naito, Natsumi and Xu, Zeyu, Career and Technical Education in High School and Postsecondary Career Pathways in Washington State. IZA Discussion Paper No. 13817, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3722397 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3722397

James Cowan

American Institutes for Research ( email )

1990 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006-1107
United States

Dan Goldhaber

University of Washington - Center for Education Data and Research ( email )

3921 Stone Way N
Seattle, WA 98103
United States

Harry J. Holzer (Contact Author)

Georgetown University - Public Policy Institute (GPPI) ( email )

3600 N Street, NW Suite 200
Washington, DC 20057
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Natsumi Naito

University of Washington

Seattle, WA 98195
United States

Zeyu Xu

American Institutes for Research ( email )

1990 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006-1107
United States

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