istitute for higher educatio leadership & policy policy brief Career Opportuities: Career Techical Educatio ad the College Completio Ageda SUMMARY OF: Part I: Structure ad Fudig of Career Techical Educatio i the Califoria Commuity Colleges Part II: Ivetory ad Aalysis of CTE Programs i the Califoria Commuity Colleges Nacy Shulock Collee Moore Su Ji Jez Eric Chisholm March 2012 Califoria State Uiversity, Sacrameto Istitute for Higher Educatio Leadership & Policy 6000 J Street, Tahoe Hall 3063 Sacrameto, CA 95819-6081 T (916) 278-3888 F (916) 278-3907 www.csus.edu/ihelp
The Importace of Career Techical Educatio to the College Completio Ageda The Obama Admiistratio has helped articulate the importat role commuity colleges play i educatig our atio s workforce ad boostig the ecoomy. With a large share of projected job opeigs requirig college educatio of less tha a bachelor s degree 1 ad offerig family-supportig wages, the atio s commuity colleges ca make a huge cotributio toward a competitive atioal workforce. Commuity colleges offer a broad array of career-orieted certificates ad associate degrees through what is geerally called career techical educatio or CTE. Policymakers across the coutry are hopig to rely heavily o commuity college CTE programs to recharge their ecoomies by helpig studets ear credetials with labor market value. Our research reveals that this great potetial for CTE to cotribute to college completio ad the Califoria ecoomy is ot beig realized. As we explaied i our 2011 report The Road Less Traveled, 2 studets are ot widely ecouraged to pursue CTE programs ad those who do make far more progress i completig course work tha they do i acquirig credetials i their fields. Although oe third of commuity college course erollmets are i courses classified as vocatioal, oly 3% of all eterig degree seekers ear vocatioal associate degrees ad oly 5% ear certificates. 3 This brief is a summary of the first two reports i a four-part project (Figure 1) to cotiue to idetify challeges facig CTE ad ways to deliver better results for studets ad the Califoria workforce. The first report, released Jauary 2012, provides a overview of the complex structure ad fudig arragemets for the CTE missio ad the closely related ecoomic ad workforce developmet (EWD) missio. The secod report, released February 2012, examies the full set of career-orieted credetials offered by the Califoria Commuity Colleges (CCC). 4 The etire four-part study is guided by a set of criteria that characterize a effective CTE eterprise i support of studet success ad a competitive state workforce (Figure 2). 5 This is a importat ad opportue time to accelerate efforts to stregthe ad streamlie CTE: ew system directios for studet success, ew system leadership for workforce ad ecoomic developmet, ad ew opportuities to compete for exteral fudig, all bode well for raisig the profile of CTE withi the system; busiess ad idustry groups are seekig solutios to Califoria s projected shortage of educated workers, especially i critical sectors such as health care ad professioal, scietific ad techical services; ad CTE faculty ad staff across the colleges are eager to demostrate ad ehace the beefits of career educatio to Califoria s ecoomy. Figure 2 Criteria for a Effective Career Techical Educatio Missio Figure 1 IHELP Research Ageda to Improve the Policy Eviromet i Support of CTE 1. Programs articulate with K-12 where appropriate 2. Prospective studets are helped to idetify ad eroll i commuity college CTE programs of iterest Part I: Overview of structure ad fudig for CTE ad idetificatio of key issues (released Jauary 2012) Part II: Ivetory ad aalysis of CTE certificates ad vocatioal associate degree programs (released February 2010) Part III: Effective state policy approaches used i other states to support CTE Part IV: Comprehesive aalysis of state policy eviromet affectig CTE i Califoria ad recommedatios for policy chage 3. Program offerigs adapt to chagig labor market eeds 4. Efficiet pathways exist for trasitio ito etry level credetials ad advacemet through credetial levels 5. Studets ad employers uderstad the skills ad competecy outcomes of credetial programs 6. Credetials offered have market value for studets, as validated by outcomes data 7. Resource allocatio for CTE programs is predictable ad resposive to workforce priorities 1 istitute for higher educatio leadership & policy at califoria state uiversity, sacrameto
Part I - Structure ad Fudig of Career Techical Educatio i the Califoria Commuity Colleges The commuity colleges play a lead role withi Califoria s workforce developmet system, which is focused o helpig studets, uemployed adults, icumbet workers ad uderemployed workers obtai the skills ad credetials eeded to participate successfully i the workforce ad make progress alog a career pathway ad i wages eared. Our iterest i this project is primarily i the capacity of the CCC to deliver educatio ad traiig that leads to credetials of value to studets ad employers ad cotributes to a competitive state workforce. 6 Figure 3 illustrates the orgaizatioal structure of EWD ad CTE at the Chacellor s Office ad across the colleges. 7 Our iterest exteds beyod CTE to ecompass the Ecoomic ad Workforce Developmet missio as it relates to ad iteracts with CTE. 8 CTE ad EWD are separate but highly related missios with CTE focused primarily o servig studets through credit-based programs ad EWD primarily servig employers by addressig the educatio ad traiig eeds of idustries of ecoomic importace to the state ad its regios. 9 We iclude EWD i our study because of its potetial to help shape a workforce-relevat CTE missio. Our research to date cofirms that there is a clear ratioale for sustaiig separate CTE ad EWD missios but that better collaboratio across the two missios would stregthe the CTE missio. Key Issues Structure is fragmeted ad overly complex. The admiistrative structure i support of CTE ad EWD is extraordiarily complicated ad seemigly iefficiet. As a outgrowth of serial legislative priorities ad actios, programs have bee layered oe after aother leavig a structure that is highly fragmeted. It is hard for those withi a orgaizatio to work toward a commo goal if they are ufamiliar with all the related parts ad how their ow efforts might complemet, overlap, or eve duplicate those of others. Our effort to map out all the pieces to illustrate i Figure 3 was problematic because of the sheer umber of programs ad the absece of ay authoritative compedium of them. May of the programs appear to have ear-idetical purposes ad the admiistrative structures do ot appear to be logically orgaized. Orgaizig ecoomic developmet ad career educatio by idustry sector is gaiig tractio aroud the coutry. 10 However, the sixty Regioal Ceters (orgaized aroud te priority areas), the twelve Statewide Collaboratives, ad the twelve Statewide Advisory Committees are orgaized aroud a mixture of idustry sectors ad capacity buildig. The idustry sectors that are addressed vary by etity ad some vital idustry sectors are ot addressed at all by these three etities. Silos margialize CTE ad hider program vitality. A especially problematic aspect of the admiistrative complexity is the silos that have developed at the Chacellor s Office betwee the divisio of Academic Affairs ad the divisio of Ecoomic Developmet ad Workforce Preparatio ad, withi the latter divisio, betwee EWD ad CTE. The orgaizatioal separatio of the whole area from Academic Affairs (a separatio largely mirrored at the college level) cotributes to the margializatio of career educatio across the commuity college system. The lack of itegratio of CTE ad EWD dimiishes the impact that EWD parterships with idustry have o keepig the CTE curriculum vital. Reliace o competitive grats distorts resource allocatio. As show i Figure 3, the combied missios of EWD ad CTE are fuded from a large variety of state, federal, ad ogovermetal sources. State fuds flow primarily through the Chacellor s Office ad cosist of the regular erollmet-based fudig that supports all academic programmig ad categorical program allocatios that support CTE ad EWD largely through competitive grats. Federal fuds, through the Perkis Act, the Workforce Ivestmet Act, ad other federal agecies, provide support to the Chacellor s Office ad directly to colleges, also largely through competitive grats. Colleges ad districts supplemet those two major fudig sources with grats ad cotracts from private foudatios ad employers. A reliace o competitive grats has several shortcomigs. First, the ueve capacity of colleges to compete successfully for grat fudig results i a rich get richer sceario. Secod, competitio for fuds ca impede more efficiet cooperative efforts ad lead to uecessary duplicatio of programs or services withi a regio. Third, as colleges feel compelled to chase specialized grat opportuities, the overall missio gets shaped by the existece of the grats, potetially misaligig resources with state ad regioal eeds. Policy Brief Career Opportuities: Career Techical Educatio ad the College Completio Ageda March 2012 2
Part I - Structure ad Fudig of Career Techical Educatio i the Califoria Commuity Colleges Figure 3 Califoria Commuity Colleges Career Techical Educatio/Workforce Preparatio Structure ad Fudig (Fall 2011) Perkis Various State Agecies Title IB Leadership Grats Title IB Disciplie/Idustry Collaborative Grats Title IC Local Grats CCC Chacellor s Office Califoria Eergy Commissio AB 118 U.S. Departmet of Eergy Ecoomic Developmet & Workforce Preparatio Divisio Academic Affairs Divisio WIA Title I (Gov. Discretioary) Ecoomic & Workforce Developmet Nursig & Allied Health Career Techical Educatio Statewide desig & review of curriculum & istructioal support services Apportiomet Prop 98 Geeral Fud Small Busiess Admiistratio Categorical Workforce Developmet & Career Techical Educatio Fuds WIA Title II (Adult Educatio) WIA Title I (Local) U.S. Departmet of Educatio U.S. Departmet of Labor Various Federal Agecies About 60 Regioal Ceters Across 10 Priority Areas Ecoomic & Workforce Developmet Cotiuig Educatio Cotract Educatio 12 Statewide Collaboratives (Perkis) Local CCC Districts/Colleges Career Techical Educatio 12 Statewide Advisory Committees (Perkis) Academic Career Advacemet Academies 7 Regioal Cosortia No-Credit Adult Educatio & Basic Skills Appreticeship Cal Works Career Techical Educatio Pathways Iitiative (SB 70/SB 1133) 52 Commuity Collaborative Grats CTE Teacher Prep Pipelie Nursig (multiple grat programs) EWD Regioal Ceters (Log-term Grats) Short-term Grats Idustry-Drive Regioal Collaboratives Icumbet Worker Resposive Traiig Fud Job Developmet Icetive Traiig Fud Employmet Traiig Pael About 1,000 local idustry advisory boards Employer Fuds Foudatio Fuds Local Property Tax Studet Fees Federal Fudig Sources State Fudig Sources Other Fudig Sources 3 istitute for higher educatio leadership & policy at califoria state uiversity, sacrameto
Chacellor s Office lacks capacity to provide strategic leadership. The Chacellor s Office lacks the fuds, staff, ad authority to provide strategic leadership over the CTE ad workforce developmet missios. It serves primarily a compliace ad grat admiistratio fuctio. While workforce developmet ad traiig must be tailored to regioal eeds, local efforts would be stregtheed by a Chacellor s Office with the capacity to: promote a commo visio aroud idustry sectors leverage ad maximize fudig for the system i support of that visio Accoutability for outcomes is iadequate. State accoutability reportig cosists primarily of aual couts of degrees ad certificates by field ad extesive reportig of activities ad erollmets. Outcomes by program are ot reported because, with few exceptios, studets do ot officially eroll i CTE programs. Colleges ca track course outcomes but ot program outcomes, so there is o clear basis for evaluatig how well subscribed a program is or how may program etrats complete it ad reap beefits i the labor market. Further, the CCC has ot yet systematically liked its data to employmet data to be able to report labor market outcomes (employmet ad earigs) for studets who have erolled i CTE programs or courses. esure that all colleges have quality labor market data to guide plaig coordiate idustry sector strategies aroud skill ad competecy stadards miimize duplicatio withi regios ad esure equity across regios i capacity to fulfill the missio alig ot-for-credit ad credit pathways ad develop effective credetials to meet workforce eeds promote expeditious program approval ad timely discotiuatio of low-priority programs lead the trasitio from course-based to programbased approaches to CTE develop robust accoutability systems that report studet ad programmatic outcomes. Policy Brief Career Opportuities: Career Techical Educatio ad the College Completio Ageda March 2012 4
Part II - Ivetory ad Aalysis of CTE Programs i the CCC We compiled ad aalyzed a ivetory of CTE programs across the CCC to provide baselie iformatio about the rage of CTE programs that the colleges offer ad i which studets eroll. We aalyze program iformatio as a basis for uderstadig how well the breadth ad complexity of CTE programmig withi ad across colleges meets studets eeds to idetify, eroll i, ad complete programs with real value i today s labor market. Our aalysis suggests that the policies ad procedures that have produced the curret set of program offerigs should be revisited so that the tremedous potetial of the commuity colleges to positio studets for workforce success ca be better realized. Key Issues Extesive program offerigs appear iefficiet. The vast array of programs across the CCC does ot appear to reflect careful plaig aroud which programs are most essetial to meetig the eeds of the ecoomy ad the iterests of studets i credetials with real value. The colleges collectively offer about 8,000 certificate programs ad 4,500 associate degree programs i 142 CTE fields of study. Each commuity college offers aywhere from 32 to 275 programs i 7 to 52 fields. Clearly there is a relatioship betwee college size ad umber of programs offered, but we foud some variability withi that relatioship. Figure 4 shows that larger colleges geerally offer more programs but that some smaller colleges have program offerigs disproportioately larger tha their erollmet might suggest. While the colleges offer a wide breadth of programs, erollmets ad completios (i.e., reported awards of certificates ad degrees 11 ) are highly cocetrated i a small portio of fields. Across the 2007-08 ad 2009-10 school years, the CCC had a average of 347,919 FTES erolled aually i courses i CTE fields. As show i Figure 5, the te highest erolled fields (just seve percet of the 142 fields) accouted for half of studet erollmets. If we exteded the figure to iclude eight more programs, we d see that 13% of the fields accouted for 75% of the erollmet. Coversely, most fields erolled few FTES system-wide. Figure 6 shows that, similar to erollmets, the fields i which studets complete a program (i.e., ear a certificate or degree) show a high degree of cocetratio. Fewer tha 6% of all fields produced over half of the awards eared i the three years of data studied. Because completios are heavily cocetrated i a limited umber of fields, may of the 142 CTE fields offered i the CCC have very few completios. Sevety percet of the fields (or 99 fields) combied accout for oly 10% of the degrees ad certificates awarded. Figure 4 Larger Colleges Geerally Offer More Programs 2009-10 Programs Offered 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 16,000 18,000 20,000 2009-10 FTES 5 istitute for higher educatio leadership & policy at califoria state uiversity, sacrameto
Figure 5 Erollmets are Highly Cocetrated i a Few Fields Field Average Aual FTES, 2007-08 to 2009-10 Percetage of Systemwide FTES (CTE courses oly) Cumulative Percetage of CTE FTES Admiistratio of Justice 29,456 8% 8% Nursig 26,575 8% 16% Child Developmet/ Early Care ad Educatio 22,909 7% 23% Accoutig 19,372 6% 29% Fire Techology 17,764 5% 34% Office Techology/ Office Computer Applicatios 13,328 4% 38% Iformatio Techology, Geeral 11,541 3% 41% Nutritio, Foods, ad Culiary Arts 11,445 3% 44% Cosmetology ad Barberig 10,493 3% 47% Automotive Techology 9,610 3% 50% Figure 6 Completios are Highly Cocetrated i a Few Fields Field Total Completios 2007-08 to 2009-10 Percetage of Total 2007-08 to 2009-10 Cumulative Percetage Nursig 25,545 13% 13% Child Developmet/ Early Care ad Educatio 20,471 10% 23% Admiistratio of Justice 18,538 9% 32% Fire Techology 8,921 5% 37% Busiess Admiistratio 8,801 4% 41% Accoutig 7,802 4% 45% Automotive Techology 6,199 3% 48% Busiess Maagemet 5,229 3% 52% Policy Brief Career Opportuities: Career Techical Educatio ad the College Completio Ageda March 2012 6
Part II - Ivetory ad Aalysis of CTE Programs i the CCC Oe reaso for the paucity of completios i so may fields may be the tedecy of some colleges to offer more programs tha ca effectively be supported by their erollmet ad the size of their faculty. 12 Figure 7 plots the relatioship betwee the total umber of CTE completios at a college ad the umber of programs offered per FTES. It shows that offerig fewer programs per studet is associated with more certificates ad degrees awarded. The dotted lie shows geerally that colleges o the right side (more programs per erollmet) had more limited completios. This suggests that some colleges may be stretched too thi i their efforts to offer a comprehesive set of CTE programs ad may ot be able to help as may studets complete their programs. This high cocetratio of erollmet ad completios implies that program review processes are ieffective at keepig program offerigs vital. While a few of the small programs may be servig a arrow but critical iterest, i geeral it is iefficiet to support may programs that serve few studets ad cotribute little to studet success. Such extesive offerigs (eve if just o the books but ot curretly active) may be cofusig for studets, who receive little iformed couselig about CTE programs. Abudace of short-term certificates limits workplace value. Two-thirds of all certificate programs offered across the CCC are short-term certificates, or certificates of less tha oe year, or 30 credits. While some short-term certificates likely provide a good retur for established workers seekig additioal skills i their field, research suggests they are of little value to youg studets with o prior college credetial or to older displaced workers seekig traiig for a ew career. The abudace of short-term certificates is also evidet i the umber of completios i CTE fields. Figure 8 shows completios i CTE fields i the last three years as reported to the Chacellor s Office. Forty percet of CTE awards issued by the colleges were associate degrees 13 ad about 20% were loger-term certificates of at least 30 credits. The remaiig 40% were short-term certificates of less tha oe year. If all college-approved short-term certificates were icluded, that share would likely be substatially higher ad the shares of degrees ad logerterm certificates would be lower. Havig so much ivested i short-term certificate programs likely diverts importat state ivestmet i CTE programs that will add more to graduates earig power ad ehace the state s ecoomic prospects. Short-term certificates ca be a first step toward a credetial providig real ecoomic beefit, assumig they cout fully toward requiremets for a loger-term certificate or degree ad that studets uderstad the pathway from shorter to loger credetials. But it is ot apparet from istitutioal data the extet to which short-term certificates actually serve as buildig blocks for loger-term oes. Figure 7 Colleges Offerig More Programs per FTES Geerally Produce Fewer Completios Total Completios, 2007-08 to 2009-10 12,000 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 2,000 0 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 Offerigs Per Studet 7 istitute for higher educatio leadership & policy at califoria state uiversity, sacrameto
Figure 8 CTE Completios by Type of Award (icludes oly awards reported to the Chacellor s Office) Total Completios 2007-08 to 2009-10 Percetage of Total 2007-08 to 2009-10 Associate Degrees 80,327 40% Certificates: < 6 credits* 6-17 credits* 12-17 credits* 18-29 credits 30-60 credits >60 credits 14,920 37,749 1,396 26,008 33,962 4,453 8% 19% 1% 13% 17% 2% Total CTE Awards 198,815 100% * Figures for these short-term certificates are icomplete. Colleges are ot required to report these awards to the Chacellor s Office (certificates of 12-17 credits must be reported oly for programs that are approved by the Chacellor s Office). So the percetage of awards that are short-term is likely substatially higher tha show i this table, ad the percetage of awards that are degrees ad log-term certificates is likely lower. Variability across similar programs is problematic. The cosiderable icosistecy across similar programs i ame, credit legth, course requiremets, expectatios for basic skills competecy creates uecessary cofusio that prevets good uderstadig amog studets ad employers about the meaig of particular credetials. For example, Figure 9 shows that the program requiremets for a associate degree i Egieerig Techology differ sigificatly at three colleges i the same ecoomic regio. Two of the programs require about 30 major credits, while the third requires oly 18 major credits. The specific course requiremets vary substatially across the programs as well. This variability is also prevalet i certificate programs. These icosistecies across programs ca be cofusig to studets ad employers who wat to uderstad the skills ad competecies oe lears i a program. Most ufortuately, this variability ca dilute the value of credetials that studets ear because employers are ucertai of the skills, kowledge, ad competecies that a credetial represets. Figure 9 Example of Variatio across Associate Degree Programs i Egieerig Techology Merced College Sa Joaqui Delta College Modesto Juior College 30 major credits, as follows: Geeral Chemistry (5) Physics (4) Egieerig Materials (3) FORTRAN Programmig (3) Elemetary Mechaics (3) Direct ad Alteratig Curret Circuits (5) Descriptive Geometry (3) Calculus I (4) 18 major credits, selected from (all 3 credits): Draftig (Egieerig, Computer-aided, Civil, Machie) Materials & Measuremet 3-dimesioal Modelig Machie Desig Mech. & Elec. Systems Idustrial Cotrol Systems Applied Surveyig Techical Statistics Applied Statistics 31 major credits, as follows: Geeral Chemistry (5) Geeral Physics OR Mech. Heats & Waves (5) Itro to Egieerig & Architecture (1) Egieerig Graphics (4) Elemetary Statistics (5) 6 credits from Geeral Computer Lit (3), Machie Tool Tech (4), Arc & Gas Weldig (3) 5 elective credits from a list (mostly Draftig or Calculus) Policy Brief Career Opportuities: Career Techical Educatio ad the College Completio Ageda March 2012 8
Prelimiary Fidigs ad Next Steps This ogoig four-part study is guided by a set of seve criteria that characterize a effective CTE eterprise, draw from a extesive review of the literature o career educatio ad workforce preparatio (see Figure 2). Our research to date leads us to coclude, prelimiarily, that curret policies, structures, ad fudig arragemets i Califoria have let the CTE operatio fall short of satisfyig these criteria. There are exceptioal programs, dedicated faculty ad staff, ad myriad examples of studet success, but the eterprise as a whole falls short of its potetial ad of what Califoria eeds to sustai a competitive workforce. Criterio 1. Pathways articulate with K-12 where appropriate. The developmet of clearly articulated pathways from K-12 to commuity college, as madated ad fuded uder the federal Perkis Act ad SB 70, is challeged by a decetralized, competitive system i which idividual schools ad colleges may articulate courses but those courses may ot be part of pathways ad may ot eve articulate course-to-course outside of that locality. Articulatio is maaged at the local level with miimal state-level collaboratio betwee the K-12 ad commuity college systems. Criterio 2. Prospective studets are helped to idetify ad eroll i CTE programs of iterest. It is ot easy for prospective studets to idetify CTE programs i which to eroll because of the lack of emphasis o the program as the uit of plaig ad aalysis, iadequate umbers of iformed school ad college couselors, the complex ature of the etire operatio, ad the high degree of variability across colleges i the structure of the curriculum. Further, the sheer umber of programs offered would seem to cofoud some studets, especially sice some of the 12,500 programs o the books are o loger offered ad may programs are similar but slightly differet. Without proper guidace, it would be difficult for studets to kow why to pick oe over the other. Criterio 3. Program offerigs adapt to chagig labor market eeds. The very large umber of programs servig few studets ad producig few completios suggests that program offerigs are ot well targeted to labor market eeds ad that too may college resources are devoted to programs of lower value. This likely reflects, i part, cumbersome ad ieffective processes for termiatig low-priority ad low-performig programs. Additioal factors may be the ueve access by colleges to timely labor market data to use i program plaig, the weak ifluece that EWD activities have, geerally, o the for-credit CTE curriculum, ad the spotty record of local idustry advisory boards i keepig curriculum curret. Criterio 4. Efficiet pathways exist for career advacemet through credetial levels. There is o questio that the commuity colleges offer a vast ad rich set of career-orieted programs. Less obvious is whether those programs are orgaized ito efficiet pathways. The margializatio of CTE has precluded a strog emphasis o the award of career-orieted credetials i the CCC. Relatively few certificates ad vocatioal associate degrees are awarded. The abudace of short-term credetials could be blocks that a studet could stack to advace step-by-step i their careers, but there is o basis either i college catalogs or the maagemet iformatio system to kow whether the certificates are desiged to provide such pathways. The cocetratio of completios i a small set of fields ad the correspodig low completio records of other programs suggest that whatever pathways do exist are ot as efficiet as they might be. A accoutability system focused o course erollmets ad other activities, rather tha o program performace ad completio, reiforces the systematic lack of attetio to the structure of career pathways. Criterio 5. Studets ad employers uderstad the skills ad competecy outcomes of credetial programs. The Chacellor s Office approves ew CTE programs but does ot set learig outcome stadards for CTE programs or coordiate sector strategies whereby idustry advisory boards help the system develop skill ad competecy stadards for credetial programs. Cosequetly, similar programs ca be of vastly differet scope ad cotet at differet colleges. Variatios across similar programs that do ot reflect differet labor market requiremets will cofuse studets ad employers about the meaig of those degrees ad the skills they certify ad will, i tur, devalue the credetial. 9 istitute for higher educatio leadership & policy at califoria state uiversity, sacrameto
The wide rage of total credits ad substative requiremets across CTE programs (eve i the same regio) would seem to leave doubt amog employers about the skills ad kowledge that a ew hire would hold ad the level of resposibility for which he or she would be suited. The variatio of program cotet ad depth is a problem for studets as well, who may ot kow what jobs they will be prepared for by choosig a particular program. Criterio 6. Credetials have market value for studets, as validated by outcomes data. The ucertaity amog employers about the skills ad competecies of graduates impiges o the market value of credetials. I additio, colleges do ot systematically track labor market outcomes of graduates ad caot track outcomes by program because, with a few exceptios, studets do ot eroll i programs. Nor do colleges track labor market outcomes for studets who eroll i selected courses without completig a certificate or degree, yet colleges emphasize that may studets beefit from takig just a few courses. The system reports oly aggregate labor market outcomes for all studets who eared a degree or certificate, so abset local efforts, there is o basis for validatig the labor market value of idividual credetials. The substatial share of CTE awards that are short-term certificates raises questios about whether may CCC studets are earig credetials with real value i the labor market. Movig Forward Califoria s future uquestioably depeds o a healthy CTE eterprise across its commuity colleges. There is a importat widow of opportuity to stregthe the CTE missio so that it ca better realize its tremedous potetial to serve studets, regios, ad the Califoria ecoomy. The Chacellor s Studet Success Task Force recommedatios, the efforts by the ew Vice Chacellor for Ecoomic ad Workforce Developmet to improve collaboratio betwee EWD ad CTE, ad legislative attetio garered by the impedig Jauary 1, 2013 suset date for EWD all provide a widow for cooperative efforts to more fully realize the potetial for commuity college CTE programs to help sustai a competitive Califoria ecoomy. Our research has give us firsthad evidece of the heroic efforts that are occurrig across the system to build ad sustai impressive CTE programs i the face of very real obstacles. The pricipal goal of this four-part research project is to improve the policy eviromet i which CTE educators operate so that the CTE missio ca be fulfilled, to the beefit of all Califorias, without quite the degree of heroism that is required today from the CTE commuity. Our work will cotiue with a report describig some policy directios udertake by other states that might offer lessos for Califoria, followed by a report offerig recommedatios for a policy ageda to stregthe support for ad outcomes from commuity college CTE programs. Criterio 7. Resource allocatio for CTE programs is predictable ad resposive to workforce priorities. Despite higher-tha-average costs i may CTE fields, CTE programs geerally receive o more per-studet state fudig tha liberal arts ad sciece programs. Most programs seek to supplemet their budgets through competitive grats, but ueve capacity to obtai grats creates upredictable ad icosistet fudig levels. Fidigs from the aalysis of the program ivetory suggest that resources are ot always allocated i respose to workforce priorities. The high icidece of programs with few erollmets ad of programs with few completios idicates that resources might be spread too thily over too large a array of programs some of which are ot high priorities for studets or employers. Policy Brief Career Opportuities: Career Techical Educatio ad the College Completio Ageda March 2012 10
1 Symods, W.C., Schwartz, R.B., & Ferguso, R. (2011). Pathways to prosperity: Meetig the challege of preparig youg Americas for the 21st cetury. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Graduate School of Educatio; Carevale, A.P., Smith, N., & Strohl, J. (2010). Help wated: Projectios of jobs ad educatio requiremets through 2018. Washigto, DC: Ceter o Educatio ad the Workforce, Georgetow Uiversity. 2 Shulock, N., Moore, C., & Offestei, J. (2011). The road less traveled: Realizig the potetial of career techical educatio i the Califoria Commuity Colleges. Sacrameto, CA: Istitute for Higher Educatio Leadership & Policy. 3 Based o aalyses of all eterig studets who iteded to complete a certificate or degree, as described i our report titled The Road Less Traveled. Completio rates iclude oly those awards that are reported to the Chacellor s Office (all associate degrees ad certificates of 18 uits or more). Completio rates ca udercout the umber of studets who complete all requiremets for a certificate or degree because studets must apply for the award ad some do ot do so. Completio rates calculated by the Chacellor s Office for Perkis reportig are much higher because they iclude oly studets who have successfully completed a miimum threshold of 12 uits of related coursework (defied at the 2-digit TOP code) withi the past three years, with at least oe course above the itroductory level, or who have eared a degree or certificate whether or ot they met the threshold requiremets. 4 Both reports ca be accessed ad dowloaded from our website: www.csus.edu/ihelp. 5 See Appedix i the Part I report for a listig of the research ad policy literature that guided the selectio of the criteria. 6 Some CCC studets eroll i CTE courses to update or improve specific job skills, without ay itet to complete a certificate or degree. Others eroll to ear idustry certificatios whose requiremets do t match those of a certificate program ad thus do ot ear a college credetial. Other studets ited to ear a credetial but fid good employmet before they complete it. These are valid roles for the CTE missio but a certificate or degree of value i the workplace arguably provides a studet with greater lifelog, portable career credetials ad career opportuities. 7 Orgaizatioal chages are uderway but this figure shows the arragemets that have prevailed for years ad helped produce the outcomes that we have observed. 8 I 1991, AB 1497 (Polaco) codified the Ecoomic Developmet Program ad i 1996, SB 1809 (Polaco) ameded the commuity college missio to iclude advacig ecoomic growth ad global competitiveess. 9 For a cocise descriptio of the missio of EWD, see Chacellor s Office website: http://www.cccco.edu/chacellorsoffice/divisios/ WorkforceadEcoomicDevelopmet/IdustryPartershipPractices/ tabid/379/default.aspx. 10 11 12 13 Stephes, R. (2009). Chartig a path: A exploratio of the statewide career pathway efforts i Arkasas, Ketucky, Orego, Washigto ad Wiscosi. Seattle, WA: Seattle Jobs Iitiative; Hughes, K. & Karp, M. (2006). Stregtheig trasitios by ecouragig career pathways: A look at state policies ad practices. New York: Commuity College Research Ceter, Teachers College, Columbia Uiversity. Colleges are oly required to report the umber of awards i Chacellor s Office-approved programs, which iclude all associate degrees ad certificates of 18 credits or above, or 12-17 credits if icluded o studet trascripts. While some colleges choose to report data o shorterterm certificates, comprehesive figures are ot available for the shorter-term, college-approved programs. It could also be that certai fields award a lot of certificates of fewer tha 18 uits ad choose ot to report them to the system. We have o way of kowig how that uder-reportig affects the distributio of awards by fields. However, we have oted that shortterm certificates, aloe, do ot geerally provide ecoomic retur to studets. So our fidig of highly cocetrated completios amog very few programs raises valid cocers that may programs are ot providig good opportuities for studets. Some CTE studets are awarded associate degrees i iterdiscipliary studies, which are ot icluded i our aalyses as they are of questioable value i the marketplace ad we are focused o workforce credetials. istitute for higher education leadership & policy Istitute for Higher Educatio Leadership & Policy 6000 J Street, Tahoe Hall 3063 Sacrameto, CA 95819-6081 T (916) 278-3888 F (916) 278-3907 www.csus.edu/ihelp The project is supported by a grat from The James Irvie Foudatio The Istitute for Higher Educatio Leadership & Policy seeks to ehace leadership ad policy for higher educatio i Califoria ad the atio by producig research ad services for policymakers, practitioers, ad educators. 11 istitute for higher educatio leadership & policy at califoria state uiversity, sacrameto