CTE Contributions to Learning and Earning. In Brief : Fast Facts for Policy and Practice / Michael E. Wonacott.

A large body of research, especially from the 1990s, demonstrates the positives of Career and Technical Education (CTE). The research shows that associate degree holders enjoyed average earnings 20-30 percent higher than high school graduates (while baccalaureate degree holders had average earnings 30-40 percent higher than those of high-school graduates). Some data showed slight benefits for certificates, although no research is available on the benefits of proprietary certificates, such as in computer software. Apprenticeships led to 20 percent higher earnings for black and white men, while Hispanic men enjoyed earnings about 35 percent higher. Women showed no income advantage from apprenticeships. Although two-year-degree holders had higher average earnings, income varied by field of study, with those in academic fields showing the lowest gains and those in technical fields showing higher gains. For women, two-year degrees in business and health-care fields led to the highest gains. In addition, persons who found employment related to their field of study reaped the greatest earning benefits, both at the associate and at the baccalaureate degree level. A recent (2000) National Center for Education Statistics study also found that high school students with a combined vocational concentration and a college preparatory curriculum academically out-performed vocational only concentrators and were statistically indistinguishable from those who completed a college preparatory curriculum only. (Contains 14 references.) (KC)

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