North Carolina’s statewide graduation rate for seniors concentrating in CTE courses increased to 94 percent, jumping from 80.4 percent in the 2010-2011school year. Notably, three of the state’s county school systems surpassed that state graduation rate, according to a Wilkes Journal-Patriot article.

Seniors concentrating in CTE graduated at a rate of 99.3 percent in Ashe County, 98.8 in Alleghany County, 98.1 percent in Wilkes County. A CTE concentrator is a student that takes at least four technical credits from among courses listed in one of 16 Career Clusters; at least one of the courses must be a second-level sequenced class, according to the Carl Perkins Career and Technical Education Act.

Just one of North Carolina’s school systems did not meet the 85 percent state target of concentrators in the cohort graduating on schedule in 2011-12.

The growing success in graduation rates among CTE concentrators in North Carolina suggests that CTE programs may play a role in engaging students with the real-world experiences they offer to students.

Erin Uy, Communications and Marketing Manager