More Students Pursuing CTE Classes

healthcare

The number of Michigan students who opt to pursue career and technical training in high school is increasing. Dan Olsen with the Michigan Talent Investment Agency tells WSJM News career and technical education programs added more than 1,300 students in the 2017-2018 school year, continuing a trend started in 2014. Olsen says Governor Rick Snyder has made getting more kids into CTE training a goal that’s part of his Marshall Plan for Talent.

“What we’re trying to do is expand career awareness among our K-12 students so they understand all of the career opportunities that exist in the state of Michigan after high school so they can make better, more informed decisions on what their post-secondary education looks like,” Olsen said.

Olsen says the CTE programs aren’t intended to offer an alternative to standard college and four-year degrees. He says they can be a supplement to those paths to help give a student direction. Among the most popular programs this past academic year were those in agriculture, healthcare, business management, and marketing. They accounted for 596 CTE programs serving nearly 54,000 high school students across Michigan.