Your Dream Job: Getting There Through Career and Technical Education

No matter what your dream, you can pursue it through Career and Technical Education (CTE), a program for middle and high school students in Washington’s public schools.

Through Career and Technical Education, you can explore career opportunities and learn how core school subjects like math, science and writing are used in real-life by:

• Engineers
• Architects
• Green technology experts
• Doctors, nurses and other health providers
• Construction workers
• Transportation experts
• And many other professionals

Check out the hundreds of career options available to you on our Career Clusters pages.

Each year, thousands of CTE students graduate from high school with career goals, job skills and leadership skills knowing exactly where they will go next to further their academic and hands-on education and training. Find your passion and become one of those students! Learn more at Preparing for Your Future.

"Students who take CTE classes as well as academic classes in high school are better prepared for the working world, meet performance requirements of more employers, and earn higher salaries."
-Eleni Papadakis, Executive Director, Washington Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board

Students, parents, teachers and leaders across the state are excited about CTE’s unique ability to prepare young people for current jobs and careers of the future. CTE advocates from the public and private sectors and in Washington, D.C., believe in CTE’s power to:

• Give students skills they need to succeed
• Rebuild our state’s economy
• Grow a new green economy
• Lower drop-out rates

"Career and Technical Education offers the opportunity for us to have every single one of our students skilled in math and science--skilled and passionate about what they want to do and about the opportunities that are available to them. So, go take a look for yourself. If you do, I’ll bet you’ll be as big a cheerleader as I am for this kind of education."
-Chris Gregoire, Governor, Washington State