k-12 cte programs

Get a head start on your future. Take specialized classes with mentoring and gain work experience in fields where jobs are in demand.

Find Your Future

Colorado Career & Technical Education (CTE) leverages workforce and education systems to give secondary school students, those in middle and high school, the opportunity to figure out what they are passionate about and want to pursue after high school.

Two hands shake

Prepare for the Real World

Explore a range of career options through hands-on experience, learn how to develop a resume, and interview for a job.

Earn a Paycheck

Many programs offer paid internships, apprenticeships, and job opportunities.

Graduation cap and diploma

Get More From School

CTE students have a significantly better high school graduation rate (90%) than the national average (75%), and they often save thousands of dollars towards a college degree.

Invest in Tomorrow

There are a growing number of scholarships designed to help CTE students.

Career & Technical Education in Colorado Overview

Explore Career and Technical Programs

We’ve developed programs in several areas, or clusters, that are important to the Colorado economy and that provide great career opportunities. Our programs are designed to provide education and training that is relevant, responsive, and real.

Programs include food production, processing, marketing, distribution, financing, and development of agricultural commodities and resources including food, fiber, wood products, natural resources, horticulture, and other plant and animal products/resources.

  • Animal Science
  • Agribusiness Systems
  • Environmental Services Systems
  • Food Products & Processing Systems
  • Natural Resources
  • Plant Science
  • Power, Structural & Technical Systems

Alternative Cooperative Education (ACE) Career & Technical Education (CTE) is a multi-occupational pathway that facilitates individualized, developmentally appropriate programming necessary to support CTE students successfully. This includes students identified as Special Populations.

  • ACE CORE
  • ACE Cluster Based
  • ACE Specialized

Business and Marketing Education programs are designed to meet the labor market needs of Colorado’s business and industry.

  • Administrative Services
  • Business Information Technology
  • Corporate / General Management
  • Human Resources Management
  • Operations Management
  • Accounting
  • Banking Services
  • Corporate Finance
  • Insurance
  • Securities & Investments
  • Foreign Services
  • Governance
  • Legal Services
  • Planning
  • Public Management & Administration
  • Regulation
  • Marketing Communications
  • Marketing Management
  • Marketing Research
  • Merchandising
  • Professional Sales/Sales Management

From the western slope to the northeastern plains, Career and Technical Education programs in Colorado’s high schools and Community Colleges can get you started on your way to a career in healthcare.

  • Therapeutic Services
  • Diagnostic Services
  • Supportive Services
  • Health Informatics
  • Biotechnology Research and Development
  • Correction Services
  • Emergency & Fire Management Services
  • Law Enforcement Services
  • Security & Protective Services

Programs stimulate students to manage the challenges of living and working in a diverse global society. Our unique focus is on families, work and their interrelationships.

  • Catering and Culinary Arts
  • Child & Adolescent Development
  • Early Childhood Education
  • Fashion Design & Merchandising
  • Food Science, Dietetics, and Nutrition
  • Interior Design
  • Life Management
  • Relationships
  • Teen Choices
  • Teen Parent

Preparing students with the knowledge and skills necessary to compete & succeed as the future workforce in a global economy.

  • Construction
  • Design & Pre-construction
  • Maintenance & Operations
  • Production / Process Technology
  • Manufacturing Production
  • Maintenance, Installation & Repair
  • Quality Assurance
  • Health, Safety & Environmental Assurance
  • Logistics & Inventory Control
  • Facility & Mobile Equipment Maintenance
  • Health, Safety & Environmental Management
  • Logistics, Planning & Management Services
  • Transportation/Systems Infrastructure
  • Planning Management & Regulation
  • Warehousing & Distribution Center Operations

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math are driving our global marketplace. We need to ensure today’s learners and tomorrow’s leaders are passionate about all the possibilities these areas of study hold.

  • Audio / Video Technology & Film
  • Journalism & Broadcasting
  • Performing Arts
  • Printing/Publishing
  • Telecommunications
  • Visual & Design Arts
  • Information Support & Services
  • Interactive Media
  • Network Systems
  • Programming & Software Engineering
  • Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics