Technical education includes career and technical education (CTE) in U.S. high schools and technical or vocational education and training (TVET) internationally. The statistics below show how students participate, which subject areas attract concentrated study, what happens after high school, and how vocational qualifications relate to employment.
Contents
- U.S. high school participation
- Course exposure and concentration
- Postsecondary outcomes
- Global participation
- Pathways and completion
- Employment and education level
U.S. high school participation
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) measured CTE participation among U.S. public high school graduates in 2019. A “2-credit concentrator” is a graduate who earned at least two credits in a CTE subject area. This measure describes concentrated study, not everyone who took a single technical course.
The largest concentration rates in the NCES subject-area table were in business, finance, and marketing at 9.4% of graduates, followed by engineering, design, and production at 8.0%. Communication and communication technologies accounted for 6.2%, while health care accounted for 5.7%. Agriculture and natural resources represented 5.9%, and consumer services represented 5.6%.
Other 2019 concentration rates were 3.9% in computer and information sciences, 3.4% in public services, 3.0% in construction, and 2.4% in mechanical repair and operation. These percentages are subject-area-specific shares of U.S. public high school graduates, measured for the 2019 graduating class.
The source is NCES, “H257. Percentage of public high school graduates who concentrated in a career and technical education (CTE) subject area, by CTE coursetaking pattern and CTE subject area: 2019”.
Course exposure and concentration
Course exposure was broader than two-credit concentration in every subject area listed by NCES. In 2019, 36.4% of U.S. public high school graduates earned credits in business, finance, and marketing, averaging 1.38 credits among those who studied the area. Engineering, design, and production reached 22.9%, with an average of 1.77 credits. Communication and communication technologies reached 26.8%, averaging 1.34 credits.
Computer and information sciences reached 19.8% of graduates, with an average of 1.27 credits. Consumer services reached 20.8%, averaging 1.52 credits. Health care reached 13.6%, averaging 1.89 credits, while agriculture and natural resources reached 13.8%, averaging 1.99 credits.
The remaining exposure rates were 11.5% in public services, averaging 1.53 credits; 9.4% in construction, averaging 1.74 credits; and 6.3% in mechanical repair and operation, averaging 2.02 credits.
Among graduates who earned any credits in a subject area, the share who became 2-credit concentrators varied considerably. Agriculture and natural resources had the highest share at 42.8%, followed by health care at 41.7% and mechanical repair and operation at 38.5%. Engineering, design, and production reached 34.9%, while construction reached 31.4%.
Public services had a 29.9% concentration share among exposed graduates. Consumer services reached 26.8%, business, finance, and marketing reached 25.7%, and communication and communication technologies reached 23.0%. Computer and information sciences had the lowest listed share at 19.8%.
| CTE subject area | Graduates earning credits | Average credits among those exposed | Exposed graduates who concentrated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture and natural resources | 13.8% | 1.99 | 42.8% |
| Business, finance, and marketing | 36.4% | 1.38 | 25.7% |
| Communication and communication technologies | 26.8% | 1.34 | 23.0% |
| Computer and information sciences | 19.8% | 1.27 | 19.8% |
| Construction | 9.4% | 1.74 | 31.4% |
| Engineering, design, and production | 22.9% | 1.77 | 34.9% |
| Health care | 13.6% | 1.89 | 41.7% |
| Mechanical repair and operation | 6.3% | 2.02 | 38.5% |
The comparison indicates why exposure and concentration should not be treated as interchangeable. Business, finance, and marketing had the broadest exposure, but only 25.7% of exposed graduates reached the two-credit threshold. Mechanical repair and operation had the narrowest exposure, yet 38.5% of exposed graduates concentrated there.
These figures come from NCES, “H258. Percentage of public high school graduates who earned Carnegie credits in each career and technical education (CTE) subject area and, among those graduates, average number of credits earned and percentage who concentrated in each CTE subject area: 2019”.
Postsecondary outcomes
The NCES Career and Technical Education in the United States indicator followed 2013 U.S. public high school graduates through June 2021. It distinguishes CTE concentrators from CTE nonconcentrators and reports whether graduates ever enrolled in postsecondary education and which credential was their highest by June 2021.
By June 2021, 80% of 2013 graduates who were CTE concentrators had ever enrolled in postsecondary education. The corresponding share for CTE nonconcentrators was 84%. The measure is cumulative enrollment by that date; it is not a measure of immediate enrollment after graduation.
Among concentrators who had ever enrolled, 32% had no postsecondary degree or certificate by June 2021. The comparable figure for nonconcentrators was 31%. A certificate was the highest credential for 7% of concentrators and 5% of nonconcentrators.
An associate’s degree was the highest credential for 14% of concentrators, compared with 9% of nonconcentrators. A bachelor’s degree or higher was the highest credential for 48% of concentrators and 54% of nonconcentrators. These categories describe highest credential among those ever enrolled and should not be read as the completion rate for every high school graduate.
The source is NCES, “COE - Career and Technical Education in the United States”. The outcome period is explicitly through June 2021 for the 2013 graduating class.
Global participation
International measures use TVET terminology and cover different age groups and reporting populations. The 2024 UNESCO monitoring report found that the global median youth enrolment rate in technical and vocational education and training rose from 2% in 2010 to 5% in 2023. This is a median across reporting countries, not a population-weighted global percentage.
For youth aged 15–24, worldwide TVET participation increased from 2.7% in 2000 to 3.7% in 2024. In high-income countries, the rate rose from 4.6% to 6.7% over the same period. In lower-middle-income countries, participation was 1.2% in 2024 and had remained low and constant in the reported series.
Adult participation in education and training among people aged 25–64 increased worldwide from 2.0% in 2000 to 2.4% in 2024. However, across 78 countries with data for both 2013 and 2023, the median adult participation rate fell by 0.5 percentage points between those years. The global and country-comparison measures therefore describe different summaries and should not be combined as one trend.
Gender participation also remains uneven. Across 38 countries with available data, about 80 women were enrolled in TVET for every 100 men in the latest reported period used by the 2024 UNESCO monitoring report. The period is the latest available for those countries, as reported in 2024, rather than a single worldwide survey year.
The UNESCO sources are “Monitoring SDG 4” and “World Education Statistics 2024”. The latter reported a low-income-country vocational enrolment ratio of 2.6% in 2022.
Pathways and completion
The OECD’s Education at a Glance 2024 comparison put participation in technical or vocational education at around 17% of 15–24-year-olds across OECD countries, using 2022 data as the latest comparison. Participation exceeded 25% in Austria, Czechia, Poland, and Slovenia. It was 5% or less in Argentina, India, and Saudi Arabia in the comparison.
Across OECD countries, young men aged 15–24 were 4 percentage points more likely than young women to participate in technical or vocational education in 2022. Women represented 51% of graduates from upper-secondary general programmes but 46% of graduates from vocational programmes across OECD and partner countries in 2022.
Completion also differed by programme type. Upper-secondary completion within the theoretical duration plus two years averaged 87% for general-programme entrants and 73% for vocational-programme entrants across OECD and partner countries. The completion figures use the latest available cohort reported in the 2024 edition, so they should not be interpreted as a forecast for a particular incoming class.
These comparisons are from OECD, “What are the key features of general and vocational upper secondary education?”. Differences among countries can reflect programme structure, age of participation, and how vocational education is classified.
Employment and education level
Employment statistics provide a different way to assess technical education outcomes. Across OECD countries, 83% of 25–34-year-olds with a vocational qualification were employed, compared with 73% of those with a general qualification. These are the latest available figures in OECD’s Education at a Glance 2024 labour-market comparisons and apply to the specified age group.
Across OECD countries, employment among 25–64-year-olds was 60% for people below upper-secondary attainment, 77% for those with upper-secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment, and 87% for those with tertiary attainment.
| Attainment level | Employment rate, ages 25–64 | OECD gender employment gap |
|---|---|---|
| Below upper-secondary | 60% | 21 percentage points |
| Upper-secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary | 77% | 14 percentage points |
| Tertiary | 87% | 7 percentage points |
The gender employment gap averaged 21 percentage points below upper-secondary attainment, 14 points at upper-secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment, and 7 points at tertiary attainment. For OECD 25–34-year-olds in 2022, the gender gap in inactivity averaged 25 percentage points below upper-secondary attainment, 15 points at upper-secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary attainment, and 6 points at tertiary attainment.
The OECD figures describe associations between attainment, qualifications, and labour-market status. They do not establish that a specific technical programme caused an individual employment outcome, and they do not represent one occupation or one country. The source is OECD, “Post-education labour market outcomes”.