• By 2000, the majority of CTE concentrators¹ from the class of 1992 had enrolled in postsecondary education (65 percent of the total group of CTE concentrators, 59 percent of the CTE only subgroup, and 82 percent of the dual CTE and college preparatory subgroup) (table 1). Nevertheless, among all of the curriculum groups, enrollment rates were lowest for students who completed only a CTE concentration.
• About three-quarters of all CTE concentrators who enrolled in a postsecondary institution did so within 7 months of their high school graduation (table 1). This immediate transition rate was not measurably different from the rate for general education students, but was lower than the rate for students who completed a college preparatory curriculum only.
• More than half (56 percent) of all CTE concentrators began their postsecondary education at a community college (table 1), while 37 percent began at a 4-year institution, and 7 percent at another type of institution. CTE students were less likely than college preparatory only students to initially matriculate into a 4-year college and were more likely to first enter a community college or another type of institution. CTE concentrators were less likely than general education students to begin their postsecondary education at a 4-year college.

• Among the total group of CTE concentrators from the class of 1992 who enrolled in a postsecondary institution, about half earned a postsecondary certificate or degree by 2000, while about one-quarter (26 percent) earned a bachelor's or higher degree (table 2). Dual CTE college preparatory concentrators were more likely than CTE only concentrators to have earned any postsecondary certificate or degree (63 vs. 44 percent), and more likely to have earned a bachelor's degree (45 vs. 16 percent), but less likely to have earned a certificate as their highest degree (4 vs. 10 percent).
• A higher proportion of college preparatory only students earned a postsecondary certificate or degree than both the total group of CTE concentrators and the subgroup of dual CTE and college preparatory concentrators (table 2). College preparatory only students were less likely to have an associate's degree as their highest postsecondary degree than CTE only concentrators, and more likely to have earned a bachelor's or advanced degree than both the total group of CTE concentrators and the subgroup of dual concentrators.
• Comparing the total group of CTE concentrators with general education students, there was no detectable difference in the proportion who earned a postsecondary certificate or degree (table 2), but CTE concentrators were more likely to have earned an associate's degree as their highest degree, and less likely to have earned a bachelor's or advanced degree by 2000.
• About 6 percent of the total group of CTE concentrators had not earned a postsecondary certificate or degree by 2000 but were still enrolled in postsecondary education, while 43 percent had not earned a postsecondary credential and were not enrolled (table 2).

¹ High school curriculum concentration is determined using the Secondary School Taxonomy (SST), developed for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), which classifies high school courses into three main curricular areas: academic, career and technical education (CTE), and enrichment/other. This publication focuses on 12th-grade students in 1992 who concentrated in at least one CTE occupational field during high school, referring to them as "CTE concentrators." The postsecondary educational experiences of this group are compared with those of students identified in this study as "college preparatory concentrators" and "general education students." The college preparatory concentrators are further classified into three subgroups based on the level and intensity of their academic coursework: those who completed a core curriculum, a mid-level curriculum, or a rigorous curriculum.