Push is on to boost career tech in Michigan schools. Not all agree that’s best

Nearly 115,000 students participated in career and technical education course in the 24-25 school year
Leaders agree career tech is good for students but caution against the message that college isn’t needed
Most of Michigan’s ‘hot jobs’ expected require a bachelor’s degree

In Genesee County, students as young as seventh grade develop career exploration plans. Across four sites in Southeast Michigan, more than 900 students attend night classes at trade school while working construction jobs during the day. And statewide, Michigan is doling out grants to get more career and technical education programs in middle and high schools.

Skilled trades and career technical education are having a moment.

It’s on the campaign trail too.

US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon recently described a “cultural reset for education” while touting the trades. Republican US House candidate Mike Bouchard Jr. said “skilled trades are AI-proof,” while the party’s Senate nominee, Mike Rogers, is calling for a shop class in every high school.

Now, career and technical education experts say students need more exposure to career planning and the state needs more instructors with experience in the industry they are teaching about.

“If you call it a shop class, that’s just going to resonate and pull people’s thoughts backwards to what they experienced as a shop class — not our high-tech programming and clean facilities,” said Brian Pyles, executive director of the Michigan Association for Career and Technical Education and former state director of career and technical education at the Michigan Department of Education.

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The subjects range widely too. Statewide, about one-fourth of high schoolers, or nearly 115,000 students, took a career and technical education course in the 2024-2025 school year. These classes range from accounting to health professions and law enforcement. They also include courses some may associate with a traditional “shop class,” such as plumbing, welding and heating and cooling.

But the attention on career tech hasn’t quelled a longstanding debate about the value of training or if a college degree is needed. The calls come as Michigan test scores decrease and many jobs in growth industries require a college education.

One critic fears increasing the focus on career training could lead to lower-paying jobs.

There were 390 high school buildings with career and technical education enrollments in the 2024-25 academic year, according to the Michigan Department of Education.

“Michigan’s Career and Technical Education system has evolved far beyond the traditional idea of ‘shop class,’” said Bob Wheaton, a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Education. “Today, Michigan offers a wide range of high‑skill, high‑demand programs across multiple industry sectors, giving students hands-on learning experiences connected to real careers.”

The focus on career tech also comes as groups advocate to change high school graduation requirements aimed to make students show skills mastery, not just time in class, and giving students more exposure to careers.

Meanwhile, only one-fourth of Michigan’s high school juniors are college-ready, as measured by the SAT, and elected officials and advocates are also raising the alarm over low literacy scores at the elementary school level.

While Michigan’s high school graduation standards were designed to prepare students for college, many students never set foot on a college campus. About 55% of the high school class of 2025 enrolled in college within six months of graduation, according to preliminary data.

How much students and graduates earn

Experts say studying career tech courses can lead to well-paying jobs but caution that not all training is the same.

Earnings vary depending on if a student took a few career tech courses or a full program and how much additional schooling they received post high school.

Michiganders with bachelor’s degrees earn significantly more than those without, according to state data. But college graduates who also completed a career tech program in high school tend to earn even more.

Lou Glazer, president of Michigan Future, cautions that most well-paying jobs still require a four-year degree. Glazer’s group advocates for increased prosperity in the state, including attracting and retaining talent.

“I find that most folks who are pushing a CTE agenda are doing the exact opposite with their own kids. The question I have started to ask everybody I have an education conversation with is: ‘What kind of education do you want for your kids?’ And most never mention CTE.”

Asked whether emphasizing career tech studies could lead to lower wages, Glazer said:

“I think by and large, the answer is yes, but it really depends on the program.”

Access to career tech varies across the state

Students can attend courses in their local public schools, career centers at their intermediate school district or in workforce training programs at trade organizations or colleges.

High school students can earn an industry credential and in some cases associate degrees.

But career and technical education isn’t one thing, making it harder to measure outcomes.

“In general, students who are in skilled trades are less likely to go to college in part because there’s this really large positive payoff to workforce entry, said Shaun Dougherty, a professor of education and policy at Boston College, who studies such programs.

“But in contrast, students who are in college-aligned programs like healthcare, like education, like some applied engineering, those students are more likely to enroll in college, especially two-year colleges after high school.”

Dougherty studies Michigan career tech in a multistate research effort and said Michigan “is among the states who’s doing it especially well.”

Among Michigan students who completed an associate degree through their career and technical education coursework in the 2017-2018 school year, 61.5% did not get another degree. But 33.7% earned a bachelor’s degree or higher while small groups got a certificate or associate degree. Students who completed certificates through their career and technical education program were less likely to earn a bachelor’s degree.

Dougherty warned that this type of education is not a silver bullet. He said students should take multiple courses in their chosen trade, combining that with work-based learning, partnerships with other educational institutions and learning from instructors who have real-life experiences in the trades.

In Michigan, people with experience in a given career area can teach in a classroom without a teaching certificate using a state-issued career authorization. About 1,400 authorizations were granted in the 24-25 school year.

Demand for skilled trade jobs varies among different states, too, Dougherty cautioned.

What’s ‘hot’?

Michigan recently released its annual list of “hot” high-paying jobs that will be in demand through 2034.

According to the state’s Center for Data and Analytics, two-thirds of the 67,000 “hot” openings call for a bachelor’s degree or higher. Some also call for a license or other credential.

Among the others, two career fields call for apprenticeships: Electricians and plumbers. Top pay would be about $45 per hour, the state says, or about $93,600 per year. Combined, about 3,600 openings are forecast through 2034.

Lowest-paid hot jobs that don’t require college would be construction labor and heavy-truck drivers. Both careers could expect pay to top out at $62,400, a rate $4,100 below the state average for personal income. Nearly 10,000 openings are expected.

Highest paid is electrical power-line installers & repairers, which could make $124,800 per year after long-term on the job training. However, only 295 openings are projected in coming years.

All but one of the eight lowest paying “hot” jobs do not require any college.

How much training is necessary?

Generally, those with a bachelor’s degree make more money annually than those without.

But 42% of recent college graduates with at least a bachelor’s degree are underemployed, according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Pyles from the Michigan Association for Career and Technical Education said many skilled trade workers have associate degrees or earn college credit through their apprenticeships.

“For elected officials to continue to talk about skilled trades professionals not needing a college education, I think that they are minimizing the rigor and intellect that an individual needs in today’s skilled trades environment to be successful.”

Connection to the local and broader economy

Public schools are required to have education development plans for each student. Michigan Community College Association President Brandy Johnson said these plans should help students develop career and college goals but in practice, they are “not a meaningful experience in the vast majority of schools.”

Johnson, who is on the board of Launch Michigan, a group aiming to change graduation standards, said almost all career tech programs in Michigan have an agreement with community colleges so that students can earn college credit for training.

Community colleges are now forming agreements with labor unions that allow trade apprenticeships to count for up to 75% of the credits needed for an associate degree. The next step is working with four-year universities, Johnson said.

Johnson said these new programs are not about getting more money for college but instead about awarding more associate degrees, helping the state meet its goal of 60% of working age adults with a skills certificate or college degree by 2030.

“The point of it really is to do away with this notion that you can either go into a trade or go to college,” Johnson said. “That is the silliest dichotomy and not a thing in 2026.”

Diana Allard, executive director of career and technical education at Genesee ISD said students “need to understand that they have to have some sort of training to get a good job,” adding that “you need some skills and some evidence of that skill.”

How could Michigan improve?

Allard said while Michigan offers a tuition-free community college path for students, the state should rethink its funding so that students are encouraged to take training in high school.

Michigan is putting $40 million toward reimbursing school districts for dual enrollment courses, where students take a class that counts for high school and college credit.

But Allard said Michigan can do more.

“I think our graduation requirements in the state, although they allow for flexibility, districts are still struggling to open that box if you will.”

Linda McMahon gestures while speaking into a microphone. — US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon recently described a ‘cultural reset for education’ at an event at a Michigan trade school. Statewide, nearly 115,000 students participated in career and technical education in Michigan last school year. (Chris Schanz for Bridge Michigan)

When McMahon, the US Secretary of Education spoke of trades in Michigan, she did it from the Southeast Construction Academy in Sterling Heights, which has grown enrollment. President and CEO Keith Ledbetter said Michigan should reevaluate its K-12 system and what success looks like.

“I get frustrated because the young people who walk in the door of our trade school feel like they’ve been a failure. High schools have labeled them a failure,” he said.

“It’s OK that people are differently skilled. Someone who is mechanically inclined, it doesn’t mean that they’re dumb. It means that they’re gifted in something other than what these other people are gifted at.”

Bridge business reporter Paula Gardner contributed to this report.

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