Office of College, Career and Technical Education

Perkins Funding

The federal Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21^st Century, also known as Perkins V, provides federal funding to recipients to ensure students enrolled in career and technical education programs are able to fully develop the academic knowledge, technical skills, and employability skills needed to enter the workforce and pursue continued education in their chosen field.

This site covers these commonly asked questions about Perkins funding:

How Is Perkins Allocated?
What Can I Fund with Perkins Funding?
How Do I Apply?
What is the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment?
What Measures Are Used to Evaluate Programs and Support Continuous Improvement?
What Reporting Is Required?

Additional resources on this page include:

New Perkins State Plan
Current materials from the development of the current (2020-2024) MA Perkins State Plan
General Perkins Contacts

New Perkins State Plan

In May 2024, the DESE Office of College, Career and Technical Education (OCCTE) will submit an updated Perkins V State Plan to the federal government aligned to the Department’s Educational Vision and the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V). The OCCTE sought input from stakeholders throughout 2023 and has drafted the state plan to build on the Commonwealth’s strong foundation in career-connected learning and make adjustments that will improve efforts to provide all students in Massachusetts with access to high quality career-connected learning opportunities.

Public comment was held from March 11 to April 10, 2024. The materials below were made available for reference during the public comment period. Following public comment, the plan will be revised as needed and approved by the Governor. Questions about this process may be directed to ccte@mass.gov .

How Is Perkins Allocated?

Secondary	Secondary funds are based on a federally determined formula that allocates funds based on census population and census population at federally defined poverty level. To determine allocations: DESE first determines the census population and percent poverty. Then distributes the federal funds to school districts in MA towns and cities according that distribution. Funds are reallocated to account for percent of students from those towns/cities who participate in CTE programs between the town/city and the regional schools. Per the federal law, any allocations of under $15,000 are reallocated unless the recipient chooses to allocate their portion to a consortium that provides programming to their students. For information about forming a consortium, please email ccte@mass.gov
Postsecondary	Postsecondary funds are distributed based on the percentage of Pell eligible students at institutions offering postsecondary Career and Technical Programs. To allocate funds: DESE collects Pell eligible enrollments. Then proportionally distributes postsecondary funds.
State and County Correctional Agencies	State and County Correctional Agencies funds are offered on a competitive basis every three years.

What Can I Fund with Perkins Funding?

In Massachusetts, programs eligible for funding are: State-approved Chapter 74 CTE programs, state-approved Innovation Pathways programs, Secondary Career Connections Programs (N74), Post-Secondary CTE Programs, and CTE Programs at State Incarceration Institutions.

All Perkins Funded programs must:

Align to MA definition of Size, Scope and Quality.
For designated state-approved Chapter 74 CTE Programs adherence to program designation criteria meets these requirements. For state-approved Innovation Pathways Programs, adherence to design criteria and a few additional requirements outlined in the Perkins V/ Innovation Pathways Comparison ensures alignment. For non-designated programs (Career Connections (N74), Postsecondary programs, and programs at state and county correctional agencies) use these resources and resources on the dedicated pages (Career Connections, Postsecondary Programs) to ensure alignment.
- Resources: Perkins Checklist
Ensure Equitable Access to programs.
- Implementation resources for reviewing equitable access
- Refer to disaggregation , culturally responsive practices and population groups & special populations defined in Perkins V.
- Additional resources available here: English Learner Education and ELE Blueprint, Special Education Policy & Guidance, Culturally Responsive Schools & Classrooms

For current grant recipients, questions regarding allowable expenses would be addressed by your RASP Liaison, Alex Chiu .

How Do I Apply?

First, confirm your district has been allocated funds. Perkins funding is administered through the Resource Allocation Strategy and Planning (RASP) /Federal Grant Programs team. Perkins funds are typically determined in late spring and available to apply for through summer with a Fall deadline.

What is the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment?

Secondary

To further align the systems and expectations of Massachusetts Career and Technical Education, DESE has integrated the Secondary-level Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) into a user-friendly CLNA self-assessment tool that looks holistically at students' high school experience. This new resource was piloted in Spring 2023.

Postsecondary

Then complete the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment Guide and Worksheet . Use this information to identify, develop, revise, and implement your programs and apply for grant funding through the grant posting. The FY2024 Perkins Application will reflect updated language to recognize common findings from the CLNA process. More information will be updated here and technical assistance and information sessions will be held as the application is release.

What Measures Are Used to Evaluate Programs and Support Continuous Improvement?

In addition to measures used to evaluate state approved programs such as Chapter 74 and Innovation Pathways, Perkins Core Indicators are used to measure programs quality and opportunities for improvement for programs using Perkins funding. The Department has set State Determined Performance Levels (SDPLs) for each indicator. In limited cases, Districts, institutions & consortiums may propose Locally Determined Performance Levels (LDPLs). For questions regarding LDPLs, please contact CCTE@mass.gov .

Secondary

These are the measures for Secondary Program Performance:

1S1 Four Year Graduation Rate
2S1 Academic Attainment in ELA
2S2 Academic Attainment in Mathematics
2S3 Academic Attainment in Science
3S1 Postsecondary Placement
4S1 Nontraditional Program Enrollment
5S3 Program Quality: Participated in Work-Based Learning

Postsecondary

These are the measures for PS Program Performance:

1P1 Postsecondary Retention & Placement
2P1 Postsecondary Credential, Certificate or Diploma
3S1 Nontraditional Program Enrollment

State and County Correctional Agencies

As established by the Program coordinator through the grant process. Please contact Please contact Yvonne Gittelson with questions.

Continuous Improvement Resources

Perkin Core Indicators can be used for program improvement using these resources:

CTE Reports in Security Portal (see Directory Administrators for access)
CTE Enrollment Visuals
CTE Perkins Core Indicators Visuals
Guide: Using Performance Outcomes
Video: Using CTE Data Resources

What Reporting is Required?

Failure to submit required reports on time may result in the school district/postsecondary institution/consortium not receiving Perkins V Allocation funds.

Secondary	Districts & collaboratives with Secondary Programs are required to report CTE Enrollment SIMS. Graduate Follow Up. An important component of Perkins programs, including Chapter-74 approved programs, is the Career Technical Education Graduate Follow-up of graduates. This is used to calculate and report on a Perkins V Core Indicator: Postsecondary Placement (3S1) as part of the accountability system for federally funded Perkins programs. Refer to the CTE Data Instructions for more. To submit graduate follow-up results, districts use the CTE Grad Follow-up Results application in the Security Portal. Access is managed locally: the district's Directory Administrator may assign to a district staff person the security role "CTE Grad Follow-up Results". This district staff person can then enter and submit (or 'certify') the data. For more about grad follow-up, see Instructions or contact your liaison.
Postsecondary	Institutions/collaboratives with Postsecondary Programs are required to submit Pell Reports and Perkins V PS Reports each year. See more on Postsecondary Programs page.
State and County Correctional Agencies	Reporting is established by the Program coordinator through the grant process. Please contact Yvonne Gittelson with questions.

State Policy Resources for Perkins Implementation in Massachusetts

Massachusetts Perkins V Definitions
Perkins V Implementation Workshops
Perkins V State Plan 2020-2024 Approved by US ED through 2024
- US ED has called out these noteworthy elements of the Massachusetts State Plan:
  - Links employers and schools for work-based learning experiences and career development activities through its Connecting Activities initiative - including a special focus on STEM employers.
  - Expands access to an array of engaging academic and career programs of study in strong and growing industries and occupations through its High-Quality College and Career Pathways Initiative (HQCCP).
  - Requires internship or capstone experiences through its Innovation Pathways structure that connects student learning to an in-demand industry sector within its regional and state economy.
Federal Perkins V Act: Strengthening Career and Technical Education in the 21st Century Act / Perkins V Act

General Perkins Contacts

Who to contact:

For programmatic questions, please contact the Office for College, Career, and Technical Education (CCTE) which oversees High Quality College and Career Pathways. Please contact the CCTE Office at 781-338-3910 or CCTE@mass.gov or go to the list of CCTE district liaisons.
For Perkins Fund Code 400 & 401 grant application questions, please contact the RASP/Federal Grant Programs Perkins Liaison, Alexandria.W.Chiu@mass.gov .
For programmatic and grant questions related to correctional agencies, please contact Yvonne Corrections Education Specialist in the Office for Adult & Community Learning Services (ACLS), at 781-338-3815 or Yvonne Gittelson .

Last Updated: April 12, 2024