The federal Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st 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:
Additional resources on this page include:
In May 2024, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) submitted an updated Perkins V Massachusetts 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). DESE sought input from stakeholders throughout 2023 and 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.
As of July 2024, the Massachusetts Perkins State Plan has been reviewed and approved by the U.S. Department of Education. Massachusetts received praise for crafting "a new plan that raises the bar for education by creating high-quality systems of career and college pathways so that our students have more options for rewarding careers." Massachusetts' approval letter and approved Perkins V State Plan will be posted on the U.S. Department of Education's Perkins Collaborative Resource Network (PCRN) website. The submitted plan is also available here: FY2024-2027 Perkins State Plan Approved
Questions about the Massachusetts Perkins State Plan may be directed to ccte@mass.gov .
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:
For current grant recipients, questions regarding allowable expenses would be addressed by your RASP Liaison, Alex Chiu .
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.
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.
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.
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 .
Perkin Core Indicators can be used for program improvement using these resources:
Failure to submit required reports on time may result in the school district/postsecondary institution/consortium not receiving Perkins V Allocation funds.
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.
Who to contact:
Last Updated: July 18, 2024
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education 135 Santilli Highway, Everett, MA 02149
Voice: (781) 338-3000 TTY: (800) 439-2370
Disclaimer: A reference in this website to any specific commercial products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm, or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the public and does not constitute endorsement or recommendation by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.