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Taking a CTE+ curriculum is a positive and significant predictor of college attainment. I found these students and academic/general students more likely to matriculate to college and earn a college degree than those who majored in a vocational concentration alone.

The results of this study suggest that states and local districts implemented the Tech Prep reforms of the 1998 Perkins legislation and that CTE+ students experienced higher college matriculation and degree completion rates than students in the academic/general track. This study additionally found that while more than 60 percent of vocational concentrators matriculated to college, fewer than 15 percent completed an associate or bachelors degree during the study period. The study found stratification among high school programs by family income, parent education level, gender and high school grades. CTE+ students came from the most highly educated and wealthy parents of the three programs, while vocational students came from families with the lowest education levels and least wealth. CTE+ students reported the highest grades, while vocational students reported the lowest grades of the three high school programs. Males were more highly concentrated in the vocational track than in other high school programs.

Implications of the study include new research models for determining postsecondary education success to include new variables such as credit-based agreements, college entrance test scores, types of vocational programs, and ratio of academic to vocational course-taking. Implications for practice suggest that the Perkins reforms of the 1990s have resulted in better college outcomes for students taking an enhanced vocational program; therefore practitioners must require all vocational students to take rigorous academic courses in addition to vocational courses. Finally, future research should be conducted to determine why so many vocational students never complete a college degree.