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Career Technical Education FAQsQ: Does UC accept career-technical education courses to meet the "a-g" subject area requirements? A: Yes. To date, UC has approved hundreds of career-technical education (CTE) courses that meet the "a-g" requirements. In determining the acceptability of a CTE course, UC applies the same faculty guidelines that we apply to academic courses. Specifically, courses must fall within one of the "a-g" subject areas, must be academically challenging, must prepare students for success in lower division courses at UC, and must meet the specific subject area guidelines articulated by the faculty (described on this web site). Q: What are some examples of approved career-technical courses? A: This web site was initially developed (in 2000) to highlight the range of career-technical education courses that UC has approved over the years. In the Course Descriptions portion of this web site, you can search by career pathways and see a sampling of approved courses. Please note that the downloadable course descriptions serve simply as examples; they are not necessarily exemplary. As you will note, examples range from business economics and veterinary science to graphic design and robotics. A: Yes. UC/CSU eligibility and career-technical education are not mutually exclusive paths for students. It is certainly feasible for a student to simultaneously follow both paths. Review a complete analysis of the overlap between the "a-g" requirements and career-technical education (doc). A: While conducting dozens of workshops and presentations with CTE educators around the state, and reviewing hundreds of CTE courses submitted to UC for "a-g" approval, we have seen that those integrating academic and CTE course content tend to take one of two approaches: (1) infusing additional academic content into an existing CTE course, or (2) starting with an academic course and inserting career-technical applications in appropriate places. It is strongly advised that course submissions are identified as CTE with the appropriate industry sector and career pathway options. Q: How many career-technical courses have been approved to satisfy the "a-g" subject requirements? A: UC does not categorize as academic or career-technical the courses that are approved to satisfy "a-g" approval. If a course is substantially rigorous and meets UC faculty guidelines, then it is approved, no matter what the educational intent of the course. Thus, UC does not keep a count of the number of CTE courses that have been approved. However, the California Department of Education has released a report called CDE-UC Approved CTE Courses 2008-09 (doc) (November 1, 2008). In it, they report that 6,509 CTE courses have been approved to satisfy the "a-g" requirements. Since the 2001-02 year, the number of CTE courses accepted for "a-g" approval has increased dramatically. In 2001, UC had approved just 258 CTE courses. Today, over 6500 CTE are approved for "a-g" credit or about 25.3 percent of the 25,752 CTE courses offered in California schools. Moreover, it is expected that the number of approved CTE courses will continue to climb. Pursuant to SB 1543 (2006), the University has developed model uniform academic standards for career technical education courses to provide more guidance to teachers who want their CTE courses approved by UC. The table below reflects the increase in acceptance of CTE courses for the past years.
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