U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona announced the launch of a new $25 million Career Connected High School Grant program at the Unlocking Pathways Summit in Aurora, Colorado.
This program will provide grants to consortia of local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and employers to pilot evidence-based strategies to increase the integration and alignment of the last two years of high school and the first two years of postsecondary education to improve postsecondary education and career outcomes for all students.
These grants are part of the Raise the Bar: Unlocking Career Success initiative, aimed at helping young Americans access good-paying jobs. This cross-government effort seeks to increase and expand access to high-quality career pathways to help young Americans pursue jobs in today’s in-demand fields and be prepared for careers of the future.
Grantees can use funds for a variety of different activities based on the need of the region, including additional dual enrollment classes, covering the costs of tuition, books, supplies, and other related expenses for low-income students, tutoring, other academic supports, transportation for students to work-based learning sites, the development of new career and technical education programs in high-growth fields like clean energy or to support teacher training and new equipment that may be needed to launch these programs.
The notice inviting applications is now live here.
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