NC Career and Technical Education

What NC Career and Technical Education does

NC Career and Technical Education is a state-administered career and technical education program operating under the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NC DPI), headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. The program delivers industry-recognized credentials and career pathways to K-12 public school students across all 115 North Carolina school districts and charter schools, spanning sectors including healthcare, cybersecurity, and other technical disciplines. It is integrated with state graduation requirements and DPI accountability systems, and partners with employer networks, SkillsUSA for national competitions, SREB for regional recognition, and TeachNC for educator recruitment.

The core offering is the CTE credential program, through which students earn industry-recognized credentials while still in high school. In the 2024-2025 school year, NC students earned a record 382,964 industry credentials, the highest in state history. Complementary metrics include a record 87.7% four-year graduation rate, 54% of 2025 graduates passing college-level courses while in high school, and over 90,000 students in AP programs with 72.1% earning qualifying scores above the national average.

NC CTE operates as a non-commercial public program funded through state education appropriations and federal workforce development grants. There is no tuition or fee charged to participating students. Distribution occurs exclusively through the existing K-12 public school infrastructure, with go-to-market executed via state government channels including the DPI website, GovDelivery email, press releases, and the Innovation Leadership Council. The program is not a privately-held or venture-backed entity and has no applicable revenue model in the commercial sense.

Name

NC Career and Technical Education

Legal name

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

Website

https://ncpublicschools.org

Company type

Public

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

NC CTE is a state-administered career and technical education program under the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, delivering industry-recognized credentials and career pathways across healthcare, cybersecurity, and other fields to K-12 students throughout all 115 North Carolina public school districts at no cost.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Career and Technical Education

NAICS

Technical and Trade Schools (6115)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Career & Technical Education (CTE) Centers & Programs (EDAJAAAJ)

Keywords

• Career technical education
• K-12 public education
• Industry credential programs
• Workforce skills training
• College-level coursework

Headquarters

HQ city

Raleigh

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Public Education Funding: Funded through state government education budgets and federal workforce development funding. No direct revenue generation as this is a public education program.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

NC Career and Technical Education delivers career and technical education (CTE) programs through North Carolina's public K-12 school system, enabling high school students to earn industry-recognized credentials (382,964 credentials earned in 2024-2025) and college-level credits in fields such as healthcare, cybersecurity, and other technical disciplines. The program is administered by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NC DPI) and integrated with state graduation requirements, accountability systems, and employer partnerships for in-demand skill alignment.

Product overview

North Carolina Career and Technical Education operates as part of the NC Department of Public Instruction's broader educational framework, offering CTE programs across public schools statewide. The primary offering is the CTE credential program through which students earn industry-recognized credentials (382,964 credentials earned in 2024-25) in areas such as healthcare and cybersecurity. The program is integrated with the DPI's accountability systems, testing frameworks, and reporting mechanisms rather than functioning as a discrete software product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Career and Technical Education (CTE) Programs

Quantifiable outcome

• 382,964 industry credentials earned by students in 2024-2025
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and supporting.

• Southern Regional Education Board (SREB)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 July 2026
• SkillsUSAcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner
• Innovation Leadership CouncilminorOthers
• TeachNCsupportingGTM or Marketing Partner

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Project Lead the Way (PLTW): PLTW is a non-profit that provides STEM and CTE curriculum pathways (including computer science, biomedical science, and engineering) to K-12 schools. It is comparable to NC CTE in delivering industry-aligned credential pathways, but operates as a curriculum provider rather than a state-wide program administrator.
• iCEV (CEV Multimedia): iCEV is a CTE curriculum and certification platform used by K-12 schools and CTE programs nationwide to deliver industry-recognized credentials. It is comparable to NC CTE in delivering credential-aligned CTE content to students, but operates as a private curriculum provider rather than a state agency.

Others

• SkillsUSA: SkillsUSA is a national student organization that partners with state CTE programs to deliver career-ready competitions and leadership development. NC CTE partners directly with SkillsUSA, including competing at the National Championships, making it an ecosystem peer rather than a direct competitor.
• Southern Regional Education Board (SREB): SREB is the regional education body that recognized NC CTE with the 2026 State Leadership Award. It supports state education agencies across the southeastern US with policy, research, and program improvement—functioning as a coordinating body for programs comparable to NC CTE.
• Advance CTE: Advance CTE is the national non-profit representing state CTE directors and agencies. It develops policy resources and state-by-state capacity building for programs like NC CTE, functioning as a peer network and policy partner rather than a direct competitor.

Direct peers

• Virginia CTE (Virginia Department of Education): Virginia CTE, administered by the Virginia Department of Education, is a directly comparable state-level CTE program with similar industry credentialing, career pathway development, and integration into K-12 graduation requirements.
• Texas Career and Technical Education (Texas Education Agency): Texas CTE is administered through the Texas Education Agency and operates similarly to NC CTE by delivering state-wide CTE programs, industry credentials, and career pathways through public K-12 schools. Both programs serve as the lead state agency for career and technical education in their respective states.
• California Career Technical Education (California Department of Education): California CTE, housed within the California Department of Education, administers CTE programs across the state's K-12 public schools with comparable functions to NC CTE: industry credential pathways, career readiness, and integration with graduation requirements.
• Florida Career and Technical Education (Florida Department of Education): Florida CTE operates as a division of the Florida Department of Education with the same mandate as NC CTE: deliver CTE programs statewide through public schools, award industry credentials, and align secondary education with workforce needs in healthcare, IT, skilled trades, and other sectors.

Broad incumbents

• Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE): ACTE is the national professional association for CTE educators and administrators, providing advocacy, professional development, and policy leadership that shape how state CTE programs like NC CTE operate. It is a broad incumbent that supports the entire CTE ecosystem rather than operating a single state program.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nc-cte

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about NC Career and Technical Education