In 2014, the Nevada State Board of Education and the Board of Regents approved a new state policy governing the development and implementation of articulated credit for secondary CTE students. Rebranding it “CTE College Credit,” the change was meant to incentivize CTE program completion and accelerate students’ attainment of postsecondary credentials. The policy authorized the development of statewide articulation agreements for CTE programs at participating colleges.
The CTE College Credit is free for students and is awarded to those who: (1) complete the CTE course sequence with a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher; (2) pass the state end-of-program technical assessment for the program; and (3) pass the Workplace Readiness Assessment for employability skills. From there, students are ready to enter postsecondary with free college credit already in hand. The articulation agreements also specify pathways from secondary programs to individual programs at participating colleges, so that a student is assured that his or her work in high school will directly benefit his or her postsecondary experience.
Policy in Action
A memorandum of understanding has been developed between the Department of Education and each of the four participating colleges: College of Southern Nevada, Great Basin College, Truckee Meadows Community College, and Western Nevada College. Each MOU is signed by the respective college president and by the superintendent of public instruction.
The memoranda of understanding provide the foundational authority to establish statewide articulation agreements for high school students in Nevada. Each articulation agreement will abide by the same standards for students to qualify for the credit.
At the College of Southern Nevada (CSN), students can participate in over 40 programs offered in high schools throughout the state. These programs have articulated degree or certificate pathways to 92 CSN programs, providing students with multiple options. For example, a student taking a Computer Science program can earn college credit for Beginning Java or Intro to Programming, leading to degree programs in either database management, programming or web development. CSN estimates that CTE College Credit provides students with a potential cost saving of $500 per college course, since the students do not have to pay for course registration fees or textbooks.
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