• Academic subject matter taught with relevance to the real world; often called contextual learning.
• Employability skills ranging from job-related skills to workplace ethics.
• Education pathways that help students explore interests and careers in the process of progressing through school.

Beyond High School - CTE is about:

• Second-chance education and training for the unemployed and those seeking to upgrade their employability skills.
• Education to earn additional degrees, especially when related to career advancement.
• Corporate training, continuing education, skills upgrades and refresher courses for those already in the workplace.

The subject areas most commonly associated with CTE are:

• Agriculture (careers related to Agricultural Sciences, food, fiber, and natural resource industries);
• Business (accounting, business administration, management, information technology and entrepreneurship);
• Family and Consumer Sciences (child development and parenting, consumerism, culinary arts, fashion and interior design, and life management skills);
• Health Sciences (nursing, dental, and medical technicians, pharmaceutical technicians, medical data systems);
• Marketing (management, entrepreneurship, merchandising and retail); and
• Trade and Industrial (automotive technicians, building construction trades, computer numerical control technician, computer-aided drafting, computer repair).

 According to U.S. Department of Education, most high school students take at least one CTE course, and one in four students take three or more courses in a single program area.  One-third of college students are involved in CTE programs, and as many as 40 million adults engage in short-term postsecondary occupational training.  In Nevada last year, more than 58,000 high school and 30,000 college students were enrolled in one or more Career and Technical Education courses.