State Profile For South Carolina

Data sources used in this profile (PDF,177Kb)

State Director

Dr. James Couch, Director
Office of Career & Technology Education, South Carolina Department of Education
1429 Senate Street/ 912A Rutledge Bldg.
Columbia, SC 29201

CTE Web Site(s) as Applicable

Secondary: http://www.ed.sc.gov/agency/standards-and-learning/career-and-technology-education/index.html

Postsecondary: http://www.sctechsystem.com/

Career Readiness Certification Program: http://www.workreadysc.com/

Mission

Secondary: To develop an integrated learning system that enables students to be successful in a global economy.
Postsecondary: Mission: The South Carolina Technical College System provides learning opportunities that promote the economic and human resource development of the state. Vision: The South Carolina Technical College System will lead the nation in delivering relevant and effective programs that advance workforce development, promote economic development and ensure attainment of student learning goals.

CTE Statistics

Number of Public High Schools: 238
Number of Public High Schools Offering Solely (or primarily) CTE courses: 0
Number of Students in Public High Schools: 206,017
Number of Secondary Students Enrolled in CTE: 204,969
Number of Public Community Colleges: 16
Number of Students at Public Community Colleges: 78,883
Number of Postsecondary Students Enrolled in CTE: 64,832
Perkins Funds Received: $20,620,911

*The number of students enrolled in CTE cover grades 7-12

CTE Governance Structure

Perkins Eligible Agency: Department of Education
Agency Administering Secondary CTE: Department of Education
Agency Administering Postsecondary CTE: Department of Education
Programmatic Control For Secondary CTE: The State Board of Education
Programmatic Control For Postsecondary CTE: State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education.

CTE Funding: Non-Perkins

Key: Increased Funding  Small_green_arrow_up    Decreased Funding   Small_red_arrow_down    Funding Maintained   Small_blue_arrow_both
State Secondary Funding: Small_blue_arrow_both
State Postsecondary Funding: Small_blue_arrow_both
Local Secondary Funding: Small_blue_arrow_both
Local Postsecondary Funding: Small_blue_arrow_both

State Director Roles and Responsibilities

The State Director has the title of Director of Career and Technology Education. The Director is a career position that reports to the State Superintendent. The Director’s primary areas of responsibility are planning, administration, coordination, supervision and promotion of all phases of the CATE program for South Carolina.

CTE Connections to Secondary Education and High School Reform

CTE plays a significant role in high school reform efforts. The South Carolina legislature passed the Education and Economic Development Act in 2005 which requires career clusters and majors for all high school students. The State Director is a member of the state’s high school reform leadership team.

Implementation of Career Clusters

South Carolina believes that Career Clusters offer many benefits. They see Career Clusters as the basis for high school reform and a way to provide infrastructure for a seamless educational transition between all learner levels. South Carolina believes Career Clusters are a tool for career guidance, a method to improve the quality of CTE and a means to organize course sequences.
In order to effectively implement Career Clusters, South Carolina has passed legislation that supports Career Clusters. The state has also adopted a strategic vision paper that supports Career Clusters and integrated the 16 nationally-recognized career clusters into the state plan. In addition, South Carolina has sponsored pilot sites to support the direct implementation of Career Clusters.
Several delivery methods are being used to implement and deliver Career Clusters, including career academies, Charter Schools, High Schools That Work, high school reform efforts and Tech Prep.


Implementation levels of programs of study