Biden-Harris Administration Awards $25M to Advance Career Connected High Schools

The Biden-Harris Administration has announced 19 new grant awards totaling $25 million through the first-ever Perkins Innovation and Modernization, Career Connected High Schools (CCHS) Grant Program and issued by the U.S. Department of Education (ED).

Dr. Miguel CardonaThis investment is expected to build the capacity of education and workforce systems to partner with business and industry, to develop new high-quality career-connected high school programs for more students.

“We can transform the American high school experience and raise the bar for student engagement, achievement, and career-readiness in this country by providing all students with access to dual enrollment classes, work-based learning, industry credentials, and comprehensive career advising,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. Miguel A. Cardona.

ED received more than 160 eligible applications from 43 states and the District of Columbia, requesting more than $850 million to implement comprehensive career-connected learning projects. CCHS grantees plan to leverage four evidence-based strategies, or “keys,” to help students in unlocking career success including: providing postsecondary education and career guidance; increasing access to dual or concurrent enrollment programs; increasing work-based learning opportunities; and providing industry-recognized credentials.

The grant is part of ED’s Raise the Bar: Unlocking Career Success initiative aimed at helping young Americans access good-paying jobs created by Biden’s Investing in America through seeding and scaling promising models of innovation. The CCHS grant program is the first in ED’s history intended to build capacity and coordination among secondary and postsecondary education, workforce development systems, and other community partners to expand access to career-connected high school programs for more students, with a focus on increasing access to high-quality pathways for underserved students.