ROI of Career and Technical Education Provided by UTech

October 10, 2019

Narrative

The Utah Data Research Center today published a new report and data narrative on the Return on Investment of Career and Technical Education (CTE) Provided by the Utah System of Technical Colleges (UTech).

With the growing demand for middle skill labor in Utah, CTE programs have been offered as a solution to fill the need. This has led to an increased investment by the state in those programs. To measure the success of these programs, this study analyzed the wage growth and additional tax collected from UTech’s certificate earners, the payback period to the state, and their retention in the workforce.

Findings show that UTech’s CTE certificate earners experienced increased wages, which in turn increased taxes collected by the state. Using two payback period models and looking at graduates’ income taxes paid, it generally takes 10 to 13 years for the state to realize a positive return on funding these programs.

To learn more, read the report now available online and explore the data in the new data narrative.