2023-2024 Carl D. Perkins Career & Technical Education
The 2024-2025 Carl D. Perkins Grant Program information have been moved to the Archives.
The Perkins program is the primary federal investment in career and technical education at both the secondary and postsecondary levels. The latest iteration of Perkins, known as Perkins V, was signed into law in 2018 as the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (SCATE). The Act, which took effect July 1, 2019, amends the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education (Perkins IV) Act of 2006 and reauthorizes Perkins for six years. The Act defines its purpose as “to develop more fully the academic knowledge and technical and employability skills of secondary education students and postsecondary education students who elect to enroll in CTE programs and programs of study. “
Florida’s Perkins V State Plan, combined with the directives of Executive Order 19-31, provide a remarkable opportunity to align the entire CTE system to industry and the future of work. Additionally, it permits the refinement, expansion and the kind of innovation necessary to ensure Florida’s future. Each state participating in the federal Perkins program must submit a four-year plan outlining the state’s approach to implementation of the Act. The U.S. Department of Education approved Florida’s Perkins Four-Year State Plan in June of 2020. The Plan outlines Florida’s commitment to providing all students the opportunity to participate in quality career and technical education (CTE) programs that lead to in-demand occupations.
Each year, Florida receives approximately 73 million dollars (pending annual allocations) through the Perkins program. The bulk of the funds go directly to eligible agencies (school districts and Florida College System institutions) through annual entitlement grants, as well as competitive grants which have in the past included support for entrepreneurship education and training and agencies serving rural areas through rural innovation grants.