Median Annual Wages by Educational Attainment and High School CTE Status shows median annual wages for students one year after completing their highest level of education and their high school career and technical education status. The report also shows the number of employed completers by high school CTE status whose wages are being summarized. The report can be compared by report year, currently 2018 and 2019, by selecting an ISD or Field of Study. Field of Study is derived from CTE CIP codes.

The data help us understand the relationship between career and technical education, education completion and wages as students move into the Michigan workforce. This report offers a clickable legend where you can focus the graph on specific high school CTE statuses.

Exploring the Median Annual Wages by Educational Attainment and High School CTE Status report can answer questions like:

How do median annual wages differ by education levels?

Observe the difference between the median wage across the educational attainment levels from no high school diploma to bachelor’s degree or higher by looking at the same colored bars representing a high school CTE status.

How do median annual wages differ by high school CTE status?

Observe the difference between the median wage across the high school CTE statuses from no high school CTE through completer by looking within each bar cluster representing an education level.

To calculate Median Annual Wages by Educational Attainment and High School CTE Status, the report uses a single high school graduating class as the base population. Next, the process determines the high school CTE status, none through high school CTE completion, and the highest education level received for each student. Students must have graduated from a Michigan high school to be included. Students may have earned their college certificate or degree from an out-of-state public college or university. Students who are continuing in education are excluded from the report when viewed by location or Field of Study, however, the number employed for Students Continuing in Education or Unaccounted are shown when the report is set to Statewide.

Finally, the process takes the education records and matches them to the unemployment insurance database to determine employment and wages. Students must be employed in Michigan during the fourth quarter after completing their highest education credential to factor in the wage data. Median wages are calculated for educational attainment ranging from students who did not complete their high school diploma through students who earned a bachelor’s degree or higher. Median wages have been rounded to the nearest $100. There must be at least 10 former students employed for a median wage to be calculated.

Report Labels

Median Annual Wage: The point at which half of workers earned more than that amount and half earned less.

Educational Attainment: The highest level of education completed (defined as high school diploma, certificate, associate degree and bachelor’s degree or higher).

CTE: For the purposes of this report, career and technical education is limited to state approved secondary, or high school, programs.

High School CTE Status: Indicator of whether a high school student has participated in a state approved secondary CTE program. Values include No High School CTE, Enrolled, Concentrator and Completer.

High School Graduating Class: A cohort of students defined by the year in which they earned a high school diploma.

No High School CTE: CTE status for a student who has not had any enrollment in any course sections of a state approved CTE program.

Enrolled: CTE status for a student who has completed course sections covering less than half the content standards of a state approved CTE program and therefore will not be identified as a Concentrator or Completer. Sometimes referred to as a “Participant.”

Concentrator: CTE status for a student who has completed courses that cover more than half the content standards in a state approved secondary CTE program with a grade of 2.0 or better.

Completer: CTE status for a student who has completed, with a grade of 2.0 or better, course sections covering all content standards of a state approved secondary CTE program and has taken the CTE technical skill assessment, if applicable.

Wages After 1 Year: Wages calculated four quarters (or one year) after the date of educational attainment.

Data Collection

The Center for Educational Performance and Information, National Student Clearinghouse, the Michigan Office of Career and Technical Education and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity - Workforce Development collected the data used to complete this report:

• Student Transcript and Academic Record Repository to locate enrollment in a Michigan public community college or university. For details on the data definitions and how the data are collected, refer to the STARR Data Collection Manual
• The NSC StudentTracker database to locate enrollment from out-of-state or non-STARR participating colleges or universities. For a list of all colleges and universities that CEPI has available in its postsecondary data system, refer to the Postsecondary Entity List.
• The Career and Technical Education Information System collects high school enrollment information for state-approved CTE programs including expenditures, enrollment and follow-up. The data helps determine 61a(1) fund distribution and is required for federal Perkins reporting including Core Performance Indicators and the Consolidated Annual Report.
• Unemployment insurance wage record data submitted by employers through Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency.