Community college responses to align career and technical education programs with changing labor markets

Abstract A new wave of federal legislation is drastically affecting how community colleges create and deliver programs in career and technical education (CTE). A key focus area shared by these federal policy changes is program‐to‐labor market alignment in which community colleges must utilize local labor market data to tailor their CTE programs to meet the needs of local businesses and industry. This article presents an overview of the rapidly shifting economic and policy environments, and offers three exemplars of community colleges in rural, suburban, and urban service areas that have successfully aligned CTE programs with local labor market demand. In all, this article highlights innovations and best‐practices offered by these exemplars as the federal government makes alignment a top priority for the 21st century community college.