Career Pathways

Kansas Career and Technical Education (CTE) is organized to help students prepare for real jobs. The system has four main parts:

1. An Industry is the big picture, like healthcare or manufacturing.
2. A Cluster groups similar careers within that industry.
3. A Pathway is the program students follow in school to train for a specific career.
4. Strands are smaller focus areas inside a pathway. They let students learn specific skills or prepare for different jobs within the same pathway.

In short, industries show where jobs are needed, clusters group similar careers, pathways are the programs students take, and strands teach the specific skills students need for those careers.

Career Cluster Handbook

The Career Cluster Guidance Handbook includes helpful tools and resources for Kansas career pathways. It contains Course Design Sheets, the Kansas Career Clusters and Pathways Chart, Pathway Classification of Instructional Programs Codes (CIP) codes, crossover course charts, key career cluster terms, and guidance for creating Program Improvement Plans with SMART goals.

• Kansas Career Cluster Guidance Handbook (PDF)

Pathway Information

Recourses

• 25-26 Approved Pathways by District (PDF)
• 25-26 Approved Pathways by Pathway Name (PDF)
• Blank Program of Study (PDF) Document is available upon request
• Pathways Application Checklist (PDF)
• Pathway Deletion Form (PDF)
• Pathways Timeline Packet (PDF)
• Summary of Pathway Changes for 26-27 (PDF)
• 2026-2027 Cluster Reviews (PDF)

Pathway Student Reporting

• Fact Sheet - Student Follow Up Data (PDF)
• Pathways Student Data Management Checklist (PDF)