Carl Perkins Grant

Carl Perkins Grant funding supports Delgado's efforts to provide a learning environment that promotes the personal, intellectual and professional development of all members of the College community. In particular, Carl Perkins helps strengthen the College's career and technical education programs also known as CTE Programs.

Goals and Objectives

The goal of Perkins is to improve the quality of CTE (Career and Technical Education) programs by providing roughly 1.3 billion dollars in federal aid to CTE programs across the United States. 

Perkins' focus includes the following:

• Create a strong nexus between business and industry
• Prepare CTE for high-skill, high-wage, or high-demand occupations in current or emerging professions
• Promote the development of services and activities that integrate CTE instruction, secondary education and post-secondary education
• Increase state and local flexibility in providing services and activities designed to develop, implement, and improve CTE
• Provide technical assistance that promotes leadership, initial preparation, and professional development, as well as to improve the quality of CTE teachers, faculty, administrators, and counselors/advisors
• Support partnerships among secondary schools, post-secondary institutions, etc.
• Provide individuals with opportunities to develop skills needed to be productive members of society 

History of the Act

The Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 was the first authorization for the Federal funding of vocational education. Subsequent legislation for vocational education (now termed career and technical education) included the Vocational Act or 1973 and the Carl D. Perkins Act of 1984 (Perkins). Perkins was reauthorized as the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act (Perkins II) in 1990, the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 1998 (Perkins III), and the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins IV).

Carl Perkins V

The Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act ( Perkins V) which amended the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins IV) was signed into law on July 31, 2018. The amended Act, now Perkins V, brings changes to the $1.2 billion annual federal investment in career and technical education (CTE). The U.S. Department of Education is looking forward to working with states to implement the new legislation which goes into effect on July 1, 2019 and provides new opportunities to improve CTE and enables more flexibility for states to meet the unique needs of their learners, educators, and employers.

Carl Perkins IV

The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (Perkins IV) was a principal source of federal funding to states and discretionary grantees for the improvement of secondary and postsecondary career and technical education programs across the nation. The purpose of the Act was to develop more fully the academic, career, and technical skills of secondary and postsecondary students who elect to enroll in career and technical education programs.