SC CTE Programs are organized around career clusters that apply to different in-demand, high-skill and high-wage careers.  Career clusters connect what students learn in school with the knowledge and skills they need for success in college and careers.  View the SC School Directory and connect with schools and districts related to your industry sector and geographic location.

SC CTE Certification List with Career Readiness Indicator
Comprehensive listing of all certifications, licenses, and credentials available to students in SC. Industry experts are invited to participate as reviewers and to provide recommendation about current industry certifications.

SC CTE Advisory Council Guidelines and Roles
In South Carolina, each school district is required to establish CTE advisory councils to provide expertise on programs and equipment needs.  Industry experts are invited to participate on district/school level advisory councils and to serve at the state level to review programs and curriculum standards.

SC Work-Based Learning Definitions:  Work-based learning (WBL) involves sustained interactions with industry or community professionals in a real worksite environment.  These methods are implemented to build a robust, meaningful work-based learning program for South Carolina K-12 students, schools, districts, and educators. Industry experts are invited to engage with students by hosting work-based learning opportunities related to their field.  The ten WBL methods of instruction currently recognized and practiced in South Carolina are listed below:

• Apprenticeship: An earn-while-you-learn training model that combines on-the-job training, job-related education, and a scalable wage progression. Youth Apprenticeship: A structured program giving youth at least age 16 or older an opportunity to earn while they learn.
• Cooperative Education (Co-Op): A structured training program for high school level students requiring a written contract and training plan between the high school and sponsored worksite.
• Internship: A progressive, school-coordinated experience that places students in real workplace environments so that they develop and practice career-related knowledge and skills needed for a specific level job.
• Job Shadowing (On-Site) is a method of short-term, school-coordinated career exploration in which the student is introduced to a particular job role or career by being paired, one-on-one, with an employee at the worksite.
• Job Shadowing (Virtual) provides WBL opportunities for students everywhere in the state, especially in rural areas with limited business partner accessibility due to distance or lack of worksite locations to meet students’ needs.  Skype, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other platforms provide an opportunity for students to meet with industry professionals virtually as part of classroom work at school.
• Mentoring (also available virtually): An experience that engages a student with a particular worksite employee who possesses workplace skills and knowledge to be mastered by the student.
• School-Based Enterprise: A program focused on the development of a small business created, managed, and operated by students in a school setting.
• Service Learning: A method in which the student engages in community-service work for a specified number of hours to gain developmental experience
• Structured Field Study: A front-loaded experience with a purpose sponsored by a certified teacher providing opportunities for students to explore different workplaces.
• CTE Internship, Work-Based Credit Bearing Course: An internship that is a structured, work-based credit bearing course that is taken as a fourth unit in a Career and Technology Education (CTE) Classification of Instructional Programs.