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Career and Technical Education

CTE Content Areas

Oversight and Guidance

Applications for CTE Program Approval

Application Deadlines 

Initial applications for new programs seeking implementation for the 2027-28 school year: must be submitted no later than October 1, 2026 if programs wish to gain approval for the 2027-28 school year.

Any issues identified by the Office of CTE must be resolved immediately. If program approval is not obtained by December 1, 2026, students will be ineligible to enroll in a NYSED-approved CTE program for the fall of 2027, and student data cannot be reported to the Student Information Repository System (SIRS) for the 2027-28 school year.

Re-approval applications for programs expiring June 30, 2026: must be submitted by June 30, 2026, if programs wish to gain re-approval for the 2026-27 school year.

Any issues identified by the Office of CTE must be resolved immediately. Failure to receive re-approval by September 30, 2026, will result in a lapse in the program. Lapsed programs will be removed from the NYSED-approved list and in NYSED’s Information Reporting Services’ Level 2 data, resulting in student CTE data being blocked from SIRS reporting. These lapsed programs are not considered to be active, and therefore, they are not eligible to award the 4+1 CTE Pathway, integrated/specialized academic credit, and the technical endorsement beyond the 2025-26 school year.

Amendments: Any changes to a NYSED-approved CTE program (e.g. program content, technical assessment, program faculty, etc.) must be requested and approved through an amendment form prior to the change being implemented in the program of study. Amendments can be filed at any point during the five-year approval period. 

Application Forms 

Initial approval and re-approval applications both contain a Part 1 and Part 2. Please be sure to complete and submit both parts of the application with your application materials. 

Initial Approval

Part 1: Application for CTE Program Approval
Part 2: Application Detail Form for Sections C-J

Re-approval

Part 1: Program Re-approval Application
Part 2: Application Detail Form for Sections C-J

Program Amendments

Program Amendment Form
Program Content Amendment Addendum

Submission Guidelines for Approvals and Re-approvals

  1. A two-part application must be filed for each CTE program seeking approval or re-approval.
  2. Applications will not be reviewed unless all information is provided and the board of education president (initial approvals only) and superintendent (initial approvals and re-approvals) have signed it. 
  3. The New York State Education Department will complete a technical and programmatic review of all applications to issue program approval. Programs that have been previously approved and are seeking re-approval must maintain current NYSED approval to continue to award the 4+1 CTE pathway, integrated/specialized credits, and the technical endorsement.
  4. Submission requirements
    • A full and complete application (Part 1, Part 2, and all supporting documents) must be submitted as follows: 
      • A complete Part 1, saved as a Microsoft Word document with the formatting and form fields preserved, must be emailed to emsccte@nysed.gov. This document is essential to process the application into the Department records.
      • A complete Part 1, digitally or physically signed by the superintendent, must be emailed and/or mailed to the Office of CTE. 
      • Digitally signed applications can be emailed to emsccte@nysed.gov as part of the full application submission. An acceptable digital signature must be an encrypted digital mark that uniquely identifies the signer and verifies the authenticity and integrity of the document. This typically involves the use of a secure certificate issued by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA). Signatures that do not meet these standards, such as typed names, will not be accepted.
      • Physically signed applications can be either scanned and emailed to emsccte@nysed.gov and/or physically mailed to 
        ​​CTE Program Approval
        New York State Education Department
        Office of Career and Technical Education
        89 Washington Avenue, Room 315 EB
        Albany, New York 12234
      • A completed Part 2 and all supporting documents, saved as a single PDF, must be emailed to emsccte@nysed.gov. 
    • All New York City Department of Education CTE Programs must complete and submit this form directly to the Program Approval and Quality Team. Please complete and submit forms to Omari Gay at ogay@schools.nyc.gov.
    • Please do not email links to Google files or SharePoint documents, or include them within the application, as the Office of CTE cannot access them. Please do not physically mail copies of Part 2 or supporting documents to the Office of CTE, as they will not be retained.  

Questions regarding the CTE program approval or re-approval application may be directed by e-mail to emsccte@nysed.gov or by calling 518-486-1547.