Throughout February, Iowa is celebrating CTE Month and the impact career and Technical Education (CTE) programs have in Iowa. 

The Iowa Department of Education is participating in many activities throughout the month and encourages students, educators, administrators and partners to join in supporting and strengthening CTE in Iowa.

The annual CTE Day at the Capitol is set for Feb. 11 from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sponsored by the Iowa Association for Career and Technical Education (IACTE), students and educators from across the state will showcase their CTE programs at the Capitol.

Register with Iowa ACTE to learn more about participating in this free and exciting opportunity to support CTE programs with state legislators and officials. 

The Department's social media channels will feature Iowa CTE educators throughout the month. They will share their thoughts on CTE and its importance. The Department encourages programs to share our posts and stories on their channels and spotlight their CTE programs and successes.

The annual Community College Day on the Hill is set for Wednesday, Feb. 19, from 7:30 a.m. to noon under the Capitol rotunda. 

Hosted by Community Colleges for Iowa, this year's event highlights the business partners and programs funded with the help of Workforce Training and Economic Development funds. 

Each of Iowa's community colleges is slated to highlight a business partner and program helping to fill a workforce need in the community including nursing, skilled trades, advanced manufacturing, welding, auto tech and many more. 

More information on the event is available via Community Colleges for Iowa. 

The spring application period for the 2024-25 Career Academy Incentive Fund is now open. Grant applications will be accepted through April 18.

The Career Academy Incentive Fund supports increased access to career academy programs through regional centers and highlights partnerships between school districts, community colleges, business and industry and other partners. Successful proposals promote equitable access to high-quality career and technical education programs and include at least one school district and one community college. Priority consideration will be given to applicants focusing on programming delivered to multiple school districts. For the spring application period, the Department will consider tier 2 proposals that improve or expand existing career academies delivered through a regional center.

For more information on this application period, contact Bureau of Community Colleges and Postsecondary Readiness Administrative Consultant Heather Meissen at heather.meissen@iowa.gov or 515-326-5378.

Pathway Pillars in Practice is a series of webinars that create communities of practice around specific topics related to the four pillars of Guided Pathways. Each session is held over the lunch hour so anyone can participate and engage in discussion on a topic that features at least one of the 15 community colleges.

The next Pathway Pillars in Practice webinar, covering corequisite remediation, will be held from noon to 1 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 6.

More information and the webinar and registration details are available here.

Recordings are available here or previous webinars.

For more information, contact Bureau of Community Colleges and Postsecondary Readiness Education Program Consultant Kelly Friesleben at kelly.friesleben@iowa.gov.

The Bureau of Iowa College Aid is accepting new applications for Local College and Career Access Networks (LCAN).

Communities interested in learning more about the grant opportunity are encouraged to participate in an information meeting Feb. 6 at 9 a.m. via Zoom. For more information on joining this session, please contact Bureau of Iowa College Aid Community Engagement Consultant Anne Thomas at anne.thomas@iowa.gov or 515-249-4982.

Through grant support from the Bureau of Iowa College Aid, LCANs aim to increase college attainment by funding an LCAN Coordinator, travel, training and other costs associated with creating the network and carrying out LCAN initiatives.

Each LCAN assesses the assets and needs of its community and works to fill the gaps in partnership with local colleges, school districts, area education agencies, business groups, elected officials, employers and community, and religious organizations. LCANs identify multiple community goals that focus on increasing college attainment.

In order to be eligible to apply, communities must identify an organization with 501(c) status to serve as fiscal agent on the reimbursement-based grant. Strong 501(c) organizations to serve as fiscal agents are:

• Embedded in the community with the ability to convene cross-sector leaders
• Fiscally sound with robust financial operations; and
• Strong in their capacity for grants administration

Applications will be accepted through Iowagrants.gov from Jan. 28 through Feb. 28, 2025, for grants beginning July 1, 2025.