(An Iowa Capital Dispatch report) – How career and technical education for students across the state is implemented could see drastic changes in the coming years after the Iowa State Board of Education voted to shift millions in funding for these programs away from community colleges and to K-12 school districts. Community college officials told board members that changing the formula that determines how federal funding for career and technical education (CTE) is dispersed between community colleges and school districts would lead to students having less access, with colleges possibly having to close programs that school districts could not provide alone, even with additional dollars.

The Iowa State Board of Education voted in June to approve its 2025-2029 Perkins V (5) plan, which would change the ratio of allocations to community colleges and K-12 school districts from a 53.5% and 46.5% split to a 60-40 split, with K-12 schools getting the larger share. The more even ratio will be used for funding allocations in the 2025-2026 school year, with the new rates being implemented for the rest of the plan’s timeline. Perkins V funding comes from the Strengthening Career and Technical Education (CTE) for the 21st Century Act, and provides around $14.5 million to Iowa annually, according to the Iowa Department of Education website. These funds are distributed for use in CTE programs across the state, including career academies and other initiatives aimed at helping high school students start their career training.

The board approved the plan with the expectation of revisiting it at its December meeting, as members said during discussion they’d like to hear more information and feedback from community college and school district stakeholders before the new rates . Kyle Collins, associate vice president for academic affairs at Des Moines Area Community College, spoke during public comment at the meeting in opposition to the change and said in an interview moving dollars away from college CTE programs will negatively impact the quality of education students will receive in their career training, ultimately harming the workforce pipelines career academies and other initiatives create for local industries.

Around $400,000 of the $1.4 million DMACC usually receives in Perkins funding would instead be allocated to school districts, he said, and if that number is broken down among the 89 public, private and charter schools the college works with, each would receive an average of $4,500. Iowa Valley Community College District President Anne Howsare Boyens also spoke during public comment period, adding that an estimated $2 million will be allocated away from Iowa’s 15 community colleges and spread across the state’s more than 300 districts.

“Without this Perkins funding, rural community colleges may be forced to scale back or eliminate specialized CTE programs that are costly to maintain, threatening the long term viability and responsiveness of academic offerings to our community and industry needs,” Howsare Boyens said.