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  1. DWD Homepage
  2. Employment & Training
  3. Partners
  4. Career and Technical Education (CTE) Incentive Grants

The Career and Technical Education Incentive Grant program incentivizes Wisconsin school districts to offer high-quality career and technical education programs to meet workforce needs in key industries facing shortages of qualified entry level workers.

District incentive grants provide up to $1,000 per recent graduate earning a certification from the approved certifications list. Student completion awards of $500 per eligible certification are available for students earning specific certifications.

Program Updates

  • The window to submit class of 2024 claims has closed. When all claims have been verified, participating districts will be notified and be able to correct claims that have technical issues. We expect that to happen in March 2025.
  • The following resources have been added to the Training & Resources section.
  • New for 2024: Claims submitted for Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) certification require a completed form to be uploaded with each CNA claim associated with the official registry. Find the CNA form through the Training & Resources tab.
  • Wondering how the CTE program works, how to prepare documentation, or how to improve your local activities? Training and other resources are accessed through the Training & Resources tab.
  • The 2024-25 CTE Approved Certifications List is now available! You can find it by scrolling down this page.

Annual Approved Certification Lists

A student may earn certifications at any time in their high school education, but the district may submit district incentive grant claims only in the year the student graduates. Certifications must have been approved in the years in which they were earned. Certifications and documentation requirements can change; therefore, district staff submitting claims should follow documentation requirements on the lists. For example, use the Class of 2021 list to confirm that a certification earned in Dec. of 2020 was approved for that year, but use the 2023-2024 list to know what the documentation requirements are to support the claim submitted with the Class of 2024.

Annual Approved Certifications Lists

Contact Us

To contact the CTE incentive grants team, email: DETCTEGrants@dwd.wisconsin.gov. Submit a Help Ticket to receive assistance with the CTE Portal. The Department of Workforce Development, Department of Public Instruction, and Wisconsin Technical College System Office work together to support the program.