All North Carolina CTE courses align to the Career Clusters. Each course is placed in a Career Cluster based on a set of knowledge and skills common to all careers in the entire Career Cluster. Industry-validated knowledge and skills statements of student expectations identify what a student should know and be able to do. They prepare students for success in a broad range of occupations/career specialties. Some CTE courses cross over all 16 Career Clusters.  

The Career Clusters initiative includes 16 clusters and 79 related pathways. Career clusters help to identify pathways from secondary school to two- and four-year colleges, graduate school, and the workplace, so students can link what they learn in school and what they can do in the future. This connection to future goals motivates students to work harder and enroll in more rigorous courses.

The 16 Career Clusters are:

Agricultural, Food and Natural Resources
Architecture and Construction
Arts, A/V Technology, and Communications
Business Management and Administration
Education and Training
Finance
Government and Public Administration
Health Science
Hospitality and Tourism
Human Services
Information Technology
Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security
Manufacturing
Marketing
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics