Consortia Formation and Characteristics under the &quot;Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006&quot;
Author: Staklis, Sandra
Date: 2014-12-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Vocational Education,Resource Allocation,Federal Aid,Federal Regulation,Compliance (Legal),Educational Finance,Funding Formulas,Finance Reform,Financial Policy,Consortia,Grants,Population Distribution,Eligibility,Group Dynamics,Organizational Change,Organizational Theories,Data Analysis,National Surveys,Information Sources,Secondary Education,Postsecondary Education,Agency Cooperation,Tables (Data)

The &quot;Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006&quot; (&quot;Perkins IV&quot;) sets a minimum allocation requirement that secondary and postsecondary career and technical education (CTE) subgrantees must achieve to receive federal financing. An eligible recipient with an allocation below the funding threshold may obtain a state waiver in some instances that qualifies it to participate as a stand-alone subgrantee, or an eligible recipient may enter into a consortium with other subgrantees. A consortium's funds must be used for purposes and programs that are mutually beneficial to all of its members; &quot;Perkins IV&quot; prohibits the reallocation of funds for uses benefiting only one member. Congress authorized the consortia provision to enable small or rural applicants to access federal funds sufficient to support quality CTE programming. Consortia are more prevalent at the secondary level than at the postsecondary level, in part due to the smaller size of secondary subgrantees, the need for a local educational agency (LEA) and either an area CTE school or an educational service agency to fund such an entity that serves the LEA, and the comparatively larger number of secondary entities applying for funding. Consortia formation also tends to be level-specific. With the exception of two states that require or encourage secondary and postsecondary representation, they are composed exclusively of either secondary or postsecondary subgrantees. This formation of consortia comprised exclusively of secondary or postsecondary subgrantees may be a function of the &quot;Perkins IV&quot; statutory scheme. Grant allocation formulas are contained within different sections of &quot;Perkins IV&quot; and offer no explicit options for distributing combined funding. States must allocate the majority of funds based on the student populations served by the subgrantees, which may contribute to a perception that funds are intended only for those enrolling within a given educational level. This report describes the prevalence of &quot;Title I&quot; consortia under &quot;Perkins IV,&quot; examines the characteristics of these entities, and explores whether and how they promote collaboration between and across secondary and postsecondary educational levels. The data and analysis findings included in this report draw on data collected for the National Assessment of Career and Technical Education (NACTE), information contained within states' &quot;Perkins IV&quot; five-year state plans (state plans), and interviews with state CTE directors. A bibliography is included.