State profile

Pennsylvania CTE Pathway Profile

In review Last checked October 3, 2026

These pages summarize rules to help you plan. They are not legal advice. Before you place students at a work site or change a program, check with your state agency, your district's counsel and your insurance carrier.

Pennsylvania at a glance

Pennsylvania is a local-control state with roughly 500 school districts. Most concentrated CTE is delivered through regional career and technical centers (CTCs), which many students attend part-day while staying enrolled in their home district. PDE’s 2024-25 report counts 84 CTCs (). Participating districts govern an area CTC through an area career and technical board, and Articles of Agreement set how members share costs (). Comprehensive high schools can also hold PDE program approval for individual programs. Chapter 339 requires joint planning between the CTC and each student’s district of residence ().

Every state-approved program goes through the PDE Bureau of Career and Technical Education under 22 Pa. Code Chapter 339, filed in the CATS system. Approved programs must end in a NOCTI or NIMS occupational competency assessment (22 Pa. Code 4.31) and qualify as Perkins V programs of study ().

Your career planning frame is set by Chapter 339: a sequential K-12 guidance plan and a career portfolio for every student, built on the state Career Education and Work standards ( for the current standards edition and reporting rules).

The articulation backbone is SOAR (Students Occupationally and Academically Ready), a set of 36 statewide Programs of Study that carry guaranteed college credit to partner institutions. PDE’s framework page has said SOAR is “currently under revision” with no completion date (; still true on October 2, 2026).

What is most different about Pennsylvania for someone starting a pathway:

Child labor law is stricter than federal law. Every worker under 18 needs a work permit, and state rules bar all minors from electrical work, welding, power woodworking and roofing unless they are student learners, apprentices or approved vocational graduates ().
There is no statewide trades license. Pennsylvania does not license electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians or carpenters; some municipalities do ().
PDE, not the Department of Health, approves nurse aide programs, and the state requires 80 training hours, above the federal 75 ().
CTE teacher certification changed in 2024 and 2025 (Acts 55, 41 and 47), so older guidance on experience hours and the Intern certificate is out of date ().

Who approves what in Pennsylvania

Area	Agency	What it decides	System, form or rule
CTE program approval	PDE Bureau of Career and Technical Education	Approves, funds and reapproves (at least every 5 years) secondary CTE programs	CATS in My PDE Applications; 22 Pa. Code 339.4 ()
Credential list	PDE Bureau of CTE	Industry-recognized credentials listed by CIP for approved programs	PDE IRC list for CTE programs; add process is in a 2017 PDE resource guide ()
Teacher certification	PDE certification office	Career and Technical Instructional and Experience-Based certificates	TIMS; CSPG 66; 22 Pa. Code 49.142; Acts 55/2024, 41/2025, 47/2025 ()
Nurse aide programs	PDE Nurse Aide Training Program office	Separate NATCEP approval to train for the nurse aide registry	Application for Approval of NATCEP, PDE-3128G, PDE-3128C; Report of Change PDE-292 ()
EMS courses	Department of Health, Bureau of EMS, with regional EMS councils	Accredits EMS educational institutes and certifies EMTs and EMS instructors	28 Pa. Code ch. 1025 and § 1023.25 ()
Child labor and work permits	Department of Labor and Industry (DLI); permits issued by the school district issuing officer	Permits for all minors, hours, prohibited occupations	Child Labor Act, Act 151 of 2012; 34 Pa. Code ch. 11 ()
Registered apprenticeship	L&I Apprenticeship and Training Office	Registers apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs	Four-step registration; pre-apprenticeship team at pre-ra@pa.gov (); state minimum age ()
Trades licensing	None statewide; some municipalities	Local electrician, plumber or contractor licenses where they exist	DLI contractor licensing page ()
Cosmetology and barbering	State Board of Cosmetology, Department of State BPOA	School license for the CTC; student and teacher licenses	49 Pa. Code 7.111; Cosmetology Law (); CTE route report due June 1 under Act 47 of 2025 ()
Dental radiography	State Board of Dentistry	Radiologic procedure exam for auxiliary personnel	49 Pa. Code 33.302; the adopted exam is DANB RHS ()
Child care sites	DHS Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL)	Certifies child care centers; staff age and training rules	55 Pa. Code ch. 3270; no public school exemption in 3270.3 ()
Fire training	Office of the State Fire Commissioner, PA State Fire Academy (PSFA)	Accredits Entry Level Firefighter I courses; voluntary certification	PSFA Firefighter I application, effective March 1, 2026; courses run through an Educational Training Agency ()
Vehicle safety inspection	PennDOT	Approves safety inspection courses; inspector age 18	PennDOT Safety Inspection Program ()

Opening a state-approved CTE program in Pennsylvania

You file a new program application with the PDE Bureau of CTE through CATS (Career and Technical Education System) in My PDE Applications. Under 22 Pa. Code 339.4 the application covers:

a program description and evidence that it prepares for a high-priority occupation, with employer support;
equipment comparable to industry, a certified teacher and adequate resources;
supports for special populations and an academic support plan;
articulation, a career and technical student organization (CTSO), and student educational and occupational objectives (PDE-408).

Your Occupational Advisory Committee validates the program task list. You buy level-one equipment for year one, and year-two equipment must be in place when year two starts ().

Use the Department of Labor and Industry’s High Priority Occupation lists, published each year by workforce development area, and its CIP-to-SOC crosswalk to show demand. PDE’s new-program checklist also asks for workforce data from your Local Workforce Development Board. Confirmed. Whether PDE requires the occupation to be on your area’s list: Confirm with the agency.

Window. The regulation says to submit before August 1 for full-year reimbursement. In practice PDE has opened the CATS approval file in spring with a May 31 new-program deadline (2023 and 2024 notices). No 2026 or 2027 window was posted on PDE’s program approval page on October 3, 2026 (: confirm the 2027-28 window with the Bureau of CTE).

Funding tie. PDE makes no vocational education payments for a program until the Secretary approves it, and late submissions get partial-year reimbursement (339.4). Approved programs are Perkins V programs of study and must use a NOCTI or NIMS end-of-program assessment (22 Pa. Code 4.31) ().

After approval. Programs are reapproved at least every five years with an on-site evaluation using PDE’s APTE checklist. A CTC plans jointly with its resident districts ().

Second approvals. Some pathways need a second agency before students can earn the credential:

Nurse aide: PDE NATCEP approval. No initial review time is published; a later Report of Change takes 30 calendar days ().
EMT: Department of Health accreditation as an EMS educational institute. Each course is registered at least 30 business days before the first class ().
Cosmetology: a State Board of Cosmetology school license; PDE approval serves as the school’s accreditation evidence ().

Plan to file CTE approval in the spring of the year before launch, and file any nurse aide or EMS application at least four to five months before the first class.

See Launching a CTE Pathway: Sequence and Approvals Timeline and the Approvals and Applications toolkit.

Funding streams for Pennsylvania CTE

Stream	What it pays for	Amount or window	Status
Perkins V (federal, through PDE)	Program improvement, equipment, professional development for approved programs of study; federal equipment and prior-approval rules apply (2 CFR 200)	Formula allocation; FY26 state grants held at current levels; the U.S. Department of Labor runs Perkins day to day under a 2025 agreement with the U.S. Department of Education, which keeps legal authority; Perkins rules did not change	: recheck before use
State CTE subsidy	Formula support for approved CTE programs	Amount not confirmed; a PACTA manual estimates it at roughly 8 to 10% of CTC revenue
Supplemental Equipment Grant (24 P.S. 18-1855(b))	Equipment of $3,000 or more per unit, or a complete manufacturer-priced tool set; leftover funds may buy smaller qualifying items	About $20M for 2026-27; formula, no match; applications were due Sept. 17, 2026; obligate and pay by June 30, 2027	: recheck before use
CTE Competitive Equipment Grant (122)	Equipment of $3,000 or more per unit for approved programs; open to CTCs and districts with eight or more approved programs	2025-26: up to $85,000; equipment only; PDE waived the local match for 2025-26, so check whether a match applies in later years; due Feb. 27, 2026; spend by June 30, 2026	: recheck before use
PAsmart	Competitive STEM, computer science and apprenticeship grants	Not confirmed
Dual Credit Innovation Grant	Grants to public colleges and universities to expand dual credit capacity (created by July 2024 School Code amendments)	$14M to 15 institutions (April 2025)	: recheck before use
EMT certification reimbursement (DOH)	Reimburses EMT course cost on certification	Up to $800, per a secondary news report

Facilities money is scarce. The Pennsylvania equipment grants above do not name renovation or construction, so you usually pay for sinks, power drops or ventilation from local capital funds ( for each grant’s current guidelines). See the Facilities and Equipment toolkit.

Pathway rules at a glance

All eight rows are Confirmed against the October 2026 verification ledger and toolkit checks unless a cell says otherwise.

Pathway	State program or course code	Second agency	Key age or hour gate	Instructor route	Guide
Nurse aide	CIP 51.9999 Health Professions, SOAR POS 18	PDE NATCEP approval	80 hours incl. 37.5 supervised clinical; exam age 16; State Police criminal history report before enrolling	CTE certificate plus RN with 2 years nursing (1 in long-term care) and Penn State Teaching-the-Educator workshop; LPN only under an RN supervisor	Nurse aide
EMT	CIP 51.0904; not a SOAR POS	DOH EMS educational institute accreditation	PA EMT certification at 16; under 18 take the NREMT Assessment exam for PA-only certification, with parent consent forms	At least 75% of instruction by DOH-certified EMS instructors (3 years EMS, 2 years teaching at level); 4 years volunteer EMT counts toward the CTE certificate	EMT
Electrical	CIP 46.0399, SOAR POS 14	None; no state license, some municipalities license	State law bars all minors from electrical work except student learners and apprentices	CTE certificate in an electrical area (2031, 2033 or 2035); student test NOCTI 7747	Electrical
Welding	CIP 48.0508, SOAR POS 7	None; no state license	State law bars all minors from welding except student learners and apprentices	CTE certificate; occupational competency area Welding 2079 ()	Welding
Construction and carpentry	CIP 46.0201, SOAR POS 3	None; no state license	Under 16 barred from construction; power woodworking and roofing barred under 18 except student learners	CTE certificate; student test NOCTI 4215 ()	Construction
HVAC	CIP 47.0201, SOAR POS 19	None; EPA Section 608 is the key credential (no minimum age)	Rooftop work under 18 only for apprentices and student learners under a written training agreement (34 Pa. Code 11.63; federal HO 16)	CTE certificate; student test NOCTI 8297	HVAC
Cybersecurity and networking	CIP 11.0901, SOAR POS 12; no PA cybersecurity (11.1003) program found	None	No age gate on IT credentials	CTE certificate (2 years plus bachelor’s route fits IT hires); NOCTI test code 8148 or 2560 ()	Cybersecurity
Programming and computer science	No SOAR POS; usually taught as academic CS, not CTE	None	None	Computer Science 7-12 certificate for new hires since Jan. 1, 2023; a PDE-approved CTE program needs a CTE certificate or a PDE exception	Programming

Wave 2 pathways

Pathway	What stands out in Pennsylvania	Status	Guide
Automotive	CIP 47.0604, SOAR POS 10, with 106 approved secondary partners (May 2025); the task list prepares for PennDOT safety inspection, but inspectors must be 18		Automotive
Medical and dental assisting	MA: CIP 51.0801 and 51.0899, no state license. DA: X-ray work needs the Board-adopted DANB RHS exam (49 Pa. Code 33.302); EFDA rules set no minimum age	for dental; MA SOAR status: Confirm with the agency	Medical and dental assisting
Cosmetology	CIP 12.0401; license at 16 with 1,250 school hours; written exam after 900 hours; CTC needs a Board school license; CTE route continues under Act 47 of 2025	(whether the CTE route is permanent)	Cosmetology
Agriculture	Ten PDE ag CIPs; only POS 39 Horticulture (01.0601) is SOAR; state rule allows a private pesticide permit at 16, federal rule says 18	(pesticide applicator age)	Agriculture
Early childhood	CIP 19.0708, 61 approved programs; a 16- or 17-year-old counts as child care staff only after finishing the 400 classroom hours of a 600-hour approved program, while still enrolled (55 Pa. Code 3270.31); paid minors in child care need all three clearances, including FBI fingerprints	; lab preschool licensing: Confirm with the agency	Early childhood
Culinary and hospitality	SOAR POS 41 (12.0501) and POS 30 (12.0508); 16 and 17 may serve food but not alcohol; food slicers barred except student learners		Culinary and hospitality
Machining and mechatronics	48.0501 (POS 20) and 15.0403 (POS 28); state bars all minors from emery wheels and metal-forming machines except student learners		Machining and mechatronics
Engineering and drafting	15.1301 (POS 13) at CTCs; PLTW usually runs as Technology Education PK-12; no rule lets a CTE course replace Biology	; 15.1301 is SOAR POS 13 (PDE SOAR page). : credit terms under SOAR revision. Last checked Oct. 4, 2026	Engineering and drafting
Firefighting	SOAR 43.9999 (Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting); FF I at 18, or 17 with a PSFA-accredited course and parent and chief approval		Firefighting
Law and public safety	43.0107, SOAR POS 42, 25 approved schools; police, 911 and armed security all require age 18		Law and public safety
Business and marketing	SOAR POS for 52.0302, 52.0401, 52.1201 and 52.1801; Act 35 personal finance must be a standalone half-credit course		Business and marketing
Entrepreneurship	52.0701 is on PDE’s credential list but is not SOAR; school stores collect sales tax; LLC organizers must be 18	; sales tax bulletin currency: Confirm with the agency	Entrepreneurship

Working with minors in Pennsylvania

Work permits. Every worker under 18 needs a Pennsylvania work permit, issued by the school district’s issuing officer (Child Labor Act, Act 151 of 2012) (). Federal law has no permit requirement, so this is a state-only step.

School-year hours for 16- and 17-year-olds. While enrolled in school, 16- and 17-year-olds may work at most 8 hours a day and 28 hours in a school week, between 6 a.m. and midnight (). Federal law sets no hour limits at this age. Where state and federal rules overlap, the more protective rule applies.

State bars beyond federal law. DLI’s prohibitions list (34 Pa. Code ch. 11) bars all minors under 18 from:

electrical work (no federal equivalent);
welding (no federal equivalent);
power-driven woodworking and roofing (federal HO 5 and HO 16 also apply);
emery wheels, meaning bench and pedestal grinders (no federal equivalent);
metal-forming, punching and shearing machines and power food slicers (federal HO 8 and HO 10 also apply);
serving or dispensing alcohol (16- and 17-year-olds may serve food and clear tables; staff must be 18 to serve or dispense alcohol).

Under-16s may not do construction work in any capacity ().

The exemption route. The electrical, welding, woodworking, roofing, emery wheel, metal-forming and food slicer bars carry an exception for apprentices, student learners and graduates of an approved vocational program in that occupation (). The alcohol bar has no such exception. To use it for a paid placement:

Put a training agreement in place signed by the student, parent, principal or school official, employer and co-op coordinator (PDE Cooperative Education Guidelines, January 2021).
Attach a training plan listing the CIP code, competencies and approximate time per activity (sample PDE-4617a).
Have the coordinator check each task against the 34 Pa. Code ch. 11 list and document planned safety instruction for any student-learner task.
Record the work permit number and pay rate on the agreement, and evaluate the student monthly.
Treat the student as the employer’s employee covered by its workers’ compensation, never as a 1099 contractor.

The federal student-learner exemption (29 CFR 570.50) still governs the federal hazardous orders. It opens only seven of the 17 orders and never covers driving, power-driven hoists and lifts, or demolition (). Nurse aide students under 18 may only assist an adult with a powered patient lift.

Roofing is open to apprentices and student-learners. Pennsylvania’s roofing rule exempts apprentices, student-learners and graduates of an approved vocational program in that occupation (34 Pa. Code 11.63), and the federal roofing rule allows the same exemption under a written training agreement. This covers rooftop HVAC work. Confirmed.

Open points. No PDE timeline exists for reviewing agreements; file them before work starts. No Pennsylvania rule assigns workers’ compensation for unpaid placements; confirm coverage with your insurer or risk pool ().

Volunteer emergency service. Minors 14 to 17 may serve with volunteer fire and EMS organizations with a work permit and within school-week hour limits; no minor may drive an ambulance or other emergency vehicle (). Under Act 155 of 2022, a 17-year-old may train on live-burn interior modules with parent and chief permission and a PSFA instructor on site (). See the Firefighting guide.

See Working with Minors in CTE Pathways and the Clinical and Work-Based Learning Partnerships toolkit.

Teacher certification routes for CTE in Pennsylvania

Career and Technical Instructional I. Valid for eight years of service. Since Act 55 of 2024 (effective July 11, 2024), you qualify with any one of:

8,000 hours (4 years) of wage-earning experience in the occupation;
4,000 hours (2 years) plus a bachelor’s degree;
4 years of volunteer firefighter or EMT service;
4 years of postsecondary teaching in the area.

You also need a passing occupational competency assessment (NOCTI test, committee evaluation or credential review) and 18 credits in an approved CTE teacher program at Temple, Penn State, IUP or Point Park (). Instructional II follows three years of satisfactory teaching, 42 credits and induction ().

Veterans. Act 41 of 2025 (approved October 27, 2025) lets veterans meet the experience requirement with 8,000 hours of military service in the occupational area ().

Starting before you finish. Act 47 of 2025 renamed the Intern certificate the Career and Technical Experience-Based certificate (Type 24). It lets a hire who meets everything except the 18 credits teach full time; it is valid for five calendar years and not renewable (CSPG 66, December 2025). Act 47 also allows certification by credential review where no competency exam exists (). If the competency test is not yet passed either, the district can request an emergency permit under CSPG 25 (). Act 55 did not create a two-year Experience-Based certificate.

Alternatives when you cannot hire. From the Staffing toolkit:

Send students to a CTC that already holds the approval and certified staff.
Contract with a certified provider; PDE posts an annual county list of approved nurse aide programs.
Use an LPN for nurse aide instruction under a qualified RN supervisor.

No general Pennsylvania statute on industry adjuncts in CTE was found ().

Pathway add-ons.

Pathway	Add-on beyond the CTE certificate	Status
Nurse aide	RN, 2 years nursing with 1 in long-term care, unrestricted license, criminal history clearance, negative TB test, Penn State Teaching-the-Educator workshop
EMT	DOH EMS instructor certification for 75% of instruction (EMT or higher, CPR, 1 year EMS, instructor course, 20 monitored teaching hours)
Electrical, carpentry, HVAC, welding	Occupational competency assessment in the area; no state trade license exists to hold
Computer science (academic)	Computer Science 7-12 certificate (Praxis 5652) for new hires since Jan. 1, 2023
Machining and mechatronics	Certificate 2600 plus Machine Shop (2043), Metalworking (2072) or Electromechanical (2109)
Cosmetology	Board teacher license; public school teachers meeting PDE standards are deemed to meet the 500-hour teacher training rule
Co-op coordinator	PDE Cooperative Education certification with a NOCTI assessment
NCCER	Sponsor for Pennsylvania schools not identified

Which certificate area PDE assigns to health occupations and nurse aide teachers, and whether an RN uses NOCTI or credential review, is not settled ().

See the Staffing toolkit.

Graduation credit and college eligibility in Pennsylvania

Course and credit requirements are local. Pennsylvania sets statewide graduation requirements through Act 158 of 2018, but each district sets its own course and credit list (). No statewide rule letting a CTE course replace a core academic credit was found (). Instead, 22 Pa. Code 339.22 requires academic standards to be integrated into the technical curriculum, and 4.31 requires CTE students to show proficiency in academic standards (). The embedded-credit model is the norm: the CTE course teaches academic content, and the district decides whether to award academic credit for it.

The CTE Concentrator Pathway. Act 158 offers five pathways to meet the statewide requirement, effective with the class of 2023 (). A CTE concentrator meets the state graduation requirement by completing the district’s grade-level requirements in the academic subjects and either earning an industry-based competency certification tied to the program or showing a high likelihood of success on an approved industry-based competency assessment. The school judges likelihood of success from benchmark assessments, course grades and the student’s career plan by the end of grade 11 (24 P.S. 1-121). Confirm with the agency for PDE’s current guidance on which assessments count. Concentrators still take the Keystone Exams for federal accountability. 22 Pa. Code 4.24 has no subsection (b)(8), and no rule lets a CTE course replace Biology. Biology coursework is still required; the pathway replaces the exam score, not the course ().

Computer science or IT for math or science. A student who completes a computer science or information technology course in grades 9-12 may apply one credit to math or science; the district chooses which (24 P.S. 16-1605(c)(1)) (). Networking and cyber courses qualify as IT. Engineering courses are not named ().

Personal finance. Starting in 2026-27, every school must provide a personal finance course of at least one-half credit, completed once in grades 9-12 (Act 35 of 2023; Public School Code section 1551(b.1)) (). The course must stand alone: personal finance units inside a business or CTE course do not count, though a series of courses adding up to one-half credit is allowed (). Certificates that may teach it are Agriculture (30), Business, Computer and Information Technology (33), Citizenship Education (35), Family and Consumer Sciences (44), Marketing/Distributive Education (49), Mathematics (50) and Social Studies (59) (). How the rule applies to students who spend half-days at a CTC is not stated ().

Career plan requirement. Chapter 339 requires a K-12 guidance plan and a career portfolio for every student, aligned to the Career Education and Work standards ( for current portfolio and reporting rules).

Effect on college admission. No statewide public university course minimum was found for Pennsylvania (). That does not make substitution safe. Before you count a CTE course as math, science or English credit, check:

the course requirements of Penn State, PASSHE universities, Pitt and Temple;
out-of-state universities your students apply to;
NCAA core-course rules for student athletes.

The Act 158 CTE Concentrator Pathway affects only the statewide graduation requirement. It does not change what appears on the transcript, so it does not itself affect admission.

See the Curriculum toolkit and the Scheduling and Student Timing toolkit.

Articulation and dual enrollment in Pennsylvania

SOAR Programs of Study. SOAR is Pennsylvania’s statewide secondary-to-postsecondary articulation framework, with 36 Programs of Study (). A SOAR program guarantees at least 9 technical credits or clock hours at participating colleges. To qualify, a student needs:

a 100% completed secondary task list signed by the instructor;
a Competent or Advanced score on the NOCTI or NIMS end-of-program assessment (the PA Skills Certificate);
a technical GPA of at least 2.75.

Credits must be used within 16 months of graduation (). The inventory’s 2.5 GPA and three-year claim window conflict with PDE’s SOAR page; use the PDE figures. Receiving colleges are listed on CollegeTransfer.net.

SOAR status by pathway.

Pathway	SOAR status	Status
Nurse aide (51.9999)	POS 18
Welding (48.0508)	POS 7
Carpentry (46.0201)	POS 3
Electrical (46.0399)	POS 14; one college sheet reports 23 credits	(credit count local)
HVAC (47.0201)	POS 19
Networking (11.0901)	POS 12
EMT (51.0904)	Not SOAR; local agreements only
Programming (11.0201)	Not SOAR
Dental assisting, cosmetology, entrepreneurship	Not SOAR	for entrepreneurship; dental and cosmetology: Confirm with the agency

Expiring agreements. Statewide SOAR agreements run three years and local agreements one year; students have 16 months after graduation to use the credits (). No specific expiration dates were published. PDE has described SOAR as “under revision” with no end date (). Confirm credit terms with each college partner every year.

Dual enrollment. Dual credit runs under a written agreement between the school and the college (24 P.S. 15-1525 and 15-1525.1). Credits go on both the high school and college transcripts. Your district may pay tuition, fees and supplies but does not have to, and the agreement must say who pays. Weight dual credit grades like AP or IB. Report dual credit data to PDE by July 31. Confirmed. State funding for districts: Confirm with the agency. The state’s Dual Credit Innovation Grant, created by July 2024 School Code amendments, funds public colleges rather than districts: $14 million to 15 institutions in April 2025 (). Ask your college partner whether it holds a current award. Some CTCs offer EMT and health courses with community college credit through local agreements; one example is CCAC’s EMT course open to students 16 and older ().

Registered apprenticeship. Schools may build L&I-registered pre-apprenticeship into existing curricula ().

Open questions for Pennsylvania agencies

PDE Bureau of CTE: When does the CATS new-program file open for 2027-28, and what is the submission deadline?
PDE Bureau of CTE: Where is the current industry-recognized credential list for each CIP (including NCCER Electrical for 46.0399), and how do you request an addition?
PDE Bureau of CTE: What is the expected completion date of the SOAR revision, and will current POS numbers or credit terms change?
PDE Bureau of CTE: Which NOCTI test codes apply for 2026-27 (networking 8148 or 2560; welding 4372; carpentry 4215; precision machining)?
PDE Bureau of CTE: Does PDE accept new programs under a programming CIP (11.0201 or 11.0701), and which certificate does it require?
PDE Bureau of CTE: Which industry-based competency assessments does PDE currently approve for the CTE Concentrator Pathway?
PDE Nurse Aide Training Program (ra-natcep@pa.gov): What do the Application for Approval of NATCEP, PDE-3128G and PDE-3128C require, what is the initial review time, and is a fire inspection required?
PDE Nurse Aide Training Program: What is the regulatory citation for the 80-hour and 37.5-clinical-hour rule, and does a “within the prior 5 years” limit apply to the RN instructor’s experience?
PDE Nurse Aide Training Program: Must 16- and 17-year-old students obtain the State Police criminal history report before enrolling, and what is the current prohibitive-offense list?
PDE certification office: Which certificate area covers health occupations and nurse aide teachers, and does an RN use NOCTI or credential review under Act 47 of 2025? What are the CSPG 25 emergency permit terms?
Department of Health, Bureau of EMS: Which edition of the EMS Education Policy and Procedures manual is current (the 2020 edition was reviewed), what is the EMT course hour standard, and how many regional EMS councils are there?
L&I Apprenticeship and Training Office: What is the state minimum age for registered apprentices, and when does the Apprenticeship and Training Council next meet to register programs?
DLI Bureau of Labor Law Compliance: Does the Child Labor Act exclude farm work?
PDE Pupil Transportation: What do Public School Code section 1361 and 22 Pa. Code ch. 23 require for busing students to CTCs?
PDE Bureau of CTE: What is the current state CTE subsidy amount, and is PAsmart funding still available for CTE or apprenticeship?
PA General Assembly or DLI: What is the status of HB 308 (2025-26), the bill to extend OSHA-equivalent protection to public employees?
State Board of Cosmetology or Legislative Reference Bureau: Which section of Act 47 of 2025 makes the CTE cosmetology and barber route permanent, and does it carry a sunset?
State Board of Dentistry and DEP: Does the Dental Law set a minimum age for EFDA certification, and what X-ray registration applies to a school dental lab?
DHS OCDEL and PDE Bureau of CTE: Does a school-operated lab preschool serving community children need a DHS certificate, and does a school district or CTC meet the accreditation condition in 55 Pa. Code 3270.31(c)(1)?
Office of the State Fire Commissioner (PSFA): Can a CTC become an Educational Training Agency, or must it run Firefighter I courses through one?
PDE Bureau of CTE: How do students who spend half-days at a CTC meet the Act 35 standalone personal finance course?
PA Revenue: Is Sales Tax Bulletin 2004-01 on school store sales still current?
Department of Agriculture (PDA): Does the state’s EPA-approved certification plan or a pending rule now set 18 for private pesticide applicators, and can a 16- or 17-year-old still get a permit under 7 Pa. Code 128.62?

Review status and sources

Last checked October 2-3, 2026. Wave 1 facts were verified against primary sources on October 2, 2026; live checks on October 3, 2026 covered the CATS window, Act 158 pathway guidance, the cosmetology CTE route, the Competitive Equipment Grant and the Dual Credit Innovation Grant. Corrections on October 3, 2026 covered the roofing exemption, the CTE Concentrator Pathway terms, dual credit agreements, the Experience-Based certificate term and labor-market sources. Wave 2 rows were verified in a second research round on October 3, 2026; open items are listed above. Labels: Confirmed, Confirm with the agency, Changing.

Program approval and funding