🛝 CTE Embraces AI, Parents Left Behind on Chatbots, College Apps Shift

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This week's reality check: While career and technical education programs are rapidly integrating AI into everything from culinary training to HVAC tech, 75% of teens are using AI chatbots that most parents don't even know exist. Meanwhile, college application patterns are revealing new divides.

💎 Data Gem

After inflation, public college tuition has actually fallen 10% at two-year colleges and 7% at four-year colleges between 2015-16 and 2025-26, according to College Board's latest report.

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How AI Is Changing Career and Technical Education

CTE programs have been quietly embracing AI at a rapid pace since early 2023. 

About half of CTE programs had some AI use a year ago. Now the challenge is moving beyond what Michael Connet from the Association for Career and Technical Education calls the "Googlification" of AI.

What does that look like in practice?

One CTE director used an AI tool to optimize scheduling across multiple schools and lab spaces - a task that normally took days was completed in minutes.

Culinary instructors are using AI to analyze refrigerator contents and generate recipes tailored to specific dietary needs. HVAC students are training on AI-powered tools that provide predictive analytics for energy efficiency monitoring.

Agriculture programs are teaching students to use drones with AI sensors for soil monitoring and crop-yield optimization rather than just traditional hands-on farming.

The embrace of AI happened because of the pandemic. 

CTE programs had to go remote, and once they adopted ed tech tools, they stuck with them even after returning to in-person instruction.

Technology is also changing the local-versus-national job preparation process. 

Rural programs can now offer remote learning opportunities for careers with national demand, not just local employer needs.

For education innovators, this signals a market that's rapidly maturing. CTE programs need AI tools designed for hands-on learning environments, not just academic subjects. Solutions that help students understand what's "under the water line" of algorithms while solving real industry problems will find ready adoption.

Parents Need AI Literacy Lessons, Too. A New Toolkit Aims to Help

75% of teens use AI companion chatbots, but only a third of parents know their children are using them, according to Common Sense Media.

Districts have focused on teacher training and student AI literacy. 

But parents have been left out of the conversation.

Common Sense Media and Day of AI just released a new toolkit on November 17 to help parents understand the technology and talk about it with their kids.

High-profile cases of teens dying by suicide after prolonged engagement with chatbot companions have put AI safety concerns on parents' and policymakers' radars.

The toolkit includes short videos explaining bias in AI, how algorithms work, and privacy implications. It also has slide shows for parent information sessions and conversation starters to help teens talk to their parents about AI.

Jeffrey Riley, executive director of Day of AI and former Massachusetts education commissioner, likens AI literacy to learning to drive. "AI is an even more powerful tool than a car," he said.

The market gap is clear. 

Schools need family engagement resources specifically designed for AI education. Think parent-facing content, translation into multiple languages, and materials that work for families with varying tech literacy levels. As AI becomes more sophisticated, the need for these "human connection" resources will only grow.

Underrepresented Applicants Grow, International Ones Drop

New Common App data shows a diverging pattern in college applications. Domestic diversity is rising while international interest is falling.

Applications from Black students increased 16%, first-generation students up 12%, and rural applicants up 15% compared to last year. Low-income applicants who qualified for fee waivers grew at more than twice the rate of other applicants.

But international applications dropped 9%, driven by a 14% decline from India and an 18% drop from Africa. Ghana saw a 43% decrease.

The Common App report suggests administration policies - visa delays and denials - may be deterring international students.

Two other trends stand out: 

• Highly selective institutions (under 25% admit rates) saw the slowest growth at just 4%, while other colleges grew at two or three times that rate. 

• Test score submissions rose 11% as more institutions reinstate testing requirements, though underrepresented students were less likely to share scores.

For education innovators, these shifts signal changing support needs. Domestic students from underrepresented backgrounds need more application support and test prep resources. International student recruitment and visa navigation services may see declining demand in the current policy environment. 

The divergence between highly selective and other institutions suggests stratification in where students are applying - and where enrollment management solutions will be most needed.

⚡️More Quick Hits

This week in education:

• Pennsylvania mandates reading curriculum  -  State requires evidence-based reading curriculum by 2027-28 with $10M allocated, but removed recommended list after pushback

• Early AI literacy push  -  Experts argue AI and digital literacy must start in early elementary when children first go online, not wait until middle school

• Arizona teacher crisis deepens  -  State officials describe teacher shortage as "catastrophic" with thousands of classrooms lacking permanent teachers

• $26M for AI infrastructure  -  Digital Promise launches K-12 AI Infrastructure Program to develop openly shared datasets, models, and benchmarks over four years

🔎 Worth Checking Out

Monthly roundup of resources you might like:

• State of Computer Science 2025 — State-by-state tracking showing 32 states now require high schools to offer CS courses and 12 mandate CS for graduation.

• K-12 Lens 2025 — Report showing teacher shortages declining to 66% of districts (down from 81%), but persistent gaps remain in special education and substitute roles

• Universal Connectivity Imperative — Data on the "homework gap": 84% of students have school devices in class, but many districts no longer allow take-home access

• National AI in K-12 Survey — Full survey data showing declining public support for AI tools across multiple use cases.

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