At the secondary school level, a curricular track, program, or course designed to prepare students to enter the workforce immediately after high school in a skilled occupation, as opposed to college preparatory or academic programs..

Vocational education courses have been a distinct part of the public high school system since the Smith Hughes Act of 1917. The height of enrollment in vocational education (voc ed) classes was during the 1970s when approximately 15% of students majored in voc ed. During the 1980s enrollment declined as federal funding was entirely cut off and voc ed programs were downsized or eliminated. In the 1990s most students take at least one voc ed class, about 10% take a voc ed track, 30% a college preparatory track, and 60% follow neither track. There are three types of voc ed courses: consumer and homemaking classes which prepare students for daily living; general labor courses that teach...