Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (Perkins Act Programs)

(OCTAE)

Department of Education

Proposed Cut

$1.5B

% Reduction

100.0%

Action Type

elimination

Who Is Served

Career and technical education students; adult literacy programs; states managing workforce programs

Summary

The Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) runs the federal programs created by the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act and the adult education title of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. These funds go to states to run high school and college career-training classes and adult literacy/basic-skills programs. The FY2027 budget proposes eliminating all $1,500 million (100%) of this Education Department funding, with the administration saying career and technical education would move to the Department of Labor while the separate Adult Education program would simply be eliminated, not funded anywhere.

Who Is Affected

Perkins Act formula grants send about $1.4 billion a year to states for career and technical education (CTE) classes that serve more than 8.6 million secondary students and 3.3 million postsecondary students nationwide, including students in welding, health-tech, IT, and trade programs. The remaining roughly $700 million supports Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA/WIOA Title II) grants, which fund local adult basic-skills, GED/high-school-equivalency, and English-language classes used by low-literacy adults, English learners, and incarcerated adults through community colleges, school districts, and nonprofits in every state.

What this cut would actually mean

If Congress enacts this exactly as proposed, the Department of Education would stop sending CTE formula money to states, and unless the Department of Labor picks up the career-and-technical piece with new funding, states and school districts would have to cut CTE course sections, equipment purchases, and instructor positions that currently rely on this federal share. Because the budget also proposes eliminating Adult Education outright rather than moving it anywhere, local adult literacy centers, GED programs, and English-language classes that depend on federal AEFLA grants would lose their primary funding source, meaning fewer classroom seats, longer waitlists, and reduced access to literacy and workforce-readiness instruction for low-income and immigrant adults.

Why this hits Alabama harder

Alabama would likely lose more than its share of this funding because the money is split among states partly based on low income levels, and Alabama has one of the lowest per-person incomes in the country. Alabama also ranks 43rd out of 50 states in adult literacy, with about 14.8% of adults considered functionally illiterate, so the state's adult education programs rely heavily on this federal support. Losing all $1.5 billion nationally would hit Alabama's career, technical, and adult literacy programs harder than most other states.

How does low literacy affect equity and quality of life? (Alabama) — Reports that Alabama ranks 43rd out of 50 states in the U.S. for adult literacy.
Statewide UA Literacy Center - The Rising Tide 2.0 — Estimates that about 14.8% of Alabama's population is functionally illiterate, showing heavy reliance on adult education programs funded partly through OCTAE.
Alabama | Appalachian Learning Initiative — Notes Alabama is the 7th-most impoverished state in the U.S., with 16.2% of residents at or below the federal poverty level, a factor in Perkins funding formulas tied to per-capita income.
Introduction to the Carl D. Perkins Act (ACTE) — Explains that Perkins Basic State Grants are allocated using a formula based on population and per-capita income, which tends to direct relatively more funding to lower-income states like Alabama.

Sources

President's FY27 Budget Request: Labor and Education — Notes the FY2027 budget proposes transferring OCTAE's career and technical education function to the Department of Labor while eliminating the Adult Education program altogether.
DEPARTMENT of EDUCATION FY2027 Budget Document (govinfo) — Official budget text confirming the $1.5 billion cut to OCTAE, transferring CTE to DOL and eliminating Adult Education, which it says 'inappropriately incentivized illegal immigration.'
NASFAA: Trump's FY2027 Budget Request Would Eliminate FSEOG, Slash FWS Funding, Increase Pell Grant — Confirms ED would transfer OCTAE to the Department of Labor, reducing ED funding by $1.5 billion.
ACTE Online: Perkins Implementation Resources — Reports that Perkins Basic State Grants (about $1.4 billion) served over 8.6 million secondary and 3.3 million postsecondary CTE participants.
Program/Initiatives - Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) — U.S. Department of Education page listing the Adult Education, CTE, and Native American/Native Hawaiian CTE programs OCTAE administers, totaling about $1.9 billion annually.
Trump Administration Releases FY 2027 Budget Request - ACTE Online — CTE policy analysis of the FY2027 skinny budget request's proposed changes to career and technical education funding.