Career Technical Education Employment Outcomes Survey (CTEOS)

What is CTEOS?

The Career Technical Education Employment Outcomes Survey (CTEOS) tracks the employment experiences of students who participated in career education at any California community college.

The survey asks former students about their employment, wages, whether their current work is related to their field of study, and how their college coursework affected their employment. CTEOS results help colleges and the California Community Colleges understand and improve career education programs.

About the CTEOS timeline: CTEOS follows a recurring annual cycle. The timing below represents the typical sequence of activities; specific dates and deadlines may vary from year to year. Your college's primary CTEOS contact will receive instructions and deadlines when action is required.

The CTEOS Cycle

March–April 

College Information Is Confirmed

CTEOS confirms the primary contact for each college. The primary contact coordinates CTEOS activities at the college and receives cohort files, instructions, deadlines, and other communications.

College action: Confirm or update your college's primary CTEOS contact information.
May–June 

College Cohort Information Is Collected

CTEOS provides each college with its portion of the survey cohort. Colleges provide the student contact information needed for survey outreach.

Typical turnaround: About 3 weeks.

College action: Add the requested student contact information, including email addresses and phone numbers, and return the completed file to CTEOS by the deadline provided.
June–August 

CTEOS Prepares the Survey Cohort

CTEOS reviews college submissions, resolves data issues, and prepares the final survey cohort for outreach.

College action: Usually none. CTEOS may contact your college if additional information or corrections are needed.
September–December 

Students Are Contacted

CTEOS administers the survey directly to eligible students using email and SMS text messaging.

Students may receive an initial invitation followed by additional reminders and outreach if they have not yet completed the survey.

You can view the entire survey distribution calendar at: 2026 CTEOS Distribution Calendar .

Colleges may request their finalized survey cohort if they want to conduct local promotion or follow-up with their students.

College action: No routine action is required.
January–February 

Survey Data Are Finalized

After student outreach ends, CTEOS cleans and merges the survey data and prepares the final data for reporting.

College action: No routine action is required.
Late February 

Reports and Results Are Available

CTEOS provides reports to college primary contacts, and CTEOS results are made available through the LaunchBoard.

College action: Save copies of the CTEOS data and report for local use.