Background: The landscape of education is increasingly recognizing the impactful role of Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs in preparing students for the workforce. In Delaware, the implementation of CTE programs has been substantial, offering students opportunities to earn college credits, attain industry certifications, and gain professional experience while in high school. Previous research indicates a positive correlation between participation in CTE programs and higher rates of high school graduation, better preparation for postsecondary education, and alignment with labor market needs (Levesque et al., 2008; Bonilla, 2020; Bishop & Mane, 2004; Stevens et al., 2019). However, despite these promising findings, the causal impact of specific CTE pathways on students' educational and labor market outcomes remains less understood. This gap in the literature signifies the need for a comprehensive study that investigates the overall effectiveness of CTE programs and explores the nuances of pathway-specific effects and their implications for different student demographics. Purpose and Research Question: This research aims to elucidate the causal effects of concentration in specific CTE pathways on high school and postsecondary outcomes, including course-taking behavior, college attendance, and wages. The study seeks to answer the following questions: (1) What is the average causal effect of a school's introduction of a new CTE pathway on a student's course-taking behavior, college attendance, and wages?; (2) What is the heterogeneity in pathway-specific effects on course-taking behavior, college attendance, and wages?; and (3) Are pathway-specific effects heterogeneous by student type? Participants: The study investigates Delaware high school students who enrolled in at least one Career and Technical Education (CTE) course from 2014-15 to 2020-21 academic years. This encompasses seven complete cohorts, with a particular focus on the analysis of postsecondary outcomes for the initial four cohorts. The final sample consisted of 126,098 students distributed across 74 schools. Program: Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs are structured into several career clusters such as Health Science, Information Technology, Business Management & Administration, and Manufacturing. Each cluster has distinct programs of study, tailored to equip students with the skills and knowledge necessary for their chosen field of study and future career goals. This paper seeks to reveal the heterogeneity within the career cluster and programs of study, analyzing how differences in program specifics influence student outcomes across the diverse spectrum of career paths. Research Design: Addressing selection bias is challenging when evaluating the impact of specific CTE pathways or broader occupational clusters on student behavior and labor market outcomes. Selection bias arises as students may choose pathways aligning with their career aspirations, potentially skewing earnings associations. Similarly, schools might offer pathways based on their constraints and preferences, possibly correlating with students' labor market success. To counteract this, our approach leverages the timing of new CTE pathway introductions by schools as an exogenous factor, assuming frequent and varied offerings across school's prompt significant changes. We hypothesize that the introduction of new pathways alters the expected wages landscape, based on labor market projections, addressing school selection bias. However, student-based selection poses a challenge, particularly in Delaware, where students' ability to choose courses outside their designated zones can affect pathway selection. We mitigate this by focusing on the introduction of pathways in students assigned high schools, based on their middle school enrollments, thus aiming to neutralize biases related to both school and student selection. Data Collection and Analysis: Our primary data is derived from student-level administrative records provided by the Delaware Department of Education, encompassing details on CTE concentrator status, course records, and high school completion. Additional data on college attendance will be obtained from the National Student Clearinghouse, and wage information will be sourced from the Delaware Department of Labor. Our IV approach leverages the timing of new CTE pathways across schools in students' catchment zones defined by their middle school attendance. The structural (biased) equation is: [equation omitted](1) The IV for a pathway is the introduction of pathways in schools in year t in student i middle school-defined catchment zone. This variable takes value 1 in time t if a new pathway j is introduced in school s to which student i is assigned based on their middle school enrollment. We account for school- and year-effects with fixed effects. To address issues related to treatment effect heterogeneity, we stack the data so that each new pathway j is compared to schools for which pathway j has not yet been offered, thus providing "clean controls" for each newly treated school. Stacking the data requires us to interact the school and year effects with each "stack" or new dataset denoted g (Baker et al., 2022). Standard errors are clustered at the school-by-stack level. [equation omitted](2) The probability that a student concentrates in pathway j is determined by the introduction of new pathways in the school to which a student was assigned in middle school. The 2SLS regression is: [equation omitted]. Preliminary Findings: In our initial analysis, we provide evidence that the implementation of CTE programs yields a notable positive impact on student engagement within these specialized career clusters. However, upon closer examination, we observe variations in the degree of influence across different clusters. Specifically, certain career clusters like health sciences and STEM exhibit significant effects, whereas others such as manufacturing show relatively minimal influence. Furthermore, we delve into these heterogeneous outcomes by considering factors like gender and income status. While a positive trend persists across these demographics, the magnitudes of influence vary noticeably. For instance, females tend to gravitate more towards health sciences, whereas males show a greater inclination towards STEM fields and physical sciences. During the forthcoming paper presentation, we expect to reveal the findings from the second stage analysis, offering a more profound insight into the effects of CTE programs on both secondary and post-secondary outcomes. Conclusion: In conclusion, our findings highlight the policy relevance of this study by revealing variations in the effectiveness of program rollouts across different CTE pathways. This emphasizes the importance of tailoring strategies to enhance program uptake and rollout of CTE pathways where it can have the most significant impact.