The Carl Perkins Fund is formally known as "The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and
Technical Education Act, Public Law 105-332". The Perkins Fund is meant to give
States the ability - via Federally-allocated monies in the form of grants - to fund
appropriate technical-education school equipment - like that offered by TEC - and programs to ensure Students are given the technical education to help themselves
and their Nation.
These State Basic Grants are allotted to states according to a formula based on states'
populations in certain age groups and their per capita income.
What Funding is Available?
The Perkins Act provides almost $1.3 billion in federal support for career and technical
education programs in all 50 States. The law will extend through 2012.
How Do Schools Use Perkins Funds?
According to the U.S. Department of Education, the most frequent uses of funds
included: the expansion of technical preparation programs, pre-engineering-program-
relevant hardware, software, and additional equipment and supplies.
ALL of the Academic Engineering products offered by TEC qualify under the guidelines of the Perkins Act, and, certain TEC STEM-program products like the $1,495 RapManUSA 3D-Printer Kit, qualify under a multitude of STEM guidelines and disciplines; making it far easier to obtain funding and grants from multiple sources to ensure a purchase.
Why is Funding for Technical/Pre-Engineering Education so Significant?
* The United States competes in a global economy. The purpose of the Perkins Act is to
prepare a future workforce with the academic and technical skills needed to compete
successfully in a world market.
* Technical education allows students to explore and develop the skills needed to
further their career options.
* According to a recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, just 4% of U.S.
college graduates have a major in engineering, compared with 13% of European
students and 20% of Asian students. The United States cannot tackle the
tremendous challenges it faces in the future without more engineers of all kinds.
