The State Board received its annual accreditation training and a federal student-aid update from agency staff, who outlined the accreditation cycle, examiner training and the linkage between accreditation and federal aid eligibility.

Joey Vanek, the agency’s accreditation manager, told board members that institutional accreditation operates on a five-year cycle and is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. "We provide institutional accreditation... and then you vote on those recommendations," Vanek said, describing a process that includes a previsit, virtual interviews, on-site visits, examiner scoring and feedback reports delivered 30–60 days after a visit.

Vanek described steps examiners take: online training, a virtual prep day, one-to-one interviews, program observations and scoring of assigned standards. He said technology centers receive a strength statement and an opportunity-for-improvement statement for each of six standards and that corrective actions are required when scores fall below established thresholds.

Sandra McKnight, the agency’s financial aid specialist, presented federal student-aid participation numbers for the 2024–25 award year and explained how Pell and other federal aid support adult postsecondary students in the system. She said 28 technology centers participate in federal student aid and that the system saw increased federal awards and more adult postsecondary students receiving aid. "We saw a nice increase from 23–24 to 24–25 award years...that 36 58, I believe you have a sheet today that'll tell you that system wide across the 29 districts, we had, about 9,800 adult post secondary students," McKnight said, and she gave a systemwide mean grant-per-student figure of about $5,025.

Board members asked about eligibility rules for students who previously used federal aid at four-year institutions and Vanek and McKnight explained eligibility is governed by federal formulas (e.g., 150% pace, aggregate limits and whether a student already has a bachelor’s degree). McKnight said adult learners who still have remaining federal eligibility can use it at CareerTech.

Vanek also described distance-education oversight, noting CareerTech oversees distance programs program-by-program and is among clock-hour systems with that authority. He said the agency has introduced previsit calls and streamlined the online application and examiner processes.