Define the role around the division you actually run, set pay from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 figures for education administrators, postsecondary, test candidates on a real program-review case, and check references on faculty leadership and employer partnerships. BLS counts this role within Education Administrators, Postsecondary: 180,470 wage-and-salary jobs nationwide and a median annual wage of $104,590.
| Fact | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| National employment | 180,470 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Median annual wage | $104,590 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Annual 10th–90th percentile | $64,560 – $215,620 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
| Hourly median | $50.29 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 |
How to hire an associate dean of career and technical education: the short answer
Write a posting that names the programs of study, labs and shops, and chairs this person will lead. Set a range from the BLS figures for SOC 11-9033 in your state. Screen with a work sample that mirrors program review, equipment planning, and advisory-committee work. Ask the same job-related interview questions of every finalist, then call references who have seen the candidate supervise faculty and work with industry partners.
This is not a senior instructor post with extra meetings. The associate dean leads a college division of technical programs: supervising department chairs, faculty and staff; managing program review, budgets and equipment; and keeping career pathways aligned with regional employers and work-based learning sites. Treat the hire as academic leadership of a technical division, not as a classroom vacancy you will later fill with a technical college instructor.
What an associate dean of career and technical education does
O*NET OnLine (accessed September 24, 2026) describes postsecondary education administrators as people who plan, direct, or coordinate student instruction, administration, and services at universities, colleges, and junior and community colleges. Typical employers for an associate dean of CTE are community colleges, technical colleges, and universities that house a career-technical division. BLS counts this role within Education Administrators, Postsecondary.
Map the O*NET tasks onto the division you run. The associate dean recruits, hires, trains, and evaluates departmental personnel; directs and coordinates the work of chairs, faculty, and support staff; plans, administers, and controls budgets and financial reports; develops and recommends curricula; determines course schedules and room and equipment use; prepares reports on academic data; and promotes the college by developing partnerships with industry and secondary schools. They also represent the institution with employers, sit on faculty and college committees, and help faculty with scheduling, orientation, and related duties.
Skills, knowledge and tools to look for
O*NET lists management of personnel resources, coordination, judgment and decision making, and monitoring among the transferable and essential skills for this occupation, along with critical thinking, speaking, writing, and complex problem solving. Knowledge areas that show up on the same summary include administration and management, education and training, and personnel and human resources. O*NET places the occupation in Job Zone Five. Respondents said a master’s degree is required (48%), a doctoral degree is required (37%), or a bachelor’s degree is required (8%), and many of these occupations need more than five years of related experience.
Do not trade away personnel judgment or employer-facing skill for familiarity with one campus system. You can teach Banner. You cannot teach, in the first term, how to sit with a welding chair, an advisory committee, and a facilities lead and decide which equipment to replace.
Setting the pay range
Use BLS as the market reference for the range. For Education Administrators, Postsecondary, BLS reports an annual median of $104,590, an annual mean of $126,540, and an hourly median of $50.29 (hourly mean $60.84).
A location quotient above 1 means the occupation is more concentrated in that area’s employment than nationally. Check your state row before you post. Massachusetts (location quotient 2.16) and the District of Columbia (2.31) sit well above 1; Texas is 1.02 with 16,660 jobs. Use the printed annual median for the state where the job sits.
| Rank (by annual median) | State | Employment | Annual median | Hourly median | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York | 7,280 | $139,640 | $67.14 | 0.65 |
| 3 | Massachusetts | 9,120 | $128,970 | $62.01 | 2.16 |
| 20 | District of Columbia | 1,880 | $107,390 | $51.63 | 2.31 |
| 26 | Texas | 16,660 | $104,390 | $50.19 | 1.02 |
| 51 | Arkansas | 1,970 | $78,240 | $37.62 | 1.3 |
If the associate dean will also hire or coach faculty, keep the instructor range on a separate line in your budget. The campus counterpart on the K–12 side is a different search; see how to hire a CTE director when the opening sits in a district or career center rather than a college division.
Writing the posting and finding candidates
Title the job for the division you have: Associate Dean of Career and Technical Education, with the cluster or campus in the first sentence. Name the programs of study, the number of chairs who report in, the labs or shops, and any extra duties (evening sections, dual credit, student-organization travel, grant files). State the calendar plainly: on-campus days, advisory-committee nights, and employer visits.
Duties in the posting should match the work, not a generic dean template. Include faculty supervision and evaluation, program review with advisory committees, division budget and equipment planning, course and room scheduling, student-learning-outcome review, and partnerships with industry and secondary schools. If the person will work with career services on placement and work-based learning, say so; that overlap is why some campuses also run a search for a career coach.
Post where career and technical educators already look, including ACTE Job Bank. Share the notice with your advisory committee and industry partners; they often know chairs who are ready to move from a department to a division. Keep the same title and duty list on every board so applicants are not sorting two different jobs.
Screening and interviewing
Score applications against the division you posted, not against a wish list of degrees alone. Require evidence of faculty supervision, program or curriculum leadership, budget or equipment decisions, and employer or advisory-committee work. O*NET education data can inform the degree line you print; it does not replace a work sample.
Work sample
Give every finalist the same case: a program of study with declining enrollment and aging shop equipment. Ask for a written memo or a short presentation that outlines how they would review the program with faculty and employers. Look for a sequence that includes faculty and chair input, advisory-committee evidence, a budget and equipment option set, a schedule and lab-utilization check, and a clear recommendation. Score the product, not the polish of the slides.
Interview themes
Use one structured set of job-related questions. Cover academic leadership of technical programs, faculty supervision and development, program review, budget and equipment, and employer and workforce partnerships.
Ask every candidate the same questions. Under the laws enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (accessed September 24, 2026), it is illegal to discriminate because of race, color, religion, sex (including transgender status, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability, or genetic information. Do not ask about age, family or pregnancy, religion, national origin, disability, genetic information, or other protected characteristics. Tests must be job-related. This guide is general information as of September 24, 2026, not legal advice.
References, verification and the offer
Call references who have seen the candidate lead faculty, make a budget call, and sit with employers. Ask how the person ran program review, how they coached a struggling instructor, and whether industry partners returned their calls. Stay on job performance.
Verify any degree, license, or credential the candidate lists with the body that issued it, and follow your college’s own clearance process before the start date. Put duties, schedule, reporting line, and pay in writing, including evening advisory work and any teaching load if one exists. Confirm the first-term priorities: meet every chair and shop lead, walk the labs, sit with the advisory committees, and learn the budget cycle before proposing a reorganization.
FAQ
What does an associate dean of CTE do?
The associate dean leads a college division of technical programs: supervising chairs, faculty, and staff; running program review; managing budgets, schedules, and equipment; and working with employers, advisory committees, and secondary partners.
How much should I pay an associate dean of CTE?
BLS OEWS, May 2025, reports a national median annual wage of $104,590 for education administrators, postsecondary, with a published annual spread from $64,560 (10th percentile) to $215,620 (90th).
What experience should I look for?
Look for people who have supervised technical faculty or chairs, led program or curriculum review, handled a budget or equipment plan, and worked with advisory committees or industry partners.
How do I test an associate dean of CTE candidate before hiring?
Give every finalist the same work sample: a program with declining enrollment and aging equipment, and ask how they would review it with faculty and employers.
What should I ask an associate dean of CTE in an interview?
Ask the same job-related questions of every candidate about academic leadership of technical programs, faculty supervision, program review, budget and equipment, and employer partnerships.
