SkillsUSA
Who We Are
SkillsUSA is the #1 workforce development organization for students. We empower students to become skilled professionals, career-ready leaders and responsible community members. From our mission to our reach, from our brand to our history, learn who we are, what we do and why we do it.
Nationwide Impact
A student who once hid quietly in the back of the class finds a confidence he never knew he had and now will never lose. Another, once unsure of her future goals, discovers a passion for a specific skill that will lead to a fulfilling, in-demand career. A teacher, struggling to provide students with real-world connections to their classroom, transforms his curriculum into an engaging model of a high-functioning workplace. An industry representative, desperate for entry-level employees to meet her company’s growing needs, taps into a talent pipeline of career-ready applicants ready to bridge that skills gap. These moments and so many more happen every day across our nation thanks to SkillsUSA involvement.
SkillsUSA changes classrooms. SkillsUSA changes workplaces. SkillsUSA changes lives.
Foundational History
The SkillsUSA legacy is rich with tradition, and while the organization was officially founded in 1965, the history of the skilled trades stretches back … almost indefinitely. In fact, skilled tradespeople have been passing down their abilities to “apprentices” since the earliest days of civilization.
We won’t go that far back, but we will start in 1917, when the first federal law in the United States relating to career and technical education was passed: The Smith-Hughes National Vocational Education Act. This law was the first to provide funding to the states for agriculture, homemaking and trade and industrial education. Forty-five years later, the Vocational Educational Act of 1963 specified that vocational student organizations were an essential part of vocational instruction. Today, these organizations are called career and technical student organizations, or CTSOs, and SkillsUSA is one of eight authorized by the U.S. Department of Education. This law was also important because it recognized CTSOs as an integral part of classroom instruction and legitimate recipients of federal and state grant money to support their work. And the rest is history. Our history.
FHS 2024-2025 Cohort
Photos with Santa 2025
