Recent research on the labor market returns to short-term educational credentials—particularly certificates and associate degrees in technical fields—suggests that such training can be as lucrative, or more so, than a four-year degree. For many working adults without a college degree, completing such a credential could be very beneficial. Yet many Americans appear to be unaware of these options or, worse, view them as a distant second-best in a culture obsessed with the traditional college education.
Today, AEI’s Center on Higher Education Reform (CHER) will host an event featuring new survey research from CHER director Andrew P. Kelly that was designed to draw out non-college educated adults’ perceptions of higher education. In particular, the survey focused on respondents’ aspirations regarding higher education as well as their knowledge about the costs and potential returns to various postsecondary options.
Some of Kelly’s key findings include:
- Many adults without a college degree aspire to some higher credential, but most tend to overestimate the cost, which could deter them from furthering their education. More than 40% of respondents overestimated the cost of one year of community college by over $2,500, and nearly 80% either overestimated the cost or were unable or unwilling to provide an estimate.
- A significant portion of adults without a degree in our survey were uncertain as to the wage returns to different postsecondary pathways. When asked to estimate the median earnings of graduates with various levels of degrees, between 33 and 42% chose “I don’t know” rather than estimate. Those who did offer estimates tend to see the bachelor’s degree as the most valuable credential and certificates as the least valuable.
- Adults without a postsecondary degree do not always see the value in returning to school. In fact, 51% of respondents with only a high school diploma reported being satisfied with their current level of education. As a result, efforts to encourage education and training should clarify the benefits to various postsecondary pathways.
In addition to Kelly’s report, CHER commissioned four case studies on interesting and innovative career and technical education programs. Here are the main takeaways from each:
- Austin Polytechnical Academy – Austin Polytechnical Academy (APA) in Chicago links public secondary education to the manufacturing sector. The school offers traditionally low-performing, urban students advanced STEM curricula and exposes them to manufacturing via business partnerships, internships, and summer camps. APA provides an interesting case of how public high schools can expand options to both college and careers.
- Automotive Industry-Community College Partnerships – Automotive firms are creating mutually beneficial relationships with local community colleges to formulate and execute firm-specific training programs. In so doing, firms create a pipeline of future workers, while community college students learn the skills necessary to work in the modern, technologically-advanced automobile factories. These firm-community college partnerships in Tennessee, Alabama, and New York reveal a symbiotic framework for community colleges and companies to use existing resources while imparting students with training that suits labor market demand.
- “Stackable” Credentials – Stackable credentials are unique in that they break up a long-term degree into distinct, shorter-term certificates that can “stack” on top of each other to form the whole. They could also provide students with greater flexibility by allowing them to earn only the credentials they need but allowing them to return to complete the stack as they see fit. Brazosport College, a community college in Texas, has pioneered two programs with a stackable credentialing model and presents an opportunity to assess its success in the job market.
- Cooperative Education Programs – Schools such as University of Cincinnati and Drexel University offer cooperative (“co-op”) education programs, a type of experiential learning where students spend a substantial period of time with employers in their field of study. Since they expose students to typically paid, full-time positions with challenging work, co-ops—as opposed to summer internships—could offer a more efficient pathway into employment.
These case studies highlight promising examples of institutions working to create more and better educational pathways to career success. Fostering new pathways is only half the equation, however. As Kelly’s research shows, policymakers should not assume that people interested in further education have accurate information about the cost and benefits of different options in their area. Building on Kelly’s findings, therefore, researchers should do more to determine where information breakdowns occur and what policymakers can do to address them.
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