While colleges cannot control job quality, they can be intentional about using labor market data and employer insights to select which certificates to develop and deliver, designing programs for jobs that meet specific quality standards in terms of wages and work conditions and equipping students with the right competencies to enter and advance beyond those roles. [...] Labor market returns to these credentials are highly variable, and the share of the population with certificates that have significant wage premiums has declined in recent years.iii Studies of national and state administrative data attribute this variability to certificate length and field of study. [...] This movement toward “stackability” is based on the idea that a short-term certificate can serve as a “stepping-stone” or “the first rung” of an educational ladder, based on the assumption that students will return to college to take advantage of further opportunities to advance within the industry. [...] From there, colleges can select which certificates to design and deliver, pegging programs to jobs that meet specific quality standards in terms of wages and work conditions and equipping students with the right competencies to start in and advance beyond these roles. [...] We attempted to understand the connection between the vision of non-degree programs as a fast-track to economic mobility and the expectations and experiences of those completing manufacturing certificates.
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Table of Contents
- September 2024 1
- Mina Dadgar Francie Genz Terra Thorne Dina Buck 1
- Acknowledgements 2
- Education Equity Solutions 2
- Suggested citation 2
- XECUTIVE UMMARY 3
- Key Takeaways 3
- Misalignment between participant and college goals for certificate programs results in unmet learner expectations. 3
- D sp s c c m s c b c s s are unlikely to return to college if their first job does not meet expectations. 3
- Program Characteristics 4
- Alignment between program and participant goals 4
- Curricular alignment with quality jobs 4
- Each rung of the credential ladder counts 4
- ACKGROUND 5
- EY INDINGS 5
- A quality j b s j b w 6
- A Living Wage 6
- Good Working Conditions 6
- Opportunities for Advancement 6
- Program Characteristics 9
- Alignment between program and participant goals 9
- Curricular alignment with quality jobs 9
- Each rung of the credential ladder counts 9
- ISCUSSION AND MPLICATIONS 10
- PPENDIX ESEARCH ETHODOLOGY 11
- RaceEthnicity 11
- African AmericanBlack 11
- Asian 11
- HispanicLatino 11
- Multiple RacesEthnicities 11
- OtherUnknown 11
- White 11
- Total 11
- ITATIONS 12
- Strengthening the Manufacturing Workforce in Ohio. Research Report. RR- A2517-1 12
- Stackable Credentials Awards for the Future 12
- Does It Pay to Complete Community College--and How Much Research Brief 12
- The Labor Market Returns to Sub-Baccalaureate College A Review. A CAPSEE Working Paper 12
- Job quality and race and gender equity Understanding the link between job quality and occupational crowding 12
- Student outcomes at community colleges What factors explain variation in loan repayment and earnings 12
- Noncredit students at two community colleges Who are they and what are their experiences 12
- Job quality and occupational crowding by race and gender 12
- Moving up Promoting workers economic mobility using network analysis 12
- 2015 College Decisions Survey Part I Deciding to go to college 12
- The characteristics of good jobs for low-income workers 12
- Student outcomes at community colleges What factors explain variation in loan repayment and earnings 13
- Short-term credentials leading to pay increases fell highlighting the need for programs to pay off. 13
- A typology and Policy Landscape Analysis of State Investments in Short-term Credential Pathways. 13
- Unlocking job progressions Experience-based pathways for low-wage workers 13
- Five Things Policymakers Should Know about Short-Term Credentials 13
- The Short-Term Credentials Landscape What We See and What Remains Unseen 13
- How COVID-19 affected the quality of work 13
- Introducing the Mobility Pathways tool for workers employers and policymakers 13
- Economic development Next step for community colleges 13
- Talent disrupted An interview with Strada CEO Stephen Moret 13
- Good jobs principles 13
- OTES 14
