The Effect of State Investments in CTE on Credential Stacking

• In Event: Community Colleges in Changing Labor Markets: Enrollment Trends and Workforce Alignment

Abstract

Community and technical colleges play an important role in providing access to postsecondary education, including the type of career and technical education that could increase opportunities for disenfranchised workers.  Recognizing the potential for public two-year colleges to improve labor market access for those who enroll, as well as to fuel local economies, both the federal and state governments have made large investments in improving the quality and capacity of postsecondary career and technical education. 

One such program in Tennessee, the Labor Education Alignment Program (LEAP), sought to improve career and technical education by incentivizing technical colleges to build collaborations with local employers, as well as increase opportunities for further training by developing new articulations with other institution types.  In a world of rapidly changing technology, students’ ability to access further credentials that develop their skills is an increasingly important outcome. I make use of data from the P20 Connect Tennessee (Tennessee’s Longitudinal Data System) and a differences-in-differences strategy to estimate the effect of LEAP on credential stacking. My initial findings suggest that students participating in LEAP-funded programs were more likely to go on to earn a second credential in the same field than students at technical colleges that did not receive funding. 

My study suggests that, given access to adequate resources, community and technical colleges are able to move nimbly and develop productive collaborations with other institution types, in order to increase opportunities for students.  

Author

• Adela Ruth Soliz, Vanderbilt University
  Presenting Author