Does Noncredit Occupational Education Pay Off for Students?

• In Event: Noncredit Workforce Training in Community Colleges

Abstract

Millions of community college students enroll in noncredit programs every year—most in occupational training that offers individuals opportunities to rapidly reskill for new careers or upskill for their current careers. Yet, there are few large-scale studies of how these programs affect students’ labor-market opportunities. In this panel, we discuss our findings from two studies of noncredit occupational education in Texas community colleges. In the first, we estimate returns to community college noncredit occupational education by applying individual fixed effects models to longitudinal administrative data from Texas. We find a modest but statistically significant increase in average quarterly earnings exceeding $500 per quarter (2019 dollars). Returns vary by field of study, training type, training duration, and number of training spells. We also find that a change of industry of employment often coincides with or follows enrollment in noncredit occupational training, and that earnings gains among students who change industries are especially pronounced. In the second study, we investigate industry transitions more closely, asking who is changing industries, when they are most likely to make these changes, the conditions under which industry changes are most likely to occur, the industries from which students are most likely to originate and to which they are mostly like to change, and the types of industry changes that yield the strongest earnings outcomes. Collectively, our findings speak to ongoing policy efforts in numerous states to increase workforce readiness as well as national debates about the expansion of Pell Grant eligibility to cover short-term training, including some community college noncredit programs.

Authors

• Peter Bahr, Institute for the Future of Work
  Presenting Author

• Rooney Columbus, University of Michigan
  Non-Presenting Co-Author