Return to a Sub-Baccalaureate Education: The Effects of Schooling, Credentials and Program of Study on Economic Outcomes

摘要

Over the last 20 years, technological changes in the workplace have placed considerable pressure on the U.S. educational system to adequately prepare students for occupations that increasingly require specific skills. As evidenced by the growing wage gap between high school and college graduates, employers reward new hires for having the skills or credentials needed for their jobs, thus underscoring the importance of having either the requisite tools in your toolbox or at least some basic academic preparation to continue on into postsecondary education. However, certain educators and policy-makers have raised the question of whether vocational education at the high school level, with its focus on immediately entering the workforce after high school, adequately prepares students for college. At the postsecondary level, the debate has centered on whether vocational education restricts access to a four-year college, which may hamper future earnings because students who begin in occupational programs are less likely to obtain a bachelors degree. A small number of studies have examined the economic payoff for students who enroll in postsecondary occupational programs compared with high school graduates, but few have investigated whether the earnings of occupational students are statistically different than those of students in other types of postsecondary programs. Some of the criticism about vocational education could be allayed if the economic benefits are equal to or greater than those of other types of education. This report, therefore, estimates the returns to a sub-baccalaureate education. The analyses emphasize the effect of a students program of study (occupational or academic), the amount of schooling accumulated with and without attaining a degree, and the type of credential earned. We test whether the earnings of degree attainers are significantly larger than those of similar students with the same amount of postsecondary education but no credential. This difference is commonly referred to as the sheepskin effect. We also examine whether economic gains from occupational education are realized not only for students who concentrated on vocational education in high school but also for special subpopulations such as older students, racial-ethnic minorities, and academically or economically disadvantaged students.