[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-587463-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-587463-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","guiding-students-to-and-through-professionaltechnical-workforce-pathways","GUIDING STUDENTS TO AND THROUGH PROFESSIONALTECHNICAL WORKFORCE PATHWAYS","","Research brief examining college attainment and post-college outcomes for students pursuing professional-technical education. Using a cohort of first-time in college students entering between 2010 and 2012, the study tracks highest attainment after four years and employment one year after leaving college. Findings show credential completion improves full-time employment likelihood and earnings, with program area differences and disparities affecting historically underserved students of color and women. Short certificates rarely lead to degrees, while completing college math more strongly predicts degree attainment.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/guiding-students-to-and-through-professionaltechnical-workforce-pathways/587463/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/guiding-students-to-and-through-professionaltechnical-workforce-pathways/587463.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"นรินทร์","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",6,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"How does credential completion affect employment and earnings after college?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Completion increases the likelihood of full-time employment and raises earnings compared with non-completion. The brief reports higher full-time employment rates and higher annualized full-time earnings for completers.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What role do program area and equity disparities play in outcomes?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Employment prospects vary by program area, with historically underserved students of color underrepresented in higher-return programs and overrepresented in lower-return programs. The brief also describes how women and HU-SOC differ in certificate and degree completion patterns.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"Why do short certificates often fail to lead to a degree?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Short certificates are described as steps toward a two-year degree and immediate employment needs, but the vast majority of short certificate awardees stop out and do not return to complete a degree. The brief contrasts this with the stronger impact of completing college math on degree attainment.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},587463,1792062758,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},2336475104957,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/22000c4c6bd8a5076e1?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1787554080175789136","May 10, 2019  \nGUIDING STUDENTS TO AND THROUGH PROFESSIONALTECHNICAL WORKFORCE PATHWAYS  \nIntroduction  \nThis research brief describes college attainment for students pursuing professional-technical education. We begin with a cohort of 36,700 first-time in college (FTIC) students who started college between 2010 and  \n2012. Our analysis is based upon students whose goal in their final year was a professional-technical education. We give our cohort four years (twice the time to earn a two-year degree) to account for part-time status and stopping out. At the end of the four-year period we measure students for their highest attainment.  \nWe are also interested in what happens to students after they leave college. 25,000 students in our cohort are measured for employment one year after leaving the college. We divide them into “completers”(defined as having completed a certificate or an associate degree) and non-completers and track field of study and levels of attainment leading up to their post-college employment. We use our analysis to describe the individual labor market returns for the credentials we award. We juxtapose two practices that can bear on professional-technical degree attainment-stacking short certificates and completing college math. Throughout the brief we disaggregate our analyses by sex and race/ethnicity.  \nKey findings:  \n• Completers are more likely to be employed and earn more than non-completers.  \n• Employment prospects after college determined by the returns for full-time employment and earnings vary by program area. Historically underserved students of color (HU-SOC) are underrepresented among completers of higher labor market return programs and overrepresented in lower return programs.  \n• Returns to associate degrees are higher than certificates. This is especially true for women.  \n• About 30 percent of students in our starting cohort earned an associate degree or certificate within four years. Another 10 percent have not earned any credentials within four years, but are still enrolled in the same or another college in a fifth-year snapshot. Almost 60 percent of all professional-technical students in our starting cohort exited with no credential after 4 years.  \n• HU-SOC and women in general are more overrepresented among certificate awardees and underrepresented among degree completers. HU-SOC are overrepresented in the group that exited no award as well.  \n• The short certificate has long been viewed as a way to engage students who may not have strong academic backgrounds by offering steps towards the two-year degree while also meeting their  \nimmediate employment needs. However, short certificates do not often lead to a degree. The vast majority of short certificate awardees stop out and do not return.  \n• Completing college math substantially raises the percentage of professional-technical students who earned their degree. It has more bearing on earning a degree than completing a short certificate. However, only a small fraction of professional-technical students complete college math. Historically underserved students of color ( HU-SOC) and women are less likely to complete college math.  \n• We conclude our brief with a discussion of the implications of these findings for planning Guided Pathways.  \nCredential completion  \nEarning a credential matters for full-time employment and earnings. The value of a credential depends on career area and level of attainment.  \n25,000 professional-technical students who started college between 2010 and 2012 were measured for employment. None of these students went on for further education anywhere in the period afterwards. We looked at their participation in the workforce in the first year after they left college. 15,800 (63 percent) were employed either full or part-time in the first year after college with median earnings of $24,500 .  \nIn our analysis, we are interested in measuring the employment prospects for students after they leave college to identif","cbCail7dswcWGPTe","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCail7dswcWGPTe","pdf",634546,11,"English","# Introduction\n# Credential completion\n## Employment measurement and key metrics\n## Completers versus non-completers","[{\"question\":\"How does credential completion affect employment and earnings after college?\",\"answer\":\"Completion increases the likelihood of full-time employment and raises earnings compared with non-completion. The brief reports higher full-time employment rates and higher annualized full-time earnings for completers.\"},{\"question\":\"What role do program area and equity disparities play in outcomes?\",\"answer\":\"Employment prospects vary by program area, with historically underserved students of color underrepresented in higher-return programs and overrepresented in lower-return programs. The brief also describes how women and HU-SOC differ in certificate and degree completion patterns.\"},{\"question\":\"Why do short certificates often fail to lead to a degree?\",\"answer\":\"Short certificates are described as steps toward a two-year degree and immediate employment needs, but the vast majority of short certificate awardees stop out and do not return to complete a degree. The brief contrasts this with the stronger impact of completing college math on degree attainment.\"}]","GUIDING STUDENTS TO AND THROUGH PROFESSIONALTECHNICAL WORKFORCE PATHWAYS | PDF",1792061928,28]