Scaling Up Community College Baccalaureates in Washington State - Labor Market Outcomes and Equity Implications for Higher Education

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by acoobca

Community and technical colleges in Washington State expanded bachelor’s degrees over the last 15 years, with community college baccalaureates (CCB) offered in programs previously treated as terminal career-technical education. The study maps the evolving state policy landscape for CCB degrees and evaluates labor-market outcomes for graduates across three high-demand program areas. Compared with regional university bachelor’s graduates, CCB graduates show slightly higher employment and earnings in the first quarter, while universities catch up by three years. Persistent gender and race differences—including pronounced disparities for women and some racially minoritized graduates—inform policy on baccalaureate attainment and equity in higher education.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages25

Reading Time1 h 3 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Keywords

Citation

| education policy analysis archives
A peer-reviewed, independent, open access, multilingual journal |
Arizona State University | | --- | --- | | Volume 30 Number 140 September 13 , 2022 ISSN 1068-2341 | | Scaling Up Community College Baccalaureates in Washington State: Labor Market Outcomes and Equity Implications for Higher Education Elizabeth Apple Meza University of Washington & Debra D. Bragg Bragg & Associates United States Citation: Meza, E. A., & Bragg, D. D. (2022) . Scaling up community college baccalaureates in Washington State: Labor market outcomes and equity implications for higher education. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 30(140). [https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.30.6834](https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.30.6834) Abstract: Community and technical colleges in Washington state were early adopters in the growing trend to offer bachelor’s degrees, actively expanding these degrees over the last 15 years. This study describes the evolving state policy landscape on community college baccalaureate (CCB) degrees in Washington in certain programs previously classified as terminal career-technical education and assesses labor market outcomes for graduates of three high-demand program areas conferring these degrees. Comparing bachelor’s graduates of community colleges to regional university graduates, CCB graduates demonstrated slightly higher employment and earnings in the first quarter post-graduation. However, university graduates caught up to approximately the same or slightly higher earnings as CCB graduates by three years post-graduation. Differences in age and prior work experience of graduates in the two groups may help explain these findings but variation in employment and earnings by gender and race were persistent for both groups, with pronounced disparities for female and some racially minoritized graduates. These findings can inform state policy on baccalaureate attainment, CCB degrees as well as university bachelor’s degrees, to help address inequities in higher education. Future studies evaluating the effects of college degrees on employment and earnings may also be enriched by these results. Keywords: community college; higher education; baccalaureate; labor market outcomes; careertechnical education Ampliación de los bachilleratos de los colegios comunitarios en el estado de Washington: Resultados del mercado laboral e implicaciones de equidad para laeducación superior Resumen: Los colegios comunitarios y técnicos del estado de Washington fueron los primeros en adoptar la oferta de títulos de licenciatura, expandiendo activamente estos títulos en los últimos 15 años. Este estudio describe el panorama de la política estatal en evolución sobre los títulos de bachillerato de colegios comunitarios (CCB) en Washington en ciertos programas previamente clasificados como educación técnica y profesional terminal y evalúa los resultados del mercado laboral para los graduados de tres áreas de programas de alta demanda que otorgan estos títulos. Al comparar a los graduados de licenciaturas de colegio s comunitarios con los graduados de universidades regionales, los graduados de CCBdemostraron empleo e ingresos ligeramente más altos en el primer trimestre posterior a lagraduación. Sin embargo, los graduados universitarios alcanzaron ingresos aproximadamente iguales o ligeramente superiores a los de los graduados de CCB tres años después de lagraduación. Las diferencias de edad y experiencia laboral previa de los graduados en los dos grupos pueden ayudar a explicar estos hallazgos, pero la variación en el empleo y los ingresos por género y raza fue persistente para ambos grupos, con disparidades pronunciadas para las mujeres y algunos graduados pertenecientes a minorías raciales. Estos hallazgos pueden informar la política estatal sobre el logro de la licenciatura, los títulos CCB y las licenciaturas universitarias, para ayudar a abordar las desigualdades en la educación superior. Los e

FAQs

What trend in Washington State colleges does the study examine?

It examines how community and technical colleges in Washington expanded bachelor’s degree offerings, including community college baccalaureates (CCB), over the last 15 years.

How do CCB graduates’ early labor-market outcomes compare with regional university graduates?

CCB graduates show slightly higher employment and earnings in the first quarter after graduation compared with regional university bachelor’s graduates.

What disparities does the study find regarding equity?

Employment and earnings differences by gender and race persist for both groups, with pronounced disparities for female graduates and some racially minoritized graduates.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by acoobca