Working Paper: NBER ID: w21137
Authors: Ann Huff Stevens; Michal Kurlaender; Michel Grosz
Abstract: Career technical education (CTE) programs at community colleges are increasingly seen as an attractive alternative to four-year colleges, yet little systematic evidence exists on the returns to specific certificates and degrees. We estimate returns to CTE programs using administrative data from the California Community College system linked to earnings records. We employ estimation approaches including individual fixed effects and individual-specific trends, and find average returns to CTE certificate and degrees that range from 14 to 45 percent. The largest returns are for programs in the healthcare sector; estimated returns in non-health related programs range from 15 to 23 percent.
Keywords: Career Technical Education; Labor Market Outcomes; Community Colleges
JEL Codes: I24; I26
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Completing CTE certificates and degrees (Y80) | Increases in earnings (J31) |
| Completing CTE certificates and degrees (Y80) | Increases in earnings in the healthcare sector (I11) |
| Pre-enrollment earnings histories of CTE students (I21) | Isolate the causal impact of CTE completion on earnings (J39) |
| Control group of individuals who enrolled but did not complete their programs (I21) | Identify common year, age, and enrollment effects (I21) |
| Controlling for unobserved fixed factors (C23) | Larger returns in OLS regressions with additional controls (C29) |