With rapid technological transformations to the labor market, many working adults return to college after graduation to obtain additional training or credentials. Using a comparative individual fixed effects strategy and an administrative panel dataset of enrollment and employment in Virginia, we provide the first causal estimates of credential “stacking” – earning two or more community college certificates or degrees – among working adults. We find stacking increases employment by four percentage points and quarterly wages by $375 (four percent). Returns are larger for individuals studying in Health and who return to college after first completing a short-term certificate.
Meyer, Katharine, Kelli A. Bird, and Benjamin L. Castleman. (). Stacking the Deck for Employment Success: Labor Market Returns to Stackable Credentials. (EdWorkingPaper: -317). Retrieved from
Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/jzq6-2y24
For the over 24 million American adults who do not hold a traditional high school diploma, high school equivalency (HSE) credentials represent the primary “second-chance” pathway to many careers or educational opportunities.
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