Measuring Alternative Educational Credentials: 2012

“…[T]here is a dearth of relevant data on alternative educational credentials. This report used new data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), based on questionnaire items researched and developed by a federal interagency research team. These new questions, administered to a nationally representative sample for the first time in the Wave 13 (fall 2012) collection of the 2008 SIPP Panel, allowed us to provide estimates of the number and characteristics of people in the U.S. adult population who hold some of these alternative educational credentials.

One main focus of the report was to see how these credentials are distributed in the population, independent of, and in supplement to, existing levels of educational attainment, i.e., “traditional” academic degrees. A part of this line of inquiry was to identify the extent to which different demographic subgroups utilize these alternative educational pathways. A second part of this report turned attention to the association between these alternative educational credentials and various labor market outcomes, such as employment and earnings” (p.1). (Abstractor: Author)

“Our results show that about 25 percent of adults in the United States have a professional certification, license, or educational certificate. Race and sex differences in rates of these alternative credentials vary across regular education levels. The results also indicate that professional certifications, licenses, and educational certificates have labor market value, especially for those with low levels of education (i.e., below the bachelor’s degree level) and people with professional degrees. This report shows that many adults in the United States hold alternative credentials and that the likelihood of doing so varies across demographic and other characteristics. The estimates presented in this report represent the best measurement knowledge on this topic at this time” (p.11). (Abstractor: Author)

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2014
• Author(s): Ewert, Stephanie; Kominski, Robert
• Organizational Author(s): U.S. Census Bureau, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce
• Funding Source: Funding source not identified
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: Wesley Peterson
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies