TY - JOUR
T1 - The labor-market returns to community college degrees, diplomas, and certificates
AU - Jepsen, Christopher
AU - Troske, Kenneth
AU - Coomes, Paul
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - This article provides one of the first rigorous estimations of the labor-market returns to community college certificates and diplomas, as well as estimations of the returns to the more commonly studied associate's degrees. Using administrative data from Kentucky, we estimate panel-data models that control for differences among students in precollege earnings and educational aspirations. Associate's degrees and diplomas have quarterly earnings returns of nearly $2,400 for women and $1,500 for men, compared with much smaller returns for certificates. There is substantial heterogeneity in returns across fields of study. Degrees, diplomas, and-for women-certificates correspond with higher levels of employment.
AB - This article provides one of the first rigorous estimations of the labor-market returns to community college certificates and diplomas, as well as estimations of the returns to the more commonly studied associate's degrees. Using administrative data from Kentucky, we estimate panel-data models that control for differences among students in precollege earnings and educational aspirations. Associate's degrees and diplomas have quarterly earnings returns of nearly $2,400 for women and $1,500 for men, compared with much smaller returns for certificates. There is substantial heterogeneity in returns across fields of study. Degrees, diplomas, and-for women-certificates correspond with higher levels of employment.
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U2 - 10.1086/671809
DO - 10.1086/671809
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84889690728
SN - 0734-306X
VL - 32
SP - 95
EP - 121
JO - Journal of Labor Economics
JF - Journal of Labor Economics
IS - 1
ER -