Some College, No Credential: This month, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center released their annual progress report that examines adults who have some postsecondary experience but did not earn a credential, identified as some college, no credential (SCNC) students. When looking at student enrollment records from 3,600 postsecondary institutions, researchers revealed the following key findings:
- Since 2019, the number of SCNC students increased by 8.3% to total 39 million for the 2020-21 academic year. Forty-eight states and D.C. experienced an increase in SCNC students with Alaska, Oregon and Washington representing the largest SCNC populations per 1,000 undergraduates.
- Re-enrolling in a community college was the most common pathway for SCNC re-enrollees.
- Women SCNC students outnumbered men in re-enrollment, persistence and credential attainment, especially younger women and racial/ethnic minority women.
- Certificates and associate degrees were the most likely credentials earned by SCNC re-enrollees, especially among Latinx and Black SCNC re-enrollees.
Returns to Credentials: In a recent report by the National Bureau of Economic Researchers, researchers examined the returns on investment from different institutions, academic programs and credentials, including two-year postsecondary institutions and postsecondary CTE programs, certificates and degrees. The following summarize a few findings on these topics:
- The report concluded that students receive a positive return on investment for partially completing a two-year postsecondary program, even those who completed only one semester.
- However, completing an associate degree consistently produces substantially higher earnings compared to those who did not obtain a degree.
- Sub-baccalaureate CTE degrees, diplomas and certificates generated positive returns on investments. However, there was some variability by program of study.
On a related note, Georgetown University released a tracker this winter that ranks 4,500 postsecondary institutions by their return on investment using new data from the College Scorecard. Users can filter by institution level and type, degree and state to explore measures such as graduation rates, earnings-to-price return and much more. This tracker is meant to accompany Georgetown’s 2019 report A first try at ROI: Ranking 4,500 colleges.
Alternative Credentials & Hiring: A recent report by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) outlines employers’ views of alternative credentials during the hiring process. In 2021, SHRM surveyed executives, supervisors and human resource professionals as well as workers. The following detail the report’s key findings:
- Almost half of U.S. workers hold an alternative credential with the most common being training certificates, course completion certificates and industry or professional certifications.
- While all three employer groups indicated alternative credentials as valuable to the workplace, each consistently valued work experience and traditional degrees more.
- Most often, executives and supervisors said variability in quality among credentials prevents their wider acceptance in the hiring process while HR professionals reported that skills earned by credentials are not always clear.
- Of 45% of HR professionals who say that their organization uses an automated prescreening system to review job applications, only 32% say their system recognizes alternative credentials.
- Most executives and supervisors and over half of HR professionals agree that recognizing alternative credentials would increase their ability to hire more diverse candidates.