Skills, Earnings, and Employment of Americans with Postsecondary Education below the Bachelor's Degree. The Impact of Human Capital in the American Labor Market Series

This report examines the growing interest in expanding access to postsecondary education through non-degree certificate programs and associate degree programs. This policy report seeks to better understand the implications of these trends by analyzing employment experiences and earnings outcomes of individuals whose highest level of educational attainment is below the bachelor's degree. In this paper the authors use the findings from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adults Competencies (PIAAC) survey of adult skills conducted in the United States in 2012, 2014, and 2017 to explore the earnings and employment gains to attendance and completion of postsecondary education below the bachelor's degree level. The authors explore the employment and earnings outcomes separately for three educational groups of adults: those with some postsecondary education without any certificate or degree award, those who earned a certificate below the associate's degree level, and those who earned an associate's degree. The analysis includes all individuals with postsecondary attainment below that bachelor's degree regardless of the level (less than 2-year, 2-year, or 4-year college) or sector (public or private/for-profit or nonprofit) of enrollment.