More Money for Less Time? Examining the Relative and Heterogenous Financial Returns to Non-Degree Credentials and Degree Programs. EdWorkingPaper No. 24-1046

There is a large and growing number of non-degree credential offerings between a high school diploma and a bachelor's degree, as well as degree programs beyond a bachelor's degree. Nevertheless, research on the financial returns to non-degree credentials and degree-granting programs is often narrow and siloed. To fill this gap, we leverage a national sample of individuals across nine MSAs and four industries to examine the relative financial returns to a variety of non-degree credentials and degree programs. Leveraging fixed-effect models, we explore the relationship between completing a credential or degree and earnings premiums. We find that an associate's, bachelor's, master's and doctorate degree follows a similar model of returns in which the number of schooling years is linearly related to proportional earnings premiums. However, students completing sub-baccalaureate certificates, post-baccalaureate certificates, and non-school credentials appear to get larger financial returns for less time. Furthermore, while the returns to both non-degree credentials and degree granting programs generally favored males over females and non-binary persons, this was not the case for race/ethnicity. Although individuals from Asian and White racial/ethnic groups often maintained an advantage in traditional education settings, Black individuals earned greater premiums from non-school credentials than White individuals, which may represent an opportunity to close racial/ethnic gaps in earnings.