Certificates gaining popularity, study finds
Certificates are becoming the ‘in’ thing when it comes to education, according to a new study by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. The study found that certificates were the fastest growing postsecondary credential earned in the nation, with 1 million being awarded in 2010, compared with 300,000 in 1994. In fact, certificates now make up 22 percent of postsecondary credentials earned. In 1980, certificates only accounted for 6 percent of postsecondary credentials that were awarded at the time.
Men appear to reap the most benefits from earning a certificate, according to the report. Males with a certificate earn 27 percent more money than their counterparts with a high school diploma. For women, certificate holders earn 16 percent more than their peers with a high school diploma.
“Certificates don’t work for everyone,” said Anthony P. Carnevale, the report’s lead author and director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, in a press release. “Certificates are the cutting edge for Hispanic educational and income gains, they provide big payoffs for men but not for women, especially African-American women.”
The key to successful use of a certificate is making sure it is tied to the particular field in which you work, according to the Certificates: Pathway to Gainful Employment and College Degrees (PDF) report. Those who work in the same field as the subject of their certificate earn 37 percent more than people who work in a field that does not match their certificate. In some cases, certificate holders can do better financially than those with associate or four-year degrees. Male certificate holders in computer and information sciences earn about $72,498 annually, which is more than 72 percent of males with associate degrees earn and more than 54 percent of what men with a bachelor’s degree bring in each year. For women, certificate holders in the computer and information sciences earn $56,664, which is more than 75 percent of female associate degree holders and 64 percent of bachelor’s degree holders.
Certificates can also be a pathway to other postsecondary degrees, according to the report, with 20 percent of holders going on to earn an associate degree and 13 later earning bachelor’s degrees.
The report also found that the U.S. would move up in international rankings in education if certificates with a “demonstrated labor market value” were included in government surveys. The U.S. international rank would jump from 15th to 10th among industrialized nations if viable certificates were included in government education counts, according to the study.
U.S. states in the South and West have seen the most growth in certificates with Florida, Kentucky, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana and Oklahoma leading the way.
Related:
