COMMUNITY COLLEGE LIFE DEPARTMENT by Denise Stephens editors@ccgmag.com
THE ‘LABOR MARKET VALUE OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE’
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new report has found that although earnings for community college graduates varied, there are strong differentials for certificate or degree holders in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.
Mobility: Identifying the Labor Market Value of Community College in Massachusetts. Among students who enroll right away, women who complete an associate degree are 18 percentage points more likely to be employed than terminal high school graduates.
Black and Hispanic students who earned an associate degree received For students who delayed their entry a higher benefit than their white and into community college by up to five Asian peers and higher earnings. Still, years but completed their degree or all groups certificate, benefited findings greatly from were also a degree or generally certificate positive. Women who earn a completion. However, community college Women while certificate or degree who earn a women make between 15 and community appeared to college 25 percent more than benefit by certificate or high school graduates. attending degree make community Men who enroll right between college, away and complete a 15 and 25 men who credit-bearing diploma percent attended more than or an associate degree but did not high school receive a 10 to 15 complete a graduates. percent earnings boost. certificate or Men who degree saw enroll right no real wage away and benefit. complete “The policy a creditimplications bearing of this report are clear—we need to diploma or an associate degree receive strengthen our policies that support a 10 to 15 percent earnings boost. equity in access and accelerate “We often talk of the payoff of higher completion at community colleges,” education in terms of lifetime earnings, said Keith Mahoney, vice president but these data show the impact is of communications and public affairs more immediate—underscoring the at the Boston Foundation. “That importance of supporting community equity, though, must reach beyond college access and completion— the classroom to include issues like particularly after the disruption caused affordability, access to coaching and by the pandemic,” said Alicia Sasser supports, as well as internships and Modestino of the Dukakis Center at career explorations that give students a Northeastern University, co-author stronger base from which to enter the of the study, Pathways to Economic job market.”
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The research found that the employment and earnings benefits of obtaining an associate degree for under-represented students of color and low-income students were equivalent to, or even exceeded, those benefits experienced by their white and higher-income peers. “The data highlight the measurable impact that community college completion can have for the futures of all students,” said Ben Forman, research director at MassINC, who co-authored the report. “But there are definite groups—when one looks at fields of study or race and gender, where the power of a degree or certificate can put students on a lifechanging trajectory.” “These data demonstrate remarkable outcomes for thousands of people who attend and complete community college, but they also demonstrate the urgency we should feel to close the opportunity gap that keeps students of color from finishing community college at the same rates as their white peers,” added Antoniya Marinova, assistant director of education to career programs at the Boston Foundation. Marinova noted data in the report that while Black and Latino students are roughly twice as likely to attend community college, they are much less likely to complete a degree or certificate—a pattern evident among male students. “Our history of work with Success Boston has shown both that devastating gap and some ways in which we can close it—providing more equitable rewards in an economy that places sharp emphasis on earning a degree.” HE
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