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This research was designed to develop and test a model of the Air Force manpower market. The study indicates that previous manpower supply studies failed to account for simultaneous determination of enlistments and retentions and misinterpreted regressions as supply equations. They are, instead, reduced form equations resulting from joint interaction of Air Force demand and enlistment supply activity. A stochastic process model is used to represent the Air Force manpower market. Variables determining manpower inventory levels, personnel turnover, and new enlistment flows are the mandated force level requirement, Air Force and civilian wages, the unemployment rate, and perceived civilian returns to Air Force-provided training. In the model it is possible to trace the impact of changes in the determining variables upon retention and enlistments. The empirical work supports the simultaneous demand and supply approach developed in the study. The results indicate that (1) changes in force level account for most enlistment rate changes during the all-volunteer force period, (2) higher Air Force wages have improved retention and reduce demand for new enlistments, (3) accessions show lower Air Force Qualifications Test scores, and (4) previous estimates of military manpower supply elasticities are biased downward from true elasticity. (Author/CSS)

This is the technical document for the report, "Centering Quality, Centering Equity: Lessons Learned in Increasing Early Childhood Educator Credentials." The report explores Early Childhood Education (ECE) credential requirements in California (CA) and Washington, D.C. (D.C.) for two key reasons: 1) both recently raised these requirements and 2) both are in the process of implementing the new changes. The study does not seek to advocate in favor of or against the adoption of increased credential requirements. Rather, its purpose is to shed light on the need to center racial and economic equity in policy design and implementation--focusing on the impact of increased credential requirements on early childhood educators in states pursuing these changes. The appendices in this technical document are: (1) Make-up of Early Care and Education Workforce; (2) Center-Based Early Educator Characteristics by Role; (3) Center-Based Early Educator Work Experience and Credentials by Role; (4) Center-Based Early Educator Time Worked, Income, and Wages by Role; (5) Lead Teachers' Work Experience and Credentials by Race and Ethnicity; (6) Lead Teachers without a Postsecondary Degree, Characteristics by Race and Ethnicity; (7) Focus Group Interview Protocol for California; (8) Focus Group Interview Protocol for Washington, D.C.; (9) Hourly Wages for Early Childhood Educators; and (10) Comparison of D.C. Teacher Salaries in 2022 and Minimum Salaries Required in Fiscal Year 2024 for Programs Receiving Pay Equity Funds.

This First Look report introduces new data for national and state-level public elementary and secondary revenues and expenditures for fiscal year (FY) 2022. Specifically, this report includes the following school finance data: (1) revenue and expenditure totals; (2) revenues by source; (3) expenditures by function, subfunction, and object; (4) current expenditures; (5) revenues and current expenditures per pupil; (6) expenditures from Title I funds; and (7) revenues and expenditures from COVID-19 Federal Assistance Funds. The expenditure functions include instruction, support services, food services, and enterprise operations. The support services function is further broken down into seven subfunctions: instructional staff support services, pupil support services, general administration, school administration, operations and maintenance, student transportation, other support services (such as business services). Objects reported within a function or subfunction include salaries and wages, employee benefits, purchased services, supplies, and equipment. The purpose of a First Look report is to introduce new data through the presentation of tables containing descriptive information. The selected findings chosen for this report demonstrate the range of information available when using NPEFS. They do not represent all of the data and are not meant to emphasize any particular issue. While the tables in this report include data for all NPEFS respondents, the selected findings are limited to the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

This First Look report introduces new data for national and state-level public elementary and secondary revenues and expenditures for fiscal year (FY) 2022. Specifically, this report includes the following school finance data: (1) revenue and expenditure totals; (2) revenues by source; (3) expenditures by function, subfunction, and object; (4) current expenditures; (5) revenues and current expenditures per pupil; (6) expenditures from Title I funds; and (7) revenues and expenditures from COVID-19 Federal Assistance Funds. The expenditure functions include instruction, support services, food services, and enterprise operations. The support services function is further broken down into seven subfunctions: instructional staff support services, pupil support services, general administration, school administration, operations and maintenance, student transportation, other support services (such as business services).1 Objects reported within a function or subfunction include salaries and wages, employee benefits, purchased services, supplies, and equipment. The finance data used in this report are from the National Public Education Financial Survey (NPEFS), a component of the Common Core of Data (CCD). The CCD is one of NCES's primary survey programs on public elementary and secondary education in the United States. State education agencies (SEAs) in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the five other jurisdictions of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands report these data annually to NCES. The NPEFS instructions ask SEAs to report revenues and expenditures covering prekindergarten through high school public education in regular, special, and vocational schools; charter schools; and state-run education programs (such as special education schools or education programs for incarcerated youth).

Local teacher recruitment through "grow-your-own" programs is a prominent strategy to address workforce shortages and ensure that incoming teachers resemble, understand, and have strong connections to their communities. We exploit the staggered rollout of the Teacher Academy of Maryland career and technical education certificate program across public high schools, finding that exposed students were more likely to become teachers by 0.6 percentage points (pp), or 47%. Effects are concentrated among White girls (1.4pp/39%) and Black girls (0.7pp/80%). We also identify positive impacts on wages (5% on average/18% for Black girls), countering a prevailing narrative that teaching leaves one worse off financially relative to other labor market opportunities.

Students who have dropped out of high school--and those at risk of doing so--are at greater risk of lifelong poverty, involvement with the criminal justice system, dependence on government welfare programs, and even premature death. In the last few years, however, the problems at high schools have compounded, as pandemic-era school closures led to dramatic drops in math and reading proficiency, as well as a spike in chronic absenteeism. In the wake of the pandemic, there is thus a pressing need--as well as an opportunity--to find new, innovative approaches for recovering dropouts and retaining those at risk of dropping out. Paid high school work-study programs are a promising way to help provide opportunities to the most vulnerable teenagers and young adults. Before graduating from high school, students enrolled in work-study programs are employed in paid jobs to gain valuable, marketable skills while often receiving their first wages and being kept safe. Work-study programs make high school relevant, thus helping to prevent dropouts and to reclaim those who have already left. In preventing more students from exiting the school system, these programs can make the U.S. more economically competitive and turn around the lives of thousands of students who would otherwise likely fall into lifelong dead ends. School-district officials should work to establish these programs, starting with a select number of high schools and partners in the private sector and skilled trades.

This is the executive summary for the full report, "Centering Quality, Centering Equity: Lessons Learned in Increasing Early Childhood Educator Credentials." Thriving communities depend on a strong early childhood education (ECE) system--one where both young children and members of the workforce are served and supported. In recent years, state government leaders have increasingly focused on changing qualifications for specific ECE roles, as increasing credential requirements has sometimes been associated with increasing quality. However, across the country, early childhood educators face significant barriers to economic security and continuing education--all while supporting children, parents, and their communities with specialized education services.

Postsecondary programs in early childhood education (ECE) can provide a pathway for new educators to enter the child care and early education (CCEE) field or for the advancement and professional development of individuals already in the field. At a time when CCEE administrators report difficulties in finding qualified applicants, the recruitment and development of educators is especially crucial. The Building and Sustaining the Child Care and Early Education Workforce (BASE) project aims to increase knowledge and understanding about the CCEE workforce by documenting factors that drive turnover and by building evidence on current initiatives to recruit, advance, and retain a stable and qualified CCEE workforce. This brief explores how individual-level administrative records linked across multiple state agencies can be used to observe individuals' pathways through ECE postsecondary programs, with the goal of understanding how ECE postsecondary enrollment complements work experience in developing the CCEE workforce. Using administrative data from the Linked Information Network of Colorado (LINC), the analysis explores the demographic characteristics and prior employment experiences of newly enrolled students in ECE bachelor's degree programs, and in associate's degree and comparable certificate programs in Colorado. Following these students over several years, the analysis reports on their graduation rates and post-graduation employment and wages. This brief demonstrates both the possibilities and the challenges in examining these questions using linked data.

As we approach this Labor Day, the Pennsylvania economy is growing steadily. Working families are sharing in prosperity in a more sustained way than at any point since 1980--although many families still struggle to make ends meet and, in our polarized nation, a big partisan divide exists in perceptions of whether the economy is better than four years ago. A central reason for the economy's objectively strong recent performance: federal policies during and since the outbreak of COVID-19 have quickly restored the 2013-2019 trajectory of steady job growth, low unemployment, and rising wages. Even inflation--which spiked in the pandemic--has fallen below 3%. The critical question before the country now: will policies going forward lock-in shared prosperity sufficiently for working families to "feel it"? Or will policies in 2025 and beyond restore an economy like that of most of the three-plus decades after 1980, which mostly benefited a thin slice of the very rich?

A committee report accompanying a national defense authorization bill for fiscal year 2022 includes a provision for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review the Department of Defense's (DOD's) payroll system for overseas DOD Education Activity employees. This report: (1) describes the status of DOD's efforts to address auditors' prior recommendations to improve its civilian payroll system, which includes overseas DOD Education Activity employees; and (2) examines the process DOD used to calculate overseas DOD Education Activity employees' pay, including base pay, differentials, additional allowances, and deductions, as well as how the department communicated payroll changes to employees. GAO reviewed an extract from a database containing all civilian payroll notices of findings and recommendations as of March 2023 to report on the status of prior recommendations. GAO also examined fiscal year 2021 payroll records (the most recent available at the time of GAO's analysis) and interviewed DOD representatives to gain an understanding of the payroll process. GAO traced payroll records for 10 employees to supporting documentation and verified the calculations using applicable criteria. GAO also reviewed payroll adjustments for 24 employees that were the result of either normal adjustments or payroll errors. Since DOD was not able to provide sufficient supporting documentation timely, the number of DOD Education Activity employees that GAO was able to review was too small to support generalizable conclusions.

Data showing what students earn after attending higher education institutions have become increasingly available, bolstering calls from policymakers and advocates that government financial aid programs should be tied to those outcomes. Often overlooked, however, is that these data and policies usually reflect the earnings of only students who graduate. A key rationale for using earnings data in accountability policies is that they help reveal whether the education generates a positive return on investment. Ignoring the earnings outcomes of noncompleters, therefore, may provide an incomplete assessment of that metric, especially for institutions with high dropout rates. This brief uses undergraduate earnings data from the College Scorecard to estimate how much earnings differ based on whether noncompleters are included. These findings help reveal where current quality assurance policies that focus only on completers' earnings may be misaligned with what a typical student is likely to earn when enrolling at a higher education institution.

Child care and early education (CCEE) educators typically have low levels of compensation; limited opportunities for education, training, and professional development; inconsistent working conditions; and high levels of stress and burnout. There are also high rates of job turnover, which can strain remaining educators and decrease the quality of care they offer. Policymakers at the federal and state levels are taking steps to build and stabilize the CCEE workforce, but effectively addressing these challenges requires a better understanding of the issues. The Building and Sustaining the Child Care and Early Education Workforce (BASE) project aims to increase knowledge and understanding about the CCEE workforce by documenting factors that drive turnover and by building evidence on current initiatives to recruit, advance, and retain a stable and qualified CCEE workforce. Wage data from state Unemployment Insurance (UI) systems can be used to address some of the most pressing policy and research questions about the CCEE workforce because they track individual-level employment and quarterly earnings over time and across employers. This brief describes how these data can support longitudinal analyses that address the following questions: (1) How do educators enter and exit the CCEE workforce over time? (2) Which other industries do educators work in before and after child care employment? (3) When and how often do educators change CCEE employers or leave the industry? (4) How do wages change over time for CCEE work? and (5) How do CCEE wages compare with wages in other industries? A better understanding of how CCEE workers move through the labor market can inform the development of targeted recruitment and retention strategies, as well as evaluations of these strategies. This brief is a technical primer for researchers or agencies interested in using UI wage data to better understand the labor market experiences and, especially, the job trajectories of CCEE workers. Informed by a series of analyses of Illinois UI wage data, this brief describes how child care workers can be identified and characterized in these data, and suggests methods to measure important aspects of their employment, such as job duration, wages, and retention. This brief also includes a short discussion of possibilities for linking UI wage data to other data sources to address these limitations.

Companies are facing a persistent and growing skills gap, which has been exacerbated by the tight labor market. Employers use industry certifications, college degrees, boot camps, and badges to measure job skills, but until recently it was impossible to compare certifications or degree attainment. This paper describes credential transparency and its benefits--how it provides specific details on a credential program's length, cost, competencies, skills provided, level of mastery targeted, earnings potential, and employment outcomes, and allows individuals to compare credentials to see which is more likely to result in a preferred career or higher wages. The federal government has taken steps to promote the use of credential transparency and currently 26 states are engaged in important work around its use, allowing them to measure return on investment, align credential offerings with economic needs, and support the creation of digital transcripts and learning and employment records.

Despite the contributions of their work to the learning and development of young children, child care and early education (CCEE) educators are among the lowest paid workers in the United States and have high rates of turnover in their jobs. In a pioneering effort, Washington, DC has launched the nation's first large-scale, publicly funded program to supplement CCEE educator wages. The Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund (PEF) was created to achieve compensation equity with DC Public Schools teachers. This initiative, launched in Fall 2022, delivered initial lump sum payments ranging from $10,000 to $14,000 to approximately 3,000 CCEE educators across the city. This policy research brief shares findings from a study using quasi-experimental methods to examine the immediate impacts of these initial payments on CCEE employment levels in Washington, DC. The analysis uses synthetic control methods and data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages for the period between 2019 and 2022.

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.

This study uses the 2021 Census to describe the educational attainment and earnings of the Canadian-born Black population, focusing on three groups: (1) those with at least one African-born parent (African-origin); (2) those with at least one Caribbean-born parent (Caribbean-origin) and (3) those whose parents were both born in Canada (Canadian-origin). Comparisons are drawn with the non-racialized, non-Indigenous population, both second generation and third generation or more. The study provides a descriptive analysis of the demographic and educational characteristics of the three Canadian-born Black populations, followed by a regression analysis examining factors affecting earnings, including educational attainment, job characteristics, and other factors.

"The State of Working Pennsylvania 2022" centered on the continued recovery from the COVID-19 recession, highlighting that Pennsylvania was at a policy crossroads: would political leaders embrace policies to strengthen the individual and collective worker power evident a year ago? Or would austerity and anti-worker policies after the 2022 elections undercut the possibility of a more sustained period of shared prosperity, a "New Deal for a New Economy?" In the past year, policymakers have not made a decisive choice between these two policy options. In part because the 2022 elections led to divided government. Executive authority at both the federal and state level remains in the hands of policymakers supportive of workers and labor unions, which makes possible small steps to enhance workers' power. But divided legislative branches rule out big changes in state and federal laws. On the upside, there have not yet been a reversal of the 2021-22 federal investments in climate, infrastructure, and innovation now sustaining a strong economy. On the downside, a federal or state minimum wage increase has not yet passed and there is zero chance of enacting a major pro-worker labor law reform (i.e., Protecting the Right to Organize, or PRO Act) federally before 2025. In this context of divided government and a President and Governor generally supportive of workers, a Pennsylvania job market favorable to workers has been sustained and stabilized, the latter in part because inflation--as expected--has quickly fallen to around 3%. Some readers may see the policy recommendations in this report as too ambitious and far-reaching. The authors disagree--they are only as forceful and creative as required to bring an end to nearly a half century of rising inequality. If readers agree that there is need to restore shared prosperity and share the authors' view that doing so would lay the foundation for social unity and a team effort to address climate change, then readers should embrace these policy recommendations as the best way to achieve these vital goals. [For the 2022 report, see ED624091.]

This report describes a study of healthcare training programs that CCRC conducted to understand the current role that community colleges play in training healthcare workers, including public health workers. In an analysis of 2019-20 data from the U.S. Department of Education's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), the authors examine the range and types of healthcare programs offered by postsecondary institutions and the number and characteristics of students who graduate from these programs. Findings from the study provide policymakers and community college leaders a better understanding of the role community colleges currently play and their potential to take on greater responsibility in training healthcare workers.

This report aimed to identify the key characteristics of Utah postsecondary graduates pursuing a graduate degree. Besides demographic data, the percentage of students who earned a graduate degree outside of Utah and those who attended private institutions are included. Additionally, this report explored how many students can fill Utah's high-demand and high-wage jobs at the post-baccalaureate level. Finally, the following question is answered: what is the picture of underrepresented populations seeking graduate degrees from institutions within the Utah system of Higher Education?

Early childhood education and care is critical to Wisconsin's families and businesses, offering a safe place for children to grow and learn during formative years while parents and other guardians participate in the workforce. Despite its importance, child care can be prohibitively expensive for some Wisconsin families, and the industry operates on easily eroded margins and relies on low-paid labor. This brief shows how all three sets of stakeholders within the child care system--families, employees, and operators--can be struggling at the same time. An understanding of this mutual challenge is essential to analyzing potential policy solutions and is a safeguard against proposals that, in seeking to address challenges for one group, might exacerbate difficulties for others. To illustrate these challenges, this brief examines the costs of child care provided in a licensed group center setting in Milwaukee County. [Additional financial support was provided by Mary Kellner.]

Each year, Statistics Canada releases data on the labour market outcomes of college and university graduates using data from the Education and Labour Market Longitudinal Platform (ELMLP). Statistics Canada has developed the ELMLP in collaboration with the provincial and territorial ministries of education, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), and other stakeholders. The ELMLP allows longitudinal integration of administrative data related to education with other data sources to provide anonymized, customized datasets for analytical purposes. The data used for the calculation of graduate outcome indicators are derived from the Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS) and selected tax variables from the T1 Family File (T1FF) and the Administrative Personal Income Masterfile (APIM). Using both PSIS and tax data, ten graduating cohorts from the 2010 to 2019 calendar years were derived for the 2023 release.

This report provides a deep dive into higher ed admissions employees, who play a key role in the future sustainability of colleges and universities. In addition to highlighting the pay and size of the admissions workforce, the report focuses on time in position, diversity, and pay equity. Taken together, we find that colleges and universities have long relied on admissions positions with high turnover and young employees to do a great deal of the legwork of building the next graduating class. Trends in age and turnover were similar over time and not due to the Great Resignation. We argue that colleges and universities would benefit from considering how they could reconceptualize crucial admissions positions, particularly admissions coordinators and counselors, to encourage higher retention. Efforts to increase retention among admissions coordinators and counselors should be combined with a focus on recruiting and retaining people of color. Asian and Hispanic or Latina/o employees were underrepresented in admissions positions relative to U.S. bachelor's degree holders. In addition, the representation of people of color declined at each subsequent level of the admissions workforce, indicating gaps in the promotion of underrepresented minorities. Finally, the admissions workforce has many areas of strength in pay equity, with some notable exceptions. Hispanic or Latino men who were heads of admissions are paid only 87 cents on the dollar to White men who are heads of admissions. Further, 52% of chief admissions officers are Black or White women, yet they are paid less than White men. A pay equity analysis that includes market rate data would help identify areas for improvement at the institutional level.

Selecting a field of study is an important decision made by thousands of incoming postsecondary students each year. Numerous studies have shown that graduates from engineering, business and mathematics programs earn considerably more than their counterparts from arts and humanities. These earnings disparities may reflect differences in skills that are independent of the programs themselves, rather than supply and demand conditions. Estimating earnings differences between graduates from various programs--net of pre-existing skills differences--is thus a critical first step in understanding the true value associated with the field of study choices. This article informs our understanding of this issue by estimating the earnings differences across various fields of study after adjusting for differences in high school academic performance (course marks), neighbourhood factors (income and educational attainment) and postsecondary institution effects. Using a variety of administrative data sources, British Columbia high school graduates who later completed a postsecondary certificate, diploma or bachelor's degree program in Canada were followed in the labour market for five years after postsecondary graduation. The study found that despite important differences in high school academic performance among individuals who later completed a bachelor's degree, the earnings ranking of the fields of study was not substantially altered after considering the differences in these measures. Interestingly, bachelor's degree graduates of physical and life sciences and technologies programs registered average earnings (for men) or below average earnings (for women) despite being among the top academic performers in high school. By contrast, male and female graduates of business, management and public administration programs were among the highest earners despite registering average academic performance in high school. Among certificate and diploma graduates, earnings differences by field of study were smaller than among their counterparts who graduated with a bachelor's degree, but again, high school academic performance played little to no role in understanding these differences. In general, the remaining earnings differences across postsecondary fields of study may be related to unobserved factors such as noncognitive skills acquired before postsecondary education, or they may signal differences in the supply and demand conditions (i.e., economic returns) associated with these fields. Older survey data show that patterns in selected non-cognitive skills measured in high school are not consistent with the earnings differences by postsecondary field of study estimated in this study, suggesting that supply and demand conditions could explain earnings differences by field of study (as opposed to selection effects).

Community college bachelor's (CCB) programs have only existed for a few decades, yet now reach 25 states. Since 1989, both state policies allowing these programs and the number of CCB programs itself has grown steadily. A body of research on CCBs is growing in the wake of changing state policy and the growth of new programs. This literature review synthesizes research that addresses student access and outcomes in community college bachelor's programs. Key themes include graduates' racial and ethnic diversity, strong employment rates and wages for CCB graduates, and continued discussion regarding the place and purpose of CCBs in improving students' access to bachelor's degree programs and in facilitating bachelor's degree attainment.

The "Annual Report on People with Disabilities in America" is a companion volume to the "2023 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium" (ED628628) and "Supplement" (ED628631). Indicators were in the following areas of interest: employment, educational attainment, health and health care, financial status and security, leisure recreation, personal relationships, and crime/safety. [For the 2021 Annual Report, see ED620438.]

The "Annual Disability Statistics Supplement" is a companion report to the "Annual Disability Statistics Compendium" (ED628628). The "Supplement" presents statistics on the same topics as the Compendium with additional categorizations by demographic characteristics including age, gender and race/ethnicity. In addition to the Supplement, a companion "Annual Report" (ED628657) is available, providing graphic representations of key findings. [For the 2021 Supplement, see ED620436.]

The "Annual Disability Statistics Compendium" and its complement, the "Annual Disability Statistics Supplement" (ED628631), are summaries of statistics about people with disabilities and about the government programs which serve them. The Compendium, presents key overall statistics on topics including the prevalence of disability, employment among persons with disabilities, rates of participation in disability income and social insurance programs, and other statistics. It is a compilation of data from multiple sources, such as the Social Security Administration, Veterans Benefits Administration, and frequently, the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, among others. A companion "Annual Report" (ED628657) is available, providing graphic representations of key findings. [For the 2021 Compendium, see ED620434.]

The "Code of Virginia" vests the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) with the responsibility to develop a statewide strategic plan that reflects statutory goals for higher education in the Commonwealth, identifies a coordinated approach to such state and regional goals, and emphasizes the future needs for higher education in Virginia. Approved in January 2021, "Pathways to Opportunity: The Virginia Plan for Higher Education" ("The Plan"), identifies trends that the Commonwealth must address if it is to continue to prosper and succeed. SCHEV is required by statute to submit an annual report on progress toward the statutory goals. The 2022 Annual Report summarizes the three statutory goals, key findings from an assessment of where Virginia stands relative to the statutory goals, as well as upcoming and recent activities that directly support "Pathways to Opportunity." [For the 2021 report, see ED612339.]

Policymakers enacted a series of reforms in the mid-2000s that significantly expanded benefits in the federal student loan program for students pursuing graduate degrees. These reforms allow students to borrow up to the full cost of attendance for their degrees and use an Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) program that offers loan forgiveness after 20 years of payments or as early as 10 years for those who use the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. Despite virtually unlimited access to federal loans and the availability of a generous IDR program, policymakers have done little to prevent institutions from offering high-cost programs and those that consistently leave students with high debts relative to their incomes. To inform the future development of quality assurance policies, this report analyzes debt and earnings data in the Department of Education's College Scorecard for master's degree programs. Although federal loan policies increase access to graduate degrees and the economic payoff they provide, these policies also entail risks for both students and taxpayers. The College Scorecard provides a new source of information that policymakers can use to determine where those risks are greatest and gauge the potential effects of quality assurance policies that target programs where borrowers take on high debt relative to what they can expect to earn with their degrees.

As with the previous reports in the series, this new report relies on the rich source of data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), including direct assessment of literacy and numeracy skills and a host of information on education, income, and other demographic characteristics. But what is unique in this report is that it also utilizes detailed data on skill use including the frequency with which respondents reported using reading, numeracy, and writing skills in their job. This study builds on the series' previous research on the effect of skills on the earnings of American workers by examining the use of workers' skills on the job as an additional determinant of the earnings of American workers (in addition to human capital--literacy proficiencies, education, work experience--and other factors that are known to affect earnings). The paper begins with a descriptive analysis of the link between reading skill use at work and the literacy proficiencies of workers. The authors explore differences in the literacy proficiencies (mean literacy scores and levels of literacy proficiencies) of workers in each quartile of the index of reading skill use at work, and conversely, the authors present the use of reading skills at work by the level of literacy proficiencies of workers. The descriptive section also explores the connection between the occupation of workers and their use of reading skills at work. Findings from multivariate regression analyses that explore the links between earnings and the use of reading skills at work, with regression controls for literacy proficiencies, educational attainment, work experience, occupation, and demographics are presented. [For the previous report in the series, see "Skills and Labor Market Outcomes of Working-Age Americans. The Impact of Human Capital in the American Labor Market Series" (ED626553).]

A postsecondary degree is widely promoted as a great intergenerational economic equalizer for individuals born into disadvantaged economic circumstances. Yet, there is little empirical evidence documenting the extent that this may be true and whether people from all racial and ethnic, and language backgrounds are benefitting equally. We provide a rare glimpse of this by reporting the patterns of economic mobility for Washington residents who received need-based financial aid and graduated with an associate or bachelor's degree from a public postsecondary institution in Washington. To provide insights, we match wage records from Washington's Unemployment Insurance program with financial aid records that report parental family income. The matching of data allows us to directly compare the annual wages of adult children in the third year after postsecondary graduation to their parents' family income. The findings from our descriptive analysis are promising and show that need-based aid and postsecondary degrees offer a path towards economic mobility for Washingtonians.

As students transition between high school and college or career, many have begun to consider their future career paths or want to identify career options that will best fit them. To better understand the types of career characteristics that students want to explore, this study surveys a random sample of 11th and 12th-grade students who registered for the June 2022 ACT National test. Students were presented a comprehensive list of career characteristics and asked to rate how likely they were to look at each type of characteristic when searching for future career options. This report shares the top 15 career characteristics students reported they were extremely likely or likely to explore. Through the career exploration intentions of high school students, findings from the survey underscore that students want to be savvy consumers of career information. They want to explore characteristics (e.g., occupation salary, work tasks, interests, skills) that many adults in the labor force found helpful. Students understand that occupation details are needed to establish their own preferences, that characteristics such as earnings offer different yet valuable ways to view occupations, and that characteristics important for career success will help them recognize what it takes to prepare for occupations. Taken together, these findings indicate that students want to explore relevant information that can support good-fit career choices.

This report analyzes the descriptive outcomes for students with disabilities (SWDs) from schools overseen by the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) who enrolled in postsecondary institutions. Data provided by USBE, the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE), and the Department of Workforce Services (DWS) allowed for the examination of metrics including the demographics, Career and Technical Education (CTE) enrollment, inclusion in a regular classroom setting, postsecondary programs, and wages up to five years after high school for SWDs from 2012-19. Compared to national analyses, SWDs from USBE schools had lower enrollment and graduation rates from postsecondary institutions. However, CTE enrollment and inclusion in regular classroom settings had an impact on enrollment and graduation rates. Students who completed a CTE pathway had the highest enrollment and graduation rates for SWDs from higher education institutions. Similarly, students who participated more in a regular classroom setting also enrolled in postsecondary institutions at higher rates than their peers who were participated less in a regular classroom setting.

Largely introduced in the early 2000s, college postgraduate credentials are a relatively new type of Canadian college credential, which typically require a postsecondary credential (e.g., a college diploma or bachelor's degree) as a prerequisite for entry. They are generally directed at providing career-specific skills, and frequently incorporate work-integrated learning. While growing slowly at first, the programs gained popularity in the 2010s--both in terms of the number of offerings and the demand from interested students, particularly international students. This study uses the Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS) linked to the Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB) and income tax records to provide a profile of the number and characteristics of college postgraduate credential students in Canada, as well as their outcomes, including graduation rates, rates of transition to permanent residency (for international students), and earnings after graduation.