Workforce Participation for Stacked Credential Awardees in Utah

Published August 2023

Overview

Utah students who obtain sequentially higher levels of awards in the same Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) families may participate in the workforce between degrees. Stacking credentials may be an effective way for students to integrate education with work experience. This research uses 2011 to 2020 data from the Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) and the Department of Workforce Services (DWS) to study workforce participation for stacked awardees after completing the lower-level award but before beginning the higher-level degree.

Stacking credentials allows students to obtain postsecondary awards in smaller chunks that could be building blocks on the path to obtaining higher educational attainment. Stacking credentials, such as certificates and degrees, can ease pathways to educational attainment by ensuring students’ access to multiple entries and exits through postsecondary education and the workforce. Furthermore, stackable credentials may be an attractive option for individuals to build upon their industry expertise and integrate education with work experience. Policymakers providing students with increased opportunities to earn credentials in higher education may focus on the impacts of stacked credentials. Stacked credentials may encourage adult students and historically underrepresented students to obtain lower-level awards that align with workforce needs and provide paths to obtaining higher educational attainment.

Workforce participation measures include the number of quarters students received wages, the number of full-time quarters worked, and the number of quarters students worked for multiple employers. The most frequently studied CIP families and the most frequent North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes from employment between degrees were examined. The three most common paths of stacking awards were associate degrees to bachelor’s degrees, certificates to higher degrees, and bachelor’s degrees to graduate degrees. Except for bachelor’s to graduate degree stacked awardees, the majority of the stacked awardees did not take time away from school. The results further suggest that while some differences exist among students from various demographic backgrounds, students’ beginning and ending levels of attainment play a bigger role in how students participate in the workforce between degrees.

Summary of Findings

Finding 1: The most popular stacked award path is an associate to bachelor’s degree.


Finding 2: 63% of stacked awardees did not have a gap between the completion of the lower award and the beginning of the higher degree.


Finding 3: The most frequent area of study and industry of employment for stacked credential earners was healthcare.


Finding 4: Among stacked awardees who had a gap between degrees, the majority were employed for less than one year.


Finding 5: The differences among the three paths taken to stack degrees were greater than the differences within the paths by each demographic group.


View Glossary of Terms

Detailed Findings

Finding 1: The most popular stacked award path is an associate to bachelor’s degree.

42%
of stacked awardees
started with an
associate degree
and later earned a
bachelor's degree.

Stacked awardees represent
<10%
of all USHE graduates.
Their demographics
mirror the larger
USHE population.

  • Among the various paths taken to stack awards, the most frequently taken path was from associate to bachelor’s degrees (42% of stacked awardees), followed by any path that began with a certificate (31% of stacked awardees). The path from bachelor’s degrees to graduate degrees was the least frequently taken (27% of stacked awardees).
  • In general, less than 10% of all USHE graduates stacked awards. Recent years saw lower percentages of stack awardees, possibly due to students who are currently pursuing their second degree but have not yet completed the higher attainment.
  • Overall, the average gap between the completion of the first award and the beginning of the second award was 1.6 calendar quarters. The average number of quarters worked is 0.9 quarters. The average number of quarters worked full time was 0.7 quarters. The average number of quarters with multiple employers was 0.6.
  • Among women, the proportion of students obtaining a graduate degree after a bachelor’s degree was the lowest of the three paths taken, at 43%. A higher share of women moved from an associate degree to a bachelor’s program (57%) or from a certificate to a higher degree (59%).
  • Similarly, a decrease in proportions can be seen for Hispanic students and Native American students who obtained a bachelor’s degree followed by a graduate degree.
Figure 1: The figures below look at the demographic summaries for students who stacked awards.

Finding 2: 63% of stacked awardees did not have a gap between the completion of the lower degree and the beginning of the higher degree.

Over
70%
of the associate to
bachelor's degree
and certificate to
higher stacked awardees
did not have a gap.


41%
of the bachelor's
to graduate degree
stacked awardees
did not have a gap.

  • The amount of time not enrolled in school varies based on the path taken to stack awards. The number of quarters between awards was statistically and significantly different between students who took different paths to stack awards.
  • More than half of students (59%) who completed a bachelor’s degree followed by a graduate degree took some time away from school. This group of students had the highest proportion among the three groups of students spending one year or longer in the workforce before returning to school. This pattern of bachelor’s degree graduates participating longer in the workforce may reflect hiring practices requiring certain academic degrees, rather than characteristics of the students who obtained bachelor’s degrees before graduate degrees.
Figure 2: The figures below look at the paths taken by students from different races/ethnicities. (See figure 1 from the report.)

Finding 3: The most frequent area of study and industry of work for stacked credential earners was healthcare.

Among all
stacked awardees,
38%
stacked awards in
health professions and
related programs.

For stacked awardees
who held employment
between degrees,
28%
worked in health care and social assistance.

  • Health Professions and Related Programs was the most frequently studied CIP family for those who obtained an associate degree followed by a bachelor’s degree (43%), and for those who first obtained a certificate (52%) before a higher award. For stacked awardees who obtained a bachelor’s degree followed by a graduate degree, the most frequently studied CIP family was Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services (39%).
  • Health Care and Social Assistance was the top NAICS sector worked for stacked awardees who had employment between an associate degree and a bachelor’s degree (35%), as well as stacked awardees who had employment after first obtaining a certificate (41%). For stacked awardees who obtained a bachelor’s degree followed by a graduate degree, the top NAICS sector worked was Educational Services (23%).
Figure 3: This figure shows the length of time between degrees for students who took different paths to stack awards.

Finding 4: Among stacked awardees who had a gap between degrees, the majority were employed for less than one year.

62%
of the stacked awardees
with a
gap worked
less than one year.

Among those who worked between degrees,
56%
had less than one year of
full-time employment.

  • For students with a gap between stacked awards, 65% of associate to bachelor’s degree stacked awardees, 69% of certificates to higher degree stacked awardees, and 55% of bachelor’s to graduate degree stacked awardees worked for less than one year.
  • 14% of associate to bachelor’s degree stacked awardees and 10% of certificates to higher stacked awardees worked one year or longer, while 30% of bachelor’s to graduate degree stacked awardees worked one year or longer.
  • The number of quarters worked between degrees was statistically and significantly different among students who took different paths to stack awards.
  • For students who worked between degrees, 62% of associate to bachelor’s degree stacked awardees, 59% of certificates to higher degree stacked awardees, and 51% of bachelor’s to graduate degree stacked awardees worked full-time for less than one year between degrees.
  • 15% of associate to bachelor’s degree stacked awardees and 10% of the certificates to higher stacked awardees worked full-time for one year or longer, while 33% of bachelor’s to graduate degree stacked awardees worked full-time one year or longer.
  • The number of full-time quarters worked between degrees were statistically and significantly different between students who took different paths to stack awards.
Figure 4: This figure shows the amount of time worked between degrees for stacked awardees with at least one gap quarter.
Figure 5: This figure shows the amount of time in full-time employment between degrees for stacked awardees who worked.

Finding 5: The differences among the three paths taken to stack awards were greater than the differences within the paths by each demographic group.

Students from
historically excluded
racial and ethnic groups
spend more time in the workforce between degrees.

The gap between degrees
was the longest
for those aged 25-34
for all three paths
to stack awards.

  • Black students from associate degrees to bachelor’s degrees, and from bachelor’s degrees to graduate degrees took the longest time away from school between the first and the second degree.
  • Hispanic students who obtained a certificate before obtaining higher degrees took the longest time away from school after completing the certificate.
  • Among students who had at least one gap quarter between degrees, Native American students had the highest average number of quarters worked for those who first obtained certificates before obtaining a higher degree as well as those who obtained bachelor’s degrees before graduate degrees.
  • Among students who worked at least one quarter between degrees, Native American students had the highest average number of quarters worked full-time for all three paths of stacking awards.
  • Workforce participation rates were not different for men and women who stacked awards.
  • The average number of quarters worked between degrees and the average number of full-time quarters worked peaked for age groups 25-34 and 35-44, then began to decrease for age groups 45-54 and 55-64.
Figure 6: This figure shows metrics of workforce participation for stacked awardees from different demographic backgrounds.

Limitations

  • USHE data only include public technical colleges and degree-granting institutions in Utah. Data from private postsecondary institutions such as Brigham Young University and Westminster College were not available for this study. In addition, data are not available for students who receive awards outside of Utah.
  • Data for workforce participation outside of Utah are not available. Income from self-employment, federal agencies, black market transactions, non-profit employment, and agriculture may not be subject to UI wage reporting requirements. Furthermore, UI wage records provide no detail on hours worked. The full-time status of workforce participation is an approximation.
  • Graduation data for the first degree and enrollment data for the second degree follow an academic calendar with summer, fall, and spring semester timelines, while wage data are reported by employers quarterly. The misalignment of these two calendars offers an imperfect calculation of time away from school and workforce participation during the gap.
  • Matching between CIP codes and NAICS sectors is inexact. The top five from each CIP and NAICS group only provide an overview of the most frequently studied and worked sectors for stacked awardees. NAICS codes do not always correspond to the occupations of individuals. NAICS sectors indicate the employer's industry sector rather than the employee's actual job title. For example, an accountant employed by a hospital may appear employed in the healthcare sector, though the employee has not studied a healthcare-related educational program.

Conclusion

  • Using USHE graduation and enrollment data from 2011 to 2020, this study analyzed the differences in workforce participation between awards for students who stacked credentials. Three main paths of stacking degrees were identified: certificates to higher degrees, associate degrees to bachelor’s degrees, and bachelor’s degrees to graduate degrees.
  • Students stacking from bachelor’s to graduate degrees had the longest gap between degrees, participated in the workforce for the longest durations, and had the most full-time quarters worked.
  • The current study found little differences in workforce participation patterns for stacked awardees from different demographic backgrounds.
  • Health care was the industry most frequently studied and employed in, suggesting the alignment of education and workforce experiences for students who studied health care.

Full Report

Learn more about workforce participation among graduates with successively higher awards

This report investigates workforce participation for stacked awardees. Stacked awardees are students who obtain sequentially higher levels of awards in the same CIP families. Workforce participation measures include the number of quarters students received wages, the number of full-time quarters worked, and the number of quarters students worked for multiple employers.

Report cover

Glossary

Project
Team

Karen Tao
Karen Tao

Senior Researcher
(Analysis/
Report Author)

Zachary Barrus
Zachary Barrus

Assistant Commissioner, UX