Students Entering and 

Leaving Postsecondary 

Occupational Education: 

1995–2001

Statistical Analysis Report

U.S. Department of Education

NCES 2007–041

D ATA O N

U.S. Department of Education

NCES 2007-041

Lisa Hudson

National Center for Education Statistics

Gregory Kienzl

Juliet Diehl

Education Statistics Services Institute -

American Institutes for Research

Lisa Hudson

Project Officer

National Center for Education Statistics

Students Entering and

Leaving Postsecondary 

Occupational 

Education:

1995–2001

Statistical Analysis Report

March 2007
U.S. Department of Education

Margaret Spellings

Secretary

Institute of Education Sciences

Grover J. Whitehurst

Director

National Center for Education Statistics

Mark Schneider

Commissioner

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting, analyzing, 

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March 2007

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Suggested Citation

Hudson, L., Kienzl, G., and Diehl, J. (2007). Students Entering and Leaving Postsecondary Occupational 

Education: 1995–2001 (NCES 2007–041). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center 

for Education Statistics.

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Content Contact:

Lisa Hudson

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Lisa.Hudson@ed.gov
iii 

Executive Summary 

This report examines the issues of occupational student enrollment, persistence, 

attainment, and labor market outcomes for a cohort of first-time, credential-seeking 

postsecondary students. Occupational students are defined here as subbaccalaureate students 

(i.e., students seeking associate’s degrees or certificates) in occupational (rather than academic) 

fields of study.1

 The report’s focus on these students derives from a congressional mandate for 

NCES to report information on career/technical education, which is defined as occupationally 

oriented education at the subbaccalaureate level. (The mandate and definition are in the 2006 

Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act, P.L. 109-270.) Specifically, 

the report examines three broad issues concerning occupational education that are key indicators 

of the status of occupational education and are emphasized in the Perkins Act: 

• Who enters postsecondary occupational education? 

• To what extent do occupational students persist in postsecondary education and to 

what extent do they complete their credential goals (i.e., earning a postsecondary 

certificate or degree)? 

• What are the labor market outcomes for postsecondary occupational students who 

earn credentials? 

Of specific interest in this report is the extent to which occupational students differ from 

baccalaureate students and from academic subbaccalaureate students in terms of the questions 

listed above. However, since occupational students are more likely than academic 

subbaccalaureate students to seek certificates, the report also examines the extent to which 

 

1

 Occupational fields of study (referred to as career fields of study at the baccalaureate level) are those that focus on 

occupation-specific skills and knowledge: agriculture and natural resources; business and marketing; 

communications and design; computer sciences; education; engineering and architectural sciences; health care; 

personal and consumer services; public, social, and human services; and trade and industry. Academic fields of 

study are typically more theoretical and decontextualized (from a labor market perspective). These fields of study 

are fine and performing arts, humanities, mathematics, science, and social sciences. See exhibit 1.1 in the report for 

more detail on the subjects included in each field of study. 
iv 

occupational and academic associate’s degree seekers do not differ from each other, but do differ 

from occupational certificate seekers. 

The data used in this report are from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal 

Study (BPS), including the 1995–96 base-year survey and its two follow-up surveys in 1997–98 

and 2000–01 (BPS:96/01). The base-year BPS surveyed a nationally representative sample of all 

beginning postsecondary students in academic year 1995–96. For this report, this sample was 

restricted by excluding (1) students who had not previously attained a high school diploma or its 

equivalent, and (2) students who did not expect to earn a postsecondary credential (certificate or 

degree) at their first postsecondary institution. These restrictions reduced the size of the baseyear BPS:96 sample for this analysis from 12,080 to 9,221 first-time credential-seeking students. 

The sample was further restricted by the use of sampling weights, which were available for 7,274 

of the 9,221 students. 

The report presents mainly simple bivariate comparisons of estimates among different 

groups of students. These comparisons were tested using Student’s t statistic, at the .05 level of 

significance. The analysis of students’ labor market outcomes also includes a series of regression 

analyses, using both logistic regression (to predict dichotomous outcome variables) and semi-log 

regression (to predict a continuous outcome variable with a skewed distribution). 

Who Enters Occupational Education 

The first section of the report focuses on the characteristics of students who enter 

occupational education. The characteristics of these students are important not just to describe 

occupational students, but also to provide a context in which to interpret their educational 

progress and outcomes. This section examines students with different educational intentions as 

of 1995–96. Three groups of subbaccalaureate students are compared—those intending to earn 
v 

• occupational certificates; 

• occupational associate’s degrees; and 

• academic associate’s degrees.2

The main question addressed in this section is: 

Who are the students who enter occupational education programs and how do they 

compare to other students in postsecondary education? 

 

Beginning occupational students (combining those seeking either a certificate or an 

associate’s degree) in 1995–96 were predominantly female (57 percent), with 16 percent being 

Black and 9 percent Hispanic. Their average age was 24. Ten percent had parents who had not 

completed high school, 46 percent had parents who had completed high school, and 44 percent 

had parents with a college degree. Over half (56 percent) delayed their enrollment into 

postsecondary education (entering one or more years after high school completion), 60 percent 

enrolled full time, and 45 percent worked while enrolled. 

Occupational subbaccalaureate students were more likely than academic 

subbaccalaureate students to be female and to be Black. Occupational subbaccalaureate students 

were also more likely than academic subbaccalaureate students to have completed high school 

with a General Educational Development (GED) credential and to have parents with lower 

educational backgrounds. Occupational students were also older and more likely to have delayed 

their enrollment than were academic subbaccalaureate students. Although no differences were 

detected in these students’ tendency to enroll full time or to work while enrolled, occupational 

students were more likely than their academic peers to self-identify as “enrolled employees” 

rather than “working students.” Occupational students also had higher tuition costs than 

academic subbaccalaureate students and were more likely than their academic peers to enroll in 

for-profit institutions. 

 

2

 The body of the report also compares baccalaureate and subbaccalaureate students. Baccalaureate students differed 

from occupational subbaccalaureate students on every measure examined except race/ethnicity. 
vi 

On some characteristics, these differences between occupational and academic 

subbaccalaureate students disappear when one compares only students who are seeking an 

associate’s degree (rather than those seeking a certificate). For other characteristics, both 

occupational certificate and associate’s degree seekers are different from academic associate’s 

degree seekers. Even on these characteristics, however, occupational certificate students often 

stand out in that they have different backgrounds from both academic and occupational 

associate’s degree seekers. 

More specifically, occupational and academic associate’s degree seekers differ only in 

terms of the percentage who are Black, the type of institution attended, tuition costs, whether 

they delay enrollment, and whether they view themselves as “enrolled employees.” Occupational 

certificate students, in comparison, differ from academic associate’s degree seekers on the 

measures listed immediately above as well as age, sex, educational background, parents’ 

educational background, family socioeconomic status (SES), full-time enrollment, full-time work 

status, and whether they view themselves as “working students.” They also differ from 

occupational associate’s degree seekers on all of these measures except sex, family SES, fulltime enrollment, and full-time work status. Thus, the overall differences in student background 

between subbaccalaureate occupational and academic students (i.e., age, sex, educational 

background, parents’ educational background) largely reflect differences in the background of 

occupational certificate students versus the two groups of associate’s degree seekers. (The 

proportion of students who are Black is the notable exception.) In comparison, only one of the 

enrollment characteristics examined here (i.e., percent who consider themselves “working 

students”) reflects differences in occupational certificate students’ enrollment patterns. Other 

enrollment differences—the type of institution attended, tuition costs, delayed enrollment, and 

whether students consider themselves “enrolled employees”—reflect differences among both 

occupational certificate and associate’s degree seeking students as compared to academic 

associate’s degree seekers, although occupational certificate students tend to be the outliers on 

these measures as well. 
vii 

Student Persistence and Completion 

Obtaining a postsecondary credential and persisting toward a credential are important 

educational outcomes and are examined in the second section of the report. This section 

addresses the following questions: 

To what extent do occupational students persist in and complete postsecondary 

education over a 6-year time period? How do their persistence and completion rates 

compare to other postsecondary students?

As of 2001, 60 percent of 1995–96 beginning students who intended to earn a 

subbaccalaureate credential in occupational areas had earned a postsecondary credential or were 

still enrolled in school. Forty-eight percent of these credential seekers had earned a credential. 

Although occupational students had a lower persistence and attainment rate than 

baccalaureate students, this appears to be a general subbaccalaureate versus baccalaureate 

difference; both occupational and academic subbaccalaureate students persist or attain at lower 

rates than their baccalaureate peers but are not measurably different from each other. The same 

pattern is found when looking at only credential attainment. However, these findings mask one 

important difference among the subbaccalaureate groups: Occupational associate’s degree 

seeking students are more likely than their academic counterparts to “downgrade” their 

credential when they attain one—that is, to get a certificate rather than a degree. This 

downgrading is one reason academic associate’s degree seekers are more likely than their 

occupational counterparts to obtain at least an associate’s degree; another reason for this 

attainment difference is that academic associate’s degree seekers switch to occupational 

associate’s degrees at a relatively high rate. Finally, occupational certificate students fare better 

than occupational associate’s degree seekers, as they are more likely than both groups of 

associate’s degree seekers to earn a credential over a 6-year period. 
viii 

To what extent do occupational students meet or exceed their initial credential 

expectations? How do they compare to other postsecondary students on this measure of 

success? When students do not attain their intended credential, what do they do instead? 

Most occupational students who earned a credential met or exceeded their initial 

credential goal. However, these students do not fare as well as baccalaureate students on this 

measure. Occupational students are not only less likely than baccalaureate students to attain a 

credential within 6 years of initial enrollment, but even among those who do attain a credential, 

occupational credential seekers are less likely than their baccalaureate counterparts to meet or 

exceed their initial credential goal, as 80 percent of the former met or exceeded their initial goal, 

compared to 93 percent of the latter. Occupational students compare more favorably to academic 

subbaccalaureate students. Just as no differences were detected in the percentage of occupational 

and academic subbaccalaureate students who attained a credential, there were also no differences 

detected in the rates at which these students met or exceeded their credential goal when they did 

earn a credential. However, occupational associate’s degree seekers were less likely than 

academic associate’s degree seekers to meet or exceed their credential goal when they earned a 

credential. 

Occupational certificate students who started in 1995–96 and did not attain a certificate 

by 2001 were more likely to drop out of school than to remain in school until 2001. Among 

associate’s degree seekers who did not meet their initial credential goal, academic students were 

more likely than their occupational peers to switch their area of study (into occupational 

education), while occupational students were more likely to downgrade to a certificate. 

Why do occupational students leave postsecondary education without attaining a 

credential? Do their reasons for leaving differ from those of other postsecondary students? 

The most common reason for leaving without a credential given by the 40 percent of 

occupational students who had done so by 2001 was job or financial demands, followed by 

family demands and moving to another city or state. At least the first two of these reasons for 
ix 

leaving could also motivate students to switch to a shorter educational program (downgrade), as 

well as to leave school. 

Compared to baccalaureate students, both academic and occupational subbaccalaureate 

students are more likely to report leaving for a variety of reasons, including job or financial 

demands, family demands, moving, and having taken the classes they desire (even though all of 

these students had originally said they were seeking a credential).3 In contrast, occupational and 

academic subbaccalaureate students report leaving school for similar reasons, although academic 

subbaccalaureate students are less likely to report leaving due to dissatisfaction or academic 

problems than are occupational students. Finally, occupational certificate students are less likely 

than other subbaccalaureate students to report leaving due to job or financial demands.

What is the distribution of credentials attained by beginning postsecondary 

students? What percentage earned occupational credentials? 

Among the 55 percent of 1995–96 beginning credential-seeking students who obtained a 

credential by 2001, 37 percent earned an occupational credential, with 21 percent earning an 

occupational certificate and 18 percent earning an occupational associate’s degree (2 percent 

earned both). Academic subbaccalaureate credentials were less common, with 7 percent of 

completers earning these credentials. Occupational fields were also relatively common among 

those earning baccalaureate degrees; 35 percent of all completers earned baccalaureate degrees in 

career fields (equivalent to occupational fields at the subbaccalaureate level) compared to 25 

percent who earned academic baccalaureate degrees. 

Labor Market Outcomes 

Ultimately, postsecondary occupational education is expected to provide labor market 

benefits for the students who complete such an education. Thus, the final section of the report 

compares the labor market outcomes of students who earned occupational credentials to those 

who were seeking such credentials but had not earned them as of 2001. Two types of analyses 

 

3

 Only occupational subbaccalaureate students differed from baccalaureate students on this last measure. 
x 

were done in this section—the first was a simple bivariate comparison of student groups (as in 

the rest of the report), and the second was regression analysis. The regression analysis tests 

whether earning an occupational credential or years of postsecondary education completed are 

related to selected labor market outcomes (employment rate, full-time employment among labor 

force members, and workers’ salaries) after controlling for a number of student background 

characteristics. Using students’ self-reports of their labor force status in 2001, this section 

answers the following questions: 

To what extent do occupational program completers participate in the labor market 

and to what extent are they employed? How do occupational completers compare to 

noncompleters on these employment characteristics? How do occupational associate’s 

degree completers compare to certificate completers? 

Labor force participation rate. The labor force participation rate was 94 percent for 

occupational certificate completers and 93 percent for occupational associate’s degree 

completers. No measurable differences were found between occupational certificate completers 

and noncompleters, between occupational associate’s degree completers and noncompleters, or 

between occupational certificate and associate’s degree completers in the percentage of students 

who were in the labor force in 2001. 

Employment rate. Overall, 87 percent of both occupational certificate completers and 

occupational associate’s degree completers were employed in 2001. No measurable difference 

was found in the employment rates of associate’s degree completers and noncompleters, but 

occupational certificate completers had a higher rate of employment than did noncompleters. 

This difference was not found in the regression analysis, however, suggesting that the difference 

in employment rates is associated with student background differences that are controlled for in 

the regression, rather than with the attainment of an occupational certificate. 

Full-time employment. Seventy-three percent of occupational certificate completers and 

79 percent of occupational associate’s degree completers worked full time in 2001. Employed 

occupational certificate completers were less likely than employed occupational associate’s 
xi 

degree completers to work full time (84 versus 91 percent, respectively). It is unclear, however, 

whether this difference is unique to program completers, as a difference of similar size—

although not statistically significant—was detected among occupational certificate and 

associate’s degree noncompleters. For both occupational certificate and occupational associate’s 

degree students, completers were not found to differ from noncompleters in their likelihood of 

working full time. This was true both among occupational students overall and among those who 

were employed. Similarly, in the regression analysis, no relationship was found between either 

credential attainment or years of education and the outcome of full-time employment (among 

workers). 

Unemployment rate. The unemployment rate for both groups of occupational program 

completers was 7 percent. No measurable differences were found in the employment rate for any 

of the student groups (certificate versus associate’s degree completers, and completers versus 

noncompleters at each credential level). 

To what extent are occupational program completers employed in jobs related to 

their field of study? Are occupational completers more likely to have related jobs than are 

noncompleters? How do occupational associate’s degree completers and occupational 

certificate completers compare on this measure? 

Most occupational completers who worked (70 percent) reported that they were 

employed in a job related to their field of study. Occupational associate’s degree completers 

were more likely than occupational associate’s degree noncompleters to work in a job related to 

their field of study (75 versus 43 percent, respectively). Although 68 percent of occupational 

certificate completers worked in a job related to their field of study, compared to 58 percent of 

occupational certificate noncompleters, this difference was not statistically significant, possibly 

due to the relatively large standard error for occupational certificate noncompleters. 
xii 

What is the average salary earned by occupational program completers, and how 

does this compare to the salary earned by noncompleters? Do occupational associate’s 

degree completers earn a higher salary than certificate completers? 

The average 2001 salary reported by occupational certificate completers was $25,900, 

lower than the average salary reported by occupational associate’s degree completers, at 

$30,100. However, at least some of this difference appears to be due to the higher rate of fulltime employment among associate’s degree completers. Among full-time workers, there is no 

measurable difference in the 2001 salaries of these groups. 

Credential completion was not found to be related to salary levels, in either the bivariate 

analysis or a regression analysis that predicted salary from a number of variables, including 

students’ completion status and their years of education. However, the regression analysis did 

find an interaction effect between years of education and the relatedness of the student’s job to 

his or her education. The interaction revealed that average salary increased with years of 

education—but only among students who were employed in a job that was related to their 

education. These findings for credential attainment and years of education suggest a relationship 

between skill development (rather than credential attainment per se) and labor market outcomes.
xiii 

Foreword 

In 1987, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) instituted a new approach to 

collecting and reporting data on career/technical education (CTE). Under the new approach, CTE 

data are collected primarily through general-purpose surveys rather than separate questionnaires 

or studies on CTE. Separate reports on CTE issues are also produced. This data collection and 

reporting system constitutes the NCES Career/Technical Education Statistics (CTES) program. 

To collect information on student participation in career/technical (or occupational) 

education at the postsecondary level, the CTES system relies primarily on three NCES data 

sources: The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), National Postsecondary 

Student Aid Study (NPSAS), and Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS; 

drawn from NPSAS samples in the base year). Unlike the cross-sectional IPEDS and NPSAS 

data collections, the longitudinal BPS allows for an examination of student persistence and 

completion, as well as of labor market outcomes among those students who have left 

postsecondary education. This report is based on the BPS:96/01 survey, which tracks students 

who entered postsecondary education for the first time in 1995–96 through the year 2001. 

Information on the NCES CTES program and publications may be found at the following 

website: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ctes. Your comments about NCES CTES publications are 

welcome and may be sent to Lisa Hudson, NCES, 1990 K Street, NW, Suite 900, Washington, 

DC 20006 or lisa.hudson@ed.gov. 

xv 

Acknowledgments 

This report benefited from the contributions of many people. Two individuals previously 

at Education Statistics Services Institute, David Hurst and Sally Aquilino, helped lay the 

foundation for the report. The DOVE Technical Review Panel provided helpful ideas and input 

as the report progressed. The text of the report was improved by constructive reviews from 

Shelley Burns, Jim Griffith, John Ralph, and Val Plisko of NCES, as well as Duc-Le To from the 

Institute of Education Sciences; Andrew Abrams, Ricardo Hernandez, and Wade Smith from the 

Office of Vocational and Adult Education; Kevin Bromer, Akemi Kinukawa, Stephen Mistler, 

Aparna Sundaram, Jared Tank, and Xiaolie Wong of the American Institutes for Research, and 

two anonymous reviewers. Bruce Taylor of NCES and Vince Iannacchione of RTI also provided 

valuable methodological input. Joanna Bujard of Kforce Government Solutions assisted with the 

editing, formatting, and production of the report. 

xvii 

Contents 

Page 

Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................iii

Foreword ....................................................................................................................................xiii

Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................................... xv

Contents .................................................................................................................................... xvii

List of Tables ............................................................................................................................. xix

List of Figures ..........................................................................................................................xxiii

List of Exhibits ........................................................................................................................ xxiv

Chapter 1: Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1

Data Source and Terminology ................................................................................................... 2 

Overview of Report .................................................................................................................... 9 

Chapter 2: Entrants Into Occupational Education ................................................................ 11

The Scope of Postsecondary Occupational Education ............................................................. 13 

Who Enters Occupational Education ....................................................................................... 16 

Enrollment Patterns in Occupational Education ...................................................................... 22 

Summary .................................................................................................................................. 28 

Chapter 3: Educational Persistence and Attainment ............................................................. 33

Persistence and Completion ..................................................................................................... 35 

Meeting Expectations ............................................................................................................... 40 

Reasons for Leaving ................................................................................................................ 46 

Attained Credentials ................................................................................................................. 50 

Summary .................................................................................................................................. 54 
xviii 

Contents—Continued 

Page 

Chapter 4: Labor Market Outcomes of Occupational Education ......................................... 57

Descriptive Findings ................................................................................................................ 62 

Regression Analysis ................................................................................................................. 66 

Summary .................................................................................................................................. 72 

References ................................................................................................................................... 75

Appendix A: Technical Notes and Methodology ................................................................... A-1

1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study ......................................... A-1 

Response Rates ...................................................................................................................... A-3 

Data Reliability ...................................................................................................................... A-4 

Significance Tests for Analyses ............................................................................................. A-6 

Derived Variables ................................................................................................................ A-11 

Appendix B: Standard Error Tables ..................................................................................... B-1
xix 

List of Tables 

Table Page 

1.1. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

students, and of credential-seeking subbaccalaureate students, and number of 

students, by initial credential goal: 1996 .............................................................................7 

2.1. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

students, by specific goal at first institution, and initial credential goal: 1996..................14 

2.2. Average age of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students, and 

percentage distribution by age, sex, and initial credential goal: 1996...............................17 

2.3. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

students, by race/ethnicity, high school completion, and initial credential goal: 1996 .....19 

2.4. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

students, by parents’ highest education level, family socioeconomic status, and initial 

credential goal: 1996..........................................................................................................21 

2.5. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

students, by delayed enrollment, enrollment intensity, and initial credential goal: 

1996....................................................................................................................................23 

2.6. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

students, by control of initial institution, tuition cost, and initial credential goal: 

1996....................................................................................................................................25 

2.7. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

students, by work status in the first year, intensity of work, and initial credential goal: 

1996....................................................................................................................................27 

3.1. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

students, by persistence and attainment status, and initial credential goal: 2001..............37 

3.2. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

students who earned a credential, by whether they met or exceeded their initial 

credential goal, and initial credential goal: 2001...............................................................41 

3.3. Percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students who left 

school without a credential and had not returned as of 2001, by the reason for leaving, 

and initial credential goal: 2001.........................................................................................48 

3.4. Percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students with 

cumulative GPA below 2.25, by persistence and attainment status, and initial 

credential goal: 2001..........................................................................................................51 

3.5. Percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students with a 

credential who earned each type of credential, and who earned each type of credential 

as their highest credential: 2001 ........................................................................................53 
xx 

List of Tables—Continued 

Table Page 

4.1. Percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students with 

each labor force characteristic, by students’ completion and credential status: 2001 .......63 

4.2. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

students who were working, by relatedness of their job to their classes, and students’ 

completion and credential status: 2001..............................................................................65 

4.3. Average annual salary in 2000 of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning 

postsecondary students who worked, by students’ completion and credential status: 

2001....................................................................................................................................66 

4.4. Logistic regression results for 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

occupational students, estimating employment from students’ educational and 

demographic characteristics: 2001.....................................................................................70 

4.5. Logistic regression results for 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

occupational students who were employed, estimating full-time employment from 

students’ educational and demographic characteristics: 2001...........................................71 

4.6. Semi-log regression results for 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

occupational students who were working full time, estimating annual salary in 2000 

from students’ educational and selected demographic characteristics: 2001 ....................73 
xxi 

List of Tables—Continued 

Appendix B 

Table Page 

B-1.1. Standard errors for the percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking 

beginning postsecondary students, and of credential-seeking subbaccalaureate 

students, and number of students, by initial credential goal: 1996..................................B-1 

B-2.1. Standard errors for the percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking 

beginning postsecondary students, by specific goal at first institution, and initial 

credential goal: 1996........................................................................................................B-2 

B-2.2. Standard errors for the average age of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning 

postsecondary students, and percentage distribution by age, sex, and initial credential 

goal: 1996.........................................................................................................................B-3 

B-2.3. Standard errors for the percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking 

beginning postsecondary students, by race/ethnicity, high school completion, and 

initial credential goal: 1996 .............................................................................................B-4 

B-2.4. Standard errors for the percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking 

beginning postsecondary students, by parents’ highest education level, family 

socioeconomic status, and initial credential goal: 1996...................................................B-5 

B-2.5. Standard errors for the percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking 

beginning postsecondary students, by delayed enrollment, enrollment intensity, and 

initial credential goal: 1996 .............................................................................................B-6 

B-2.6. Standard errors for the percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking 

beginning postsecondary students, by control of initial institution, tuition cost, and 

initial credential goal: 1996 .............................................................................................B-7 

B-2.7. Standard errors for the percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking 

beginning postsecondary students, by work status in the first year, intensity of work, 

and initial credential goal: 1996.......................................................................................B-8 

B-3.1. Standard errors for the percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking 

beginning postsecondary students, by persistence and attainment status, and initial 

credential goal: 2001........................................................................................................B-9 

B-3.2. Standard errors for the percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking 

beginning postsecondary students who earned a credential, by whether they met or 

exceeded their initial credential goal, and initial credential goal: 2001 ........................B-10 
xxii 

List of Tables—Continued 

Table Page 

B-3.3. Standard errors for the percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning 

postsecondary students who left school without a credential and had not returned as 

of 2001, by the reason for leaving, and initial credential goal: 2001.............................B-11 

B-3.4. Standard errors for the percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning 

postsecondary students with cumulative GPA below 2.25, by persistence and 

attainment status, and initial credential goal: 2001........................................................B-12 

B-3.5. Standard errors for the percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning 

postsecondary students with a credential who earned each type of credential, 

and who earned each type of credential as their highest credential: 2001.....................B-13 

B-4.1. Standard errors for the percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning 

postsecondary students with each labor force characteristic, by students’ completion 

and credential status: 2001.............................................................................................B-14 

B-4.2. Standard errors for the percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking 

beginning postsecondary students who were working, by relatedness of their job to 

their classes, and students’ completion and credential status: 2001 ..............................B-14 

B-4.3. Standard errors for the average annual salary in 2000 of 1995–96 credential-seeking 

beginning postsecondary students who worked, by students’ completion and 

credential status: 2001....................................................................................................B-15 
xxiii 

List of Figures 

Figure Page 

1.1. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

students, by initial credential goal: 1996 .............................................................................8 

1.2. Percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students who 

earned each type of credential: 2001 .................................................................................10 

3.1. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

students according to persistence and attainment status, by initial credential goal: 

2001 ...................................................................................................................................38 

3.2. Percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students who met 

or exceeded their initial credential goal or who are still enrolled, by initial credential 

goal: 2001...........................................................................................................................43 

3.3. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

students according to educational outcome, by initial credential goal: 2001 ....................45 

3.4. Percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students who 

gave each reason for leaving school, by initial credential goal: 2001 ...............................49 

4.1. Predicted 2000 salary for 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning students who are 

full-time employees in 2000, by whether employment is related to field of study and 

years of full-time equivalent postsecondary education: 2001............................................74 
xxiv 

List of Exhibits 

Exhibit Page 

1.1 Categorization of Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01) 

student majors, by area of study .........................................................................................4

1.2. Categorization of Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01) 

students, by the level and area of their credential goal .......................................................6 

2.1. Comparison groups and questions addressed in analyses of the backgrounds of 

Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01) occupational 

students .............................................................................................................................16 

2.2. Summary of comparisons of the background and enrollment characteristics of the 

three groups of students with subbaccalaureate credential goals: 1996 ...........................29 
1 

Chapter 1: Introduction 

Changes in the workplace continue to increase pressure on the American educational 

system to prepare students for skilled occupations. Much of this preparation takes place in 

career/technical education, also known as occupational education, in less-than-4-year 

(subbaccalaureate) postsecondary institutions. This sector of education is also of interest because 

the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has a congressional mandate within the 

2006 Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act (P.L. 109-270, Section 

114(a)(3)) to report information on career/technical education, including subbaccalaureate 

occupationally oriented education.1

 

One of the objectives of postsecondary occupational education is to provide students with 

the requisite skills for employment in a specific field or career area. One would expect employers 

to reward labor market participants for having the requisite skills (or set of skills) by 

preferentially hiring these skilled workers and by offering them relatively high wages. In turn, 

students are expected to respond positively to these incentives by enrolling in and completing the 

degree programs sought by employers. This report uses data from a recent longitudinal survey of 

postsecondary students to examine these issues of occupational student enrollment, persistence, 

attainment, and labor market outcomes. 

As discussed in later chapters, a few studies have examined this occupational sector of 

postsecondary education in some detail. These analyses tend to be relatively infrequent, 

however, in part because data with occupational student samples large enough to permit detailed 

analysis are rare. The richest available source of national data on this population of students is 

the NCES Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS; discussed in more detail 

 

1

 Although one can consider 4-year programs in applied fields such as engineering and education as occupational 

education, the 2006 Perkins Act (Section 3(5)(A)(ii)) defines career/technical education as subbaccalaureate 

education. This report uses the federal definition; thus, the term occupational education refers to subbaccalaureate 

education and occupational students include only subbaccalaureate students (i.e., students seeking credentials below 

the baccalaureate level). 
2 

below). The BPS is used in this report to examine three broad issues that are key indicators of the 

status of occupational education and are emphasized in the Perkins Act: 

• Who enters postsecondary occupational education? 

• To what extent do occupational students persist in postsecondary education and to 

what extent do they complete their credential goals (i.e., earning a postsecondary 

certificate or degree)? 

• What are the labor market and economic outcomes for postsecondary occupational 

students who earn credentials? 

Of specific interest in this report is the extent to which occupational students differ from 

baccalaureate students and from academic subbaccalaureate students in terms of the questions 

listed above. However, since occupational students are (as seen later in the report) more likely 

than academic subbaccalaureate students to seek certificates, the report also examines the extent 

to which occupational and academic associate’s degree seekers are similar to and different from 

occupational certificate seekers. Thus, although the data tables include a broad range of 

postsecondary students, the text of the report focuses on a limited set of comparisons. The next 

section of this chapter describes the data source and analytic student groups in more detail. 

Data Source and Terminology 

The data used in this report are from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal 

Study, including the 1995–96 base-year survey and its two follow-up surveys in 1997–98 and 

2000–01 (BPS:96/01). The base-year BPS includes the students who participated in the 1995–96 

National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:96) and who were enrolled in postsecondary 

education for the first time in 1995–96. The BPS:96/01 students are a nationally representative 

sample of all beginning postsecondary students in academic year 1995–96, including older 

students and students attending less-than-2-year, 2-year, and 4-year institutions. Additional 

details on the data are provided in appendix A and in the BPS:96/01 methodology report (Wine 

et al. 2002). 
3 

The sample of beginning postsecondary students examined in this report is a subset of the 

full BPS:96/01 sample. To provide a relatively clean definition of postsecondary students, firsttime students who had not previously attained a high school diploma or its equivalent, such as a 

General Educational Development (GED) certificate, are excluded from the analysis. In addition, 

students who did not expect to either transfer to another postsecondary institution or earn a 

postsecondary credential (certificate or degree) at their first institution, did not know which 

credential they expected to earn, or did not provide a response to this question about their 

intentions are also omitted. These restrictions reduced the size of the base-year BPS:96 sample 

for this analysis by 24 percent, from 12,080 first-time postsecondary students to 9,221 first-time 

credential-seeking students.2

 The sample was further restricted by the use of sampling weights, 

which were available for 7,274 of the 9,221 first-time credential-seeking students. (Sampling 

weights were not available for students who did not respond to the BPS:2001 follow-up.) 

A few terms are used in this report to indicate students’ educational goals and outcomes 

in ways that may differ from common usage. First, students’ areas of study are classified as 

occupational, career, or academic, based on students’ reported major at their initial 

postsecondary institution. Second, credential goal is used to refer to students’ reported 

educational intentions at the institution in which they first enrolled. Finally, earned credential (or 

just credential) refers to the highest undergraduate credential (certificate, associate’s degree, or 

bachelor’s degree) earned by students as of 2000–01. These terms are defined in more detail 

below.3

 

Area of study. For students with declared majors, areas of study are divided into 

occupational education, career education, and academic education based on students’ selfreported major in 1995–96. As indicated in exhibit 1.1, occupational and career education 

encompass the same applied education programs (e.g., business, engineering, and education), but 

occupational education is the term used to define these programs at the subbaccalaureate level, 

 

2

 About 17 percent of students were lost due to missing responses on the question about credential goals (including 

refusals and “don’t know” responses); about 6 percent were lost because they reported that they had no credential 

goal, and the remainder (about 1 percent) were lost because they did not have a high school diploma or equivalent. 

3

 Appendix A provides additional detail on how these and all other variables in this report were defined. 
4 

Exhibit 1.1. Categorization of Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study 

Exhibit 1.1. (BPS:96/01) student majors, by area of study 

Academic Education Occupational/Career Education 

Fine and Performing Arts Agriculture and Natural Health Care 

nnArt history/fine art Resources nnAudiology 

 Film arts Agriculture Clinical health 

 Music Agricultural science Community/mental health 

 Speech/drama Forestry Dental and medical technology 

Humanities Natural resources Dentistry 

 Letters Business and Marketing Dietetics 

 Philosophy Accounting Health/hospital administration 

 Religious studies Business support Medicine 

 Spanish Business/management Nurse assisting 

 Other foreign languages nnnnsystems Nursing 

 Interdisciplinary studies Finance Public health 

 Liberal studies Management/business Veterinary medicine 

Mathematics nnnnadministration All other health 

Science Secretarial Personal and Consumer Services 

 Chemistry Marketing/distribution Child care 

 Life sciences Communications and Design Cosmetology 

 Physics Commercial art Home economics 

 Other science Design Leisure studies/parks 

Social Sciences Communications Textiles 

 American civilization Communications Other consumer services 

 Anthropology/archeology nnnntechnology Public, Social and Human Services 

 Area studies Journalism Clinical pastoral care 

 Economics Computer Sciences Law and paralegal 

 Ethnic studies nnComputer/information Library/archival sciences 

 Geography nnnnsciences Military sciences 

 History Computer programming Protective services 

 International relations Data processing technology Public administration 

 Political science Education Trade and Industry 

 Psychology Early childhood education Construction 

 Sociology Elementary education Electronics 

 Women’s studies Secondary education Precision production 

 Special education Transportation 

 Other education Transportation mechanics 

 Engineering & Architectural All other mechanics 

 Science 

 Architecture 

 City planning 

 Engineering 

 Engineering technology 

NOTE: Categorizations are based on Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) codes (U.S. 

Department of Education 2002). 
5 

whereas career education is the term used at the baccalaureate level. Academic education 

encompasses programs traditionally considered as arts and sciences (e.g., letters, biology, music, 

and visual arts). This term is used at both educational levels. Students who had not yet decided 

on a major (or, in a few cases, whose major was unknown) were classified into a separate 

undeclared category. 

Credential goal. This variable classifies students based on the level of the credential they 

intend to earn at their first institution (including their intention to transfer to another institution4

), 

combined with their area of study. At the broadest level, the credential goal variable divides 

credential-seeking students into subbaccalaureate and baccalaureate, as follows: 

• Subbaccalaureate students include all students who were initially enrolled at a lessthan-4-year institution and all students who initially enrolled at a 4-year institution 

and were seeking a credential below the baccalaureate level at their initial institution 

or were seeking to transfer to a less-than-4-year institution. Ninety-six percent of 

students defined as subbaccalaureate for this report were initially enrolled in a lessthan-4-year institution (not shown in tables). 

• Baccalaureate students include all students who were initially enrolled at a 4-year 

institution and were seeking a bachelor’s or higher degree at that institution or who 

were seeking to transfer to another 4-year institution. 

Next, subbaccalaureate students were divided into those seeking a certificate and those 

seeking an associate’s degree. The latter category includes subbaccalaureate students whose 

stated goal was to transfer to another less-than-4-year institution or to a 4-year institution.5

Finally, students at each level were classified into occupational, academic, or undeclared areas of 

study, as defined above. The final credential goal categories are listed in exhibit 1.2. 

 

4

 Students who intended to transfer to another institution are considered credential seekers in this report, on the 

assumption that transfer is an intermediate step on the way to the attainment of a credential. 5

 The Bailey et al. study also classifies all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions as either certificate or 

associate’s degree seekers (Bailey et al. 2004a, 2004b). Although students at these institutions who plan to transfer 

to a 4-year institution may be seeking a bachelor’s degree, both the Bailey et al. study and this study consider 

enrollment at a subbaccalaureate institution to override this goal for classification purposes. 
6 

 

Exhibit 1.2. Categorization of Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study 

Exhibit 1.2 (BPS:96/01) students, by the level and area of their credential goal 

Subbaccalaureate students Baccalaureate students

 Occupational Career 

 Occupational certificate 

 Occupational associate’s degree 

 Academic Academic 

 Academic certificate 

 Academic associate’s degree 

Undeclared Undeclared 

There were too few academic certificate students in the BPS:96/01 sample (n = 16) to 

analyze separately in this report. Thus, this student category is not discussed in the remainder of 

the report, and the term “certificate students” is sometimes used as a shorthand for occupational 

certificate students. Students with undeclared majors are also not discussed, as this report focuses 

on comparisons of occupational, career, and academic students. All student groups, however, are 

included in the tables. 

As seen in table 1.1 and figure 1.1, most first-time beginning credential-seeking students 

in 1995–96 (58 percent) were seeking a subbaccalaureate credential, and most were seeking an 

occupational (subbaccalaureate) or career (baccalaureate) credential (55 percent). Overall, 36 

percent of beginning students were occupational students; 11 percent were occupational 

certificate seekers, and 25 percent were occupational associate’s degree seekers. Academic 

subbaccalaureate students were a smaller group than occupational students, with 9 percent of 

beginning students seeking an academic subbaccalaureate credential, almost all of whom were 

seeking an associate’s degree. 
7 

Table 1.1.—Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

Table 1.1.—students, and of credential-seeking subbaccalaureate students, and number of 

Table 1.1.—students, by initial credential goal: 1996

Students' initial credential goal

Percent of all 

students

Percent of subbaccalaureate 

students

Number of all 

students

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 100.0 † 2,472,000

Subbaccalaureate credential 57.8 100.0 1,429,000

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 36.1 62.5 893,000

nnnnCertificate 11.3 19.5 279,000

nnnnAssociate's degree 24.9 43.0 614,000

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 9.4 16.3 233,000

nnnnCertificate 0.3 ! 0.5 ! 6,000

nnnnAssociate's degree 9.2 15.9 227,000

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 12.2 21.2 302,000

Baccalaureate credential 42.2 † 1,043,000

nnCareer baccalaureate 18.9 † 468,000

nnAcademic baccalaureate 10.4 † 258,000

nnUndeclared baccalaureate 12.8 † 317,000

† Not applicable.

! Interpret data with caution. Standard error is more than one-third as large as the estimate.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and 

students enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, 

associate’s degree, or transfer to a less-than-4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes students 

enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher degree or 

transfer to a 4-year institution. Associate’s degree category includes students enrolled at less-than-4-

year institutions whose goal was to earn an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-year or 4-year institution, 

or complete a bachelor’s degree. Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined in exhibit 

1.1. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).
Occupational subba

36%

Career baccalaureate

19%

Academic subbaccalaureate 

9%

Academic baccalaureate

10%

Undeclared subbaccalaureate 

12%

Undeclared baccalaureate

13%

NOTE: Student categories are defined in exhibit 1.1. Detail may not sum to 100 because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal 

Figure 1.1. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students, by initial Figure 1.1. 1996

8 
9 

Earned credentials. Chapter 4 examines economic and labor market outcomes for 

students who earned various postsecondary credentials. To classify students by earned 

credentials, the report uses students’ self-reports on the type of credential(s) they had earned as 

of 2000–01, as well as on their area of study at the time of attainment.6 Since the BPS:96/01 does 

not ask students about further degrees once a baccalaureate degree has been obtained, the earned 

credential categories are certificate, associate’s degree, and bachelor’s degree. These credentials 

are classified as occupational, career, or academic, using the framework outlined in exhibit 1.1. 

For a small percentage of students, the subject area of the credential could not be determined; 

these students are classified as having earned a credential in an unknown subject area. For the 

analysis in chapter 4, students who earned more than one credential during the 6-year time period 

were classified based on their highest attained degree. If a student earned more than one 

credential at the same level, the student was classified based on his or her most recent area of 

study. Figure 1.2 shows the distribution of earned credentials by type. 

Overview of Report 

The subsequent chapters of this report examine each of the three research questions listed 

above. The second chapter examines the sociodemographic background and enrollment 

characteristics of entrants into occupational education, comparing them to other postsecondary 

students. The third chapter explores the issues of persistence and attainment, again comparing 

occupational students to other postsecondary students. The fourth chapter examines the 

economic and labor market outcomes attained by students who earn occupational credentials, in 

this case comparing these outcomes to those of students who initially intended to earn an 

occupational credential but left school without doing so. 

 

6

 The reliability of self-reported data on earned credentials is discussed in appendix A, under “Data Reliability.” As 

explained in appendix A, the subject area of the credential had to be imputed when students earned credentials in 

non-survey years. 
10 

37

35

7

25

1 3

#

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Subbaccalaureate Baccalaureate Credential type unknown

Credential type

Percent

Occupational/career

Academic

Area of study unknown

Figure 1.2. Percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students who

Figure 1.2. earned each type of credential: 2001

# Estimate rounds to zero.

NOTE: Credential categories are defined in exhibit 1.1. Detail sums to greater than 100 because some students 

earned more than one credential.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary 

Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

Each chapter includes a brief literature review of the topic covered by the chapter, then 

addresses a set of specific questions related to each topic (e.g., “Who are the students who enter 

occupational education programs and how do they compare to other students in postsecondary 

education?”). Details on the data and statistical procedures used in the analysis, including a 

description of the variables used and how they were constructed, are provided in appendix A. 

Standard errors for estimates in the tables are included in appendix B. 
11 

Chapter 2: Entrants Into Occupational Education 

The persistence of students in postsecondary education depends in part on the 

characteristics of the students who enroll and on their enrollment patterns. Past studies have 

found, for example, that students who complete high school through a GED or other alternative 

means and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds are less likely to persist in 

postsecondary education than are their peers with high school diplomas and from higher 

socioeconomic backgrounds (Horn 1996). Students who delay their entry to postsecondary 

education, enroll at older ages, or who enroll part time are also less likely to persist than those 

who enter immediately after high school or who enroll full time (Berkner, Cuccaro-Alamin, and 

McCormick 1996; Berkner, He, and Cataldi 2002; Horn 1996). One study that focused 

exclusively on community college students also found that high school preparation, 

socioeconomic status (SES), and having one or more risk factors7

 were related to persistence and 

completion among this group of postsecondary students (Hoachlander, Sikora, and Horn 2003). 

Thus, before turning to an examination of persistence, attainment, and economic 

outcomes, it is important to note who enters occupational education, as well as where and how 

they enter. Few data exist on this student population. One recent study that did examine the 

background of occupational students was conducted by Bailey et al. (2004a) for the Community 

College Research Center (CCRC), using the 1999–2000 NPSAS data. The CCRC study 

concluded that occupational students comprise “the group of postsecondary students from the 

most disadvantaged backgrounds with the greatest barriers to educational achievement” (Bailey 

et al. 2004b, p. 5). Occupational students were found to be less likely than academic 

subbaccalaureate students to be female and more likely to be minority, to have economically 

disadvantaged backgrounds, and to delay their enrollment. Further, occupational certificate 

students were described as “a sub-population distinct from other community college 

occupational students, and they can be seen as outliers within the postsecondary universe” (ibid, 

p. 3). These students were the most likely to be minority, older, economically disadvantaged, to 

 

7

 The risk factors were delayed enrollment, part-time enrollment, high school completion via GED, working full 

time while enrolled, financial independence (as defined for financial aid purposes), having dependents other than a 

spouse, and single parenthood. 
12 

have a less rigorous educational background, to delay their postsecondary enrollment, and to 

enroll part time. 

This chapter provides a similar analysis of the characteristics of occupational students, 

using the 1995–96 BPS sample. While the results of this analysis generally follow those found 

by Bailey et al. (2004b), there are some differences. These differences can be attributed to any of 

the following major differences between this report and the Bailey et al. report:8

• The two studies differ in the year in which the data were collected. Bailey et al. used 

NPSAS:2000 to describe undergraduate students in postsecondary education as of 

1999–2000, while this study describes first-time, credential-seeking undergraduate 

students as of 1995–96. 

• Also, because Bailey et al. looked at all undergraduate students rather than just firsttime, credential-seeking postsecondary students, the former study is likely to include 

a greater proportion of students who persist in postsecondary education. However, 

Bailey at al. also included non-credential-seeking students in their sample, a group 

that is less likely than other students to persist and to attain a credential. 

• Another implication of the use of NPSAS:2000 is that the Bailey et al. sample is 

larger than the 1995–96 BPS sample, providing more reliable data and more powerful 

statistical tests. 

• A final key difference concerns the definition of “occupational” and “academic” 

education. This report categorizes programs into these areas using a taxonomy 

developed in conjunction with an NCES technical review panel.9

 The NCES 

taxonomy codes as occupational the following areas of study that were coded as 

academic by Bailey et al.: architecture, communications, education, law/legal studies, 

leisure studies, library science, military technologies, natural resources, 

parks/recreation studies, public administration, and clinical pastoral care. 

 

8

 There are other differences between the studies, such as whether non-degree-seeking students or students without 

high school diplomas were included in the analysis, but these differences are likely to be minor because they apply 

to only a small proportion of the postsecondary student population. 

9

 See Hudson and Shafer (2004) for more information on this taxonomy and its development. 
13 

This chapter first presents an overview of new entrants to occupational and career 

education in 1995–96, focusing on the scope of this education within postsecondary education. 

The chapter then examines the background and enrollment characteristics of beginning 

credential-seeking occupational students, comparing them to their peers in baccalaureate 

education and in subbaccalaureate academic education. In addition to sociodemographic 

characteristics, students are compared in terms of their enrollment patterns, including their 

tuition costs and work status. Where relevant, the text compares findings from this study with 

those of Bailey et al. (2004b). 

The Scope of Postsecondary Occupational Education 

In 1995–96, about 2,472,000 credential-seeking students entered postsecondary education 

for the first time (table 1.1). As mentioned in chapter 1, most of these students (55 percent) 

intended to earn a credential in an occupational or career area, and most (58 percent) were 

subbaccalaureate students. Overall, 36 percent of these beginning students (or about 893,000 

students) were occupational students.10 

 

More beginning students were seeking an occupational or career credential than were 

seeking an academic credential at both the subbaccalaureate and baccalaureate levels. Sixty-three 

percent of subbaccalaureate students were seeking an occupational credential, compared to 16 

percent seeking an academic credential (table 1.1); 45 percent of baccalaureate students were 

seeking a career credential compared to 25 percent seeking an academic credential (not shown in 

tables). Among subbaccalaureate students, associate’s degree seekers outnumbered certificate 

seekers in both occupational and academic areas of study. 

As will be seen below, occupational and academic subbaccalaureate students differ in 

terms of their credential goals. At least initially, half of occupational students intended to earn an 

associate’s degree at their current institution (table 2.1). A smaller proportion, about one-third, 

 

10 Using NPSAS:2000, Bailey et al. (2004b) found that 30 percent of students were subbaccalaureate occupational 

students. One reason the percentage in this report may be higher is that, as noted above, a number of majors coded 

here as occupational were coded by Bailey at al. as academic. 
14 

intended to earn a certificate at their current institution, and 16 percent intended to transfer to 

another institution rather than earn a certificate or degree at their current institution.11 Academic 

Students' initial credential goal

Transfer to 

2-year 

institution

Transfer to 

4-year 

institution Certificate

Associate's 

degree

Bachelor's 

or higher 

degree

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 2.8 14.5 12.7 29.5 40.6

Subbaccalaureate credential 4.9 19.9 21.9 51.0 2.3

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 3.9 12.5 31.2 49.4 3.0

nnnnCertificate † † 100.0 † †

nnnnAssociate's degree 5.7 18.2 † 71.9 4.3 !

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 6.8 ! 30.7 2.8 ! 58.9 0.9 !

nnnnCertificate ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

nnnnAssociate's degree 7.0 ! 31.5 † 60.6 0.9 !

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 6.4 33.3 9.4 49.4 1.6 !

Baccalaureate credential † 7.1 † † 92.9

nnCareer baccalaureate † 6.6 † † 93.4

nnAcademic baccalaureate † 6.7 † † 93.3

nnUndeclared baccalaureate † 8.1 † † 91.9

† Not applicable.

! Interpret data with caution. Standard error is more than one-third as large as the estimate.

‡ Reporting standards not met. Too few cases to report. 

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and students 

enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, associate’s 

degree, or transfer to a less-than-4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes students enrolled at 4-

year institutions whose initial credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher degree or transfer to a 4-year 

institution. Associate’s degree category includes students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions whose goal 

was to earn an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-year or 4-year institution, or complete a bachelor’s degree. 

Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined in exhibit 1.1. Detail may not sum to 100 because 

of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

Table 2.1. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students, by

Table 2.1. specific goal at first institution, and initial credential goal: 1996 

Specific goal at first institution

 

11 Bailey et al. (2004b) found that 65 percent of occupational subbaccalaureate students were seeking an associate’s 

degree and 33 percent were seeking a certificate. (The remaining two percent were not seeking a credential.) One 

reason the Bailey et al. study reported a higher percentage seeking an associate’s degree is that their study counted 

students intending to transfer to a less-than-4-year institution as seeking an associate’s degree (this report finds 53 

percent in both groups); another reason is that Bailey et al. used NPSAS data, which may include a higher 

proportion of associate’s degree students (relative to certificate or non-credential students). 
15 

subbaccalaureate students were more likely than occupational students to state that they intended 

to transfer to a 4-year institution and less likely to plan to earn a certificate.12 

The rest of this chapter compares different groups of beginning, credential-seeking 

students, to show how occupational students compare to baccalaureate students and academic 

subbaccalaureate students. As will be seen, occupational students often look different from both 

baccalaureate students and academic subbaccalaureate students; however, when the two groups 

of subbaccalaureate students do differ, those differences sometimes arise from the different 

backgrounds of occupational certificate students (as Bailey et al. [2004b] also found). 

Occupational and academic associate’s degree students often do not differ in their backgrounds. 

The chapter presents a series of comparisons of students’ background and enrollment 

characteristics (see exhibit 2.1). First, occupational students are compared to academic 

subbaccalaureate students and to baccalaureate students. Because baccalaureate students with 

career and academic degree goals did not differ measurably on virtually all of the background 

and enrollment measures,13 these students are combined into one group for most of this analysis. 

Second, to determine whether differences between the two subbaccalaureate groups are due 

primarily to differences in the population of students seeking an occupational certificate, three 

groups of subbaccalaureate students are compared: occupational certificate students (sometimes 

referred to more simply as certificate students), occupational associate’s degree students, and 

academic associate’s degree students. (Academic certificate students could not be examined 

separately because there were too few students in this group to provide reliable data on them.) 

The chapter looks first at who enters occupational education, then at the enrollment 

characteristics of entrants, answering a series of questions about each issue. 

 

12 The 10 percentage point difference between occupational and academic subbaccalaureate students intending to 

earn an associate’s degree was not significantly different, possibly because these estimates had relatively large 

standard errors (table B-2.1). 

13 One exception is sex. On this measure, career and academic baccalaureate students are examined separately. 

Another exception is the percentage of students who attended a for-profit postsecondary institution; 2 percent of 

career baccalaureate students attended this type of institution, compared to less than 1 percent of academic 

baccalaureate students. However, given the small size of the difference between these baccalaureate groups, they 

were combined for the analysis of this variable. 
16 

Exhibit 2.1. Comparison groups and questions addressed in analyses of the backgrounds of 

Exhibit 2.1. Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01) occupaExhibit 2.1 tional. students 

Comparison group Questions addressed 

Occupational subbaccalaureate vs. 

baccalaureate students 

Occupational subbaccalaureate vs. 

academic subbaccalaureate students 

To what extent do occupational subbaccalaureate 

students differ from other students? To what extent 

are differences between baccalaureate and subbaccalaureate students specific to occupational 

students? To what extent are occupational and 

academic subbaccalaureate students similar to each 

other and to what extent do they differ? 

 

Occupational certificate vs. 

occupational associate’s degree vs. 

academic associate’s degree students 

To what extent are the three major groups of 

subbaccalaureate students similar or different? To 

what extent are differences between occupational 

and academic subbaccalaureate students specific to 

occupational certificate students? To what extent are 

occupational certificate students different from other 

subbaccalaureate (associate’s degree) students? 

Who Enters Occupational Education 

Who are the students who enter occupational education programs and how do they 

compare to other students in postsecondary education? 

A number of individual and family sociodemographic characteristics are used to answer 

this question: age, sex, race/ethnicity, high school completion, parents’ education level, and 

family SES. 

Age. As seen in table 2.2, beginning occupational students were 24 years old, on average, 

which makes them an average of 3 years older than academic subbaccalaureate students (21 

years old), and 5 years older than bachelor’s degree students (19 years old). However, the 

difference between subbaccalaureate students appears to be due to occupational certificate 

students. No difference was detected in the average age of occupational and academic associate’s 

degree seekers (21–22 years old), while occupational certificate students were older on average 
17 

(27 years old) than both occupational and academic associate’s degree students. Bailey et al. 

(2004b) also found this pattern of age differences. 

Students' initial credential goal

Average 

age

18 years or 

younger

19 years 

old

20–23 

years old

24 years 

or older Male Female

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 21.2 47.0 23.4 12.9 16.7 45.8 54.2

Subbaccalaureate credential 22.9 34.4 22.4 17.2 26.0 46.2 53.8

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 23.6 30.0 19.6 19.4 31.0 42.9 57.1

nnnnCertificate 26.8 14.8 14.5 21.0 49.6 39.3 60.7

nnnnAssociate's degree 22.1 36.8 21.9 18.7 22.6 44.5 55.5

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 21.0 45.3 23.8 15.8 15.2 53.6 46.4

nnnnCertificate ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡‡

nnnnAssociate's degree 20.9 46.1 23.3 16.2 14.4 53.7 46.3

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 22.1 39.3 29.5 11.6 19.6 50.5 49.5

Baccalaureate credential 19.0 64.2 24.8 7.0 4.0 45.3 54.7

nnCareer baccalaureate 19.1 62.7 26.0 6.6 4.8 49.4 50.6

nnAcademic baccalaureate 18.9 66.2 23.4 7.6 2.7 39.6 60.4

nnUndeclared baccalaureate 19.0 64.8 24.2 7.2 3.8 43.8 56.2

Age

‡ Reporting standards not met. Too few cases to report.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and students enrolled at 

4-year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, associate’s degree, or transfer to a 

less-than-4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes students enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial 

credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher degree or transfer to a 4-year institution. Associate’s degree category 

includes students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions whose goal was to earn an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-

year or 4-year institution, or complete a bachelor’s degree. Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined in 

exhibit 1.1. Detail may not sum to 100 because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary 

Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

Table 2.2. Average age of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students, and percentage distriTable 2.2. bution by age, sex, and initial credential goal: 1996 

Sex

Sex. Beginning occupational students were predominantly (57 percent) female (table 

2.2). These occupational students were more likely than both baccalaureate career students and 

subbaccalaureate academic students to be female (57 versus 51 and 46 percent, respectively). 

Bailey et al. (2004b) found the opposite pattern: Academic subbaccalaureate students were more 

likely than their occupational peers to be female. This difference between studies could be due to 

the different majors included as occupational education in each study and/or to the restriction to 

beginning students in this study. 
18 

It is not clear whether the sex difference at the subbaccalaureate level is due to 

occupational certificate students. No difference was found in the percentage of occupational and 

academic associate’s degree-seeking students who were female, while occupational certificate 

students were more likely to be female than were academic associate’s degree seekers. This 

finding should be viewed cautiously, however, because occupational associate’s degree seekers 

were 10 percentage points more likely than their academic counterparts to be female (56 versus 

46 percent, respectively); this difference may not have been statistically significant because of 

the relatively large standard errors for these estimates (table B-2.2). Nonetheless, other evidence 

suggests that occupational certificate students may be more likely than occupational associate’s 

degree students to be female. Data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System 

(IPEDS) shows that in 2001–02, a higher proportion of certificates than associate’s degrees were 

awarded in traditionally female occupational areas such as consumer and personal services (5 

versus 2 percent), health (29 versus 13 percent), and home economics (4 versus 2 percent) 

(Snyder, Tan, and Hoffman 2004, p. 315, table 251). 

Race/ethnicity. Beginning occupational students were 70 percent White, 16 percent 

Black, 9 percent Hispanic, and 5 percent “other” race (table 2.3).14 The statistics on 

race/ethnicity tend to have relatively large standard errors (table B-2.3). To minimize that 

problem, this section compares only the percentages of students in different program areas who 

are Black and who are Hispanic. Bailey et al. (2004b) found that occupational students were 

more likely than academic subbaccalaureate students to be minority, with occupational certificate 

students being the most likely to be minority. This report finds the same pattern for Black 

enrollments, but not for Hispanic enrollments. 

No differences were detected in the percentage of baccalaureate students who were 

Black, compared to academic and occupational subbaccalaureate students. However, 

occupational students were more likely to be Black than were their academic subbaccalaureate 

peers (16 versus 7 percent). The difference between the two subbaccalaureate groups does not 

 

14 To aid readability, the text refers to the non-Hispanic groups as White, Black, and other. Hispanic students can be 

of any race. 
19 

Students' initial credential goal

White, nonHispanicBlack, nonHispanic HispanicOther, nonHispanic Diploma GED2

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 73.0 11.9 8.5 6.7 94.1 5.9

Subbaccalaureate credential 72.5 12.0 9.8 5.8 91.0 9.0

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 70.4 15.5 9.2 4.9 88.5 11.5

nnnnCertificate 65.6 17.7 13.5 3.2 82.1 17.9

nnnnAssociate's degree 72.6 14.5 7.2 5.6 91.4 8.6

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 78.6 7.3 ! 7.1 ! 7.0 ! 92.9 7.1

nnnnCertificate ‡‡‡‡ ‡‡

nnnnAssociate's degree 79.3 6.7 ! 6.8 ! 7.2 ! 93.4 6.6

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 73.8 5.1 ! 13.5 ! 7.7 ! 96.7 3.3

Baccalaureate credential 73.7 11.7 6.8 7.8 98.4 1.6

nnCareer baccalaureate 75.6 11.4 7.1 5.9 98.6 1.4

nnAcademic baccalaureate 73.7 10.4 7.3 8.6 98.5 1.5

nnUndeclared baccalaureate 71.1 13.2 5.7 9.9 98.1 1.9 !

Table 2.3. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students, by race/ 

Table 2.3. ethnicity, high school completion, and initial credential goal: 1996 

! Interpret data with caution. Standard error is more than one-third as large as the estimate.

‡ Reporting standards not met. Too few cases to report.

1

 Black, non-Hispanic includes African American, Hispanic includes Latino, and Other, non-Hispanic includes Asian, 

Native Hawaiian, Other Pacific Islander, American Indian, and Alaska Native.

2

 GED stands for General Educational Development.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and students enrolled 

at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, associate’s degree, or transfer to 

a less-than-4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes students enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial 

credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher degree or transfer to a 4-year institution. Associate’s degree category 

includes students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions whose goal was to earn an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-

year or 4-year institution, or complete a bachelor’s degree. Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined 

in exhibit 1.1. Detail may not sum to 100 because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

Race/ethnicity1 High school completion

appear to be due to certificate students, as no difference was detected in the percentage of 

occupational certificate and associate’s degree-seeking students who were Black, while both 

groups were more likely than academic associate’s degree-seeking students to be Black (18 and 

15 versus 7 percent, respectively). 

With one exception, there were no measurable differences in the percentage of students in 

each of the groups who were Hispanic. The one exception is that more occupational certificate 

seekers than occupational associate’s degree seekers were Hispanic (13 versus 7 percent). Except 
20 

for occupational certificate seekers, between 7 and 9 percent of students in each group were 

Hispanic (table 2.3). 

High school completion. Eighty-nine percent of occupational students completed high 

school with a regular diploma (rather than with a GED or other equivalency; table 2.3). 

Baccalaureate students were the most likely to have completed high school with a regular 

diploma, followed by academic subbaccalaureate students, then occupational students (98, 93, 

and 89 percent, respectively). The difference between occupational and academic 

subbaccalaureate students appears to be due to the educational background of certificate 

students. There was no statistical difference in the percentage of occupational and academic 

associate’s degree-seeking students who had a regular high school diploma, while occupational 

certificate students were less likely than either associate’s degree-seeking group to have a regular 

diploma. These findings are similar to those of Bailey et al. (2004b), who found little difference 

in the educational background of occupational and academic subbaccalaureate students but did 

find that occupational certificate students had a lower educational background than other 

postsecondary students. 

Parents’ education level. Overall, 10 percent of occupational students had parents who 

had not completed high school, 46 percent had at least one parent whose highest educational 

attainment was high school, and 44 percent had at least one parent with some postsecondary 

education (table 2.4). Across student groups, the findings for parents’ education level closely 

mirror those for students’ high school completion. Baccalaureate students were the most likely to 

have parents with postsecondary education (at 73 percent), followed by academic subbaccalaureate students (60 percent), and then occupational students (44 percent). The opposite 

pattern was found for the percentage of students whose parents had not completed high school. 

The relatively low level of parents’ education among occupational students appears to be 

due to occupational certificate students. There was no statistical difference in the percentage of 

occupational and academic associate’s degree seekers whose parents had not completed high 

school or who had postsecondary education. However, occupational certificate students were 
21 

Students' initial credential goal

Less than 

high 

school

High 

school 

graduate

Postsecondary

education

Lowest 

quartile

Middle 

quartiles

Highest 

quartile

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 5.7 34.6 59.6 24.9 50.5 24.7

Subbaccalaureate credential 8.6 42.0 49.4 28.8 53.0 18.2

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 9.8 46.3 43.9 30.1 52.7 17.2

nnnnCertificate 16.7 53.4 29.9 33.6 54.3 12.1

nnnnAssociate's degree 6.8 43.1 50.1 28.6 51.9 19.5

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 4.6 35.5 59.9 22.6 55.5 21.9

nnnnCertificate ‡‡‡ ‡‡‡

nnnnAssociate's degree 3.9 ! 35.9 60.2 22.6 55.9 21.5

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 7.8 ! 34.3 57.9 29.5 52.0 18.5

Baccalaureate credential 2.0 24.7 73.3 19.5 47.0 33.5

nnCareer baccalaureate 2.0 27.3 70.7 19.8 48.7 31.6

nnAcademic baccalaureate 1.8 ! 24.6 73.6 19.4 46.8 33.8

nnUndeclared baccalaureate 2.0 ! 20.9 77.1 19.2 44.6 36.1

Table 2.4. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students, by parents' 

Table 2.4. highest education level, family socioeconomic status, and initial credential goal: 1996 

! Interpret data with caution. Standard error is more than one-third as large as the estimate.

‡ Reporting standards not met. Too few cases to report.

1

 Highest education level of either the mother or father of the respondent.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and students enrolled 

at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, associate’s degree, or transfer to 

a less-than-4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes students enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial 

credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher degree or transfer to a 4-year institution. Associate’s degree category 

includes students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions whose goal was to earn an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-

year or 4-year institution, or complete a bachelor’s degree. Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined 

in exhibit 1.1. Detail may not sum to 100 because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary 

Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

Parents' highest education level1 Family socioeconomic status

more likely to have parents who had not completed high school, and less likely to have parents 

with postsecondary education, than were either academic or occupational associate’s degree 

seekers. Bailey et al. (2004b) also found lower parental education levels among occupational 

students, especially occupational certificate students. 

Family socioeconomic status. When all beginning credential-seeking students were 

divided into SES quartiles, 30 percent of occupational students were found to come from the 

lowest SES quartile (table 2.4). This is a higher proportion of low-SES students than was found 
22 

among baccalaureate students (30 versus 20 percent). Although there was a 7 percentage point 

difference in the proportion of occupational and academic subbaccalaureate students in the 

lowest SES quartile (30 versus 23 percent, respectively), this difference was not statistically 

significant, possibly due to the relatively large standard errors for these estimates (table B-2.4). 

However, occupational certificate students were more likely to come from the lowest SES 

quartile than were academic associate’s degree students (34 versus 23 percent). Bailey et al. 

(2004b) found that occupational students had lower family income backgrounds than their 

academic peers, with occupational certificate students having the lowest income backgrounds. 

Enrollment Patterns in Occupational Education 

When and how do occupational students enroll in postsecondary education, and 

how do their enrollment patterns compare to those of other postsecondary students? 

This question is addressed by examining the percentage of students who delayed entry 

into postsecondary education (i.e., entered more than one year after high school graduation), and 

the percentage who enrolled exclusively full time in their first year. 

As one might expect given the relatively older age of occupational students, these 

students are also relatively more likely to delay their entry into postsecondary education (table 

2.5). Over half (56 percent) of occupational students delayed their enrollment in postsecondary 

education, a higher proportion than among academic subbaccalaureate students (35 percent) and 

baccalaureate students (11 percent). As was true for age, the difference between the 

subbaccalaureate groups appears to be due to the relatively high rate at which occupational 

certificate students delayed enrollment. Although occupational associate’s degree-seeking 

students were more likely than academic associate’s degree-seeking students to have delayed 

enrollment, occupational certificate students were more likely than both associate’s degreeseeking groups to have delayed enrollment. Almost three-quarters of occupational certificate 

students (73 percent) had delayed their enrollment, compared to 48 percent of occupational 

associate’s degree seekers and 34 percent of academic associate’s degree seekers. These findings 

parallel those of Bailey et al. (2004b). 
23 

Students' initial credential goal Yes No

Exclusively 

full-time

Exclusively 

part-time

Mixed/

other

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 33.6 66.4 68.1 14.9 17.0

Subbaccalaureate credential 50.1 49.9 54.7 23.1 22.2

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 55.8 44.2 60.1 19.5 20.5

nnnnCertificate 73.3 26.7 67.7 20.8 11.5 !

nnnnAssociate's degree 48.1 51.9 56.6 18.8 24.6

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 34.5 65.5 52.6 21.1 26.3

nnnnCertificate ‡‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

nnnnAssociate's degree 33.8 66.2 52.7 20.3 26.9

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 45.6 54.4 40.2 35.6 24.2

Baccalaureate credential 11.4 88.6 86.3 3.7 9.9

nnCareer baccalaureate 11.9 88.1 88.0 2.8 9.2

nnAcademic baccalaureate 10.9 89.1 86.7 2.9 10.4

nnUndeclared baccalaureate 11.1 88.9 83.6 5.7 10.6

Table 2.5. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students, 

Table 2.5. by delayed enrollment, enrollment intensity, and initial credential goal: 1996 

Delayed enrollment Enrollment intensity

! Interpret data with caution. Standard error is more than one-third as large as the estimate.

‡ Reporting standards not met. Too few cases to report.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and 

students enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, 

associate’s degree, or transfer to a less-than-4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes students 

enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher degree or transfer 

to a 4-year institution. Associate’s degree category includes students enrolled at less-than-4-year 

institutions whose goal was to earn an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-year or 4-year institution, or 

complete a bachelor’s degree. Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined in exhibit 1.1. 

Detail may not sum to 100 because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

Sixty percent of occupational students enrolled exclusively full time in their first year 

(table 2.5). Both occupational and academic subbaccalaureate students were less likely than 

baccalaureate students to enroll exclusively full time during their first year (60 and 53 versus 86 

percent, respectively). Although there was a 7 percentage point difference in the proportion of 

occupational and academic subbaccalaureate students who enrolled full time, this difference was 

not statistically significant, possibly due to the relatively large standard errors for these estimates 

(table B-2.5). Among the three subbaccalaureate credential groups, occupational certificate 
24 

students were more likely than academic associate’s degree students to enroll full time. In 

comparison, Bailey et al. (2004b) found that occupational students were less likely than their 

academic peers to enroll full time, full year, with occupational certificate students being the least 

likely to have this enrollment pattern. 

In which types of institutions do occupational subbaccalaureate students enroll, and 

how does this compare to other postsecondary students?

As noted in chapter 1, 96 percent of subbaccalaureate students were enrolled in less-than4-year institutions, while (by definition) all baccalaureate students were enrolled in 4-year 

institutions. This section examines the level and control of the institutions in which students 

enroll (i.e., public, for-profit, and not-for-profit). These data are reported in table 2.6. 

Seventy-three percent of occupational students initially enrolled in a public institution, 24 

percent enrolled in a for-profit institution, and 3 percent enrolled in a not-for-profit institution.15

Occupational students tend to enroll in different institutions than do academic subbaccalaureate 

students and baccalaureate students. Occupational students were the most likely of the three 

student groups to enroll in for-profit institutions. They were less likely than academic 

subbaccalaureate students but more likely than baccalaureate students to enroll in public 

institutions, and they were less likely than baccalaureate students to enroll in not-for-profit 

institutions. 

In this case, both certificate and associate’s degree-seeking students appear to account for 

the different enrollment patterns of occupational and academic subbaccalaureate students in 

public institutions and for-profit institutions. Among subbaccalaureate students, occupational 

certificate students were the least likely of the three credential groups to enroll in public 

institutions, with higher enrollments among occupational associate’s degree seekers, and the 

 

15 Bailey et al. (2004b) reported that over 82 percent of occupational students attended public institutions in 1999–

2000. This difference probably reflects differences in the distribution of the total undergraduate population (in the 

Bailey et al. study) versus beginning students (in this report), as well as differences in how occupational education 

was defined in the two studies. 
25 

Table 2.6.—Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

Table 2.6.—students, by control of initial institution, tuition cost, and initial credential goal: 1996 

Students' initial credential goal Public Not-for-profit For-profit

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 73.1 17.5 9.4 $4,000

Subbaccalaureate credential 81.5 2.9 15.6 1,800

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 72.9 3.3 23.9 2,300

nnnnCertificate 43.2 1.8 ! 55.0 3,600

nnnnAssociate's degree 86.3 3.9 9.7 1,700

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 96.9 2.1 1.1 1,300

nnnnCertificate ‡‡‡ ‡

nnnnAssociate's degree 97.3 1.6 1.1 1,300

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 95.2 2.6 2.3 ! 1,000

Baccalaureate credential 61.6 37.4 1.1 7,000

nnCareer baccalaureate 65.6 32.1 2.3 6,200

nnAcademic baccalaureate 62.3 ‡ ‡ 7,100

nnUndeclared baccalaureate 55.0 45.0 † 8,100

Institution control

† Not applicable.

! Interpret data with caution. Standard error is more than one-third as large as the estimate.

‡ Reporting standards not met. Too few cases to report.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and 

students enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, 

associate’s degree, or transfer to a less-than-4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes students 

enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher degree or 

transfer to a 4-year institution. Associate’s degree category includes students enrolled at less-than-4-

year institutions whose goal was to earn an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-year or 4-year institution, 

or complete a bachelor’s degree. Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined in exhibit 

1.1. Detail may not sum to 100 because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

Tuition cost

highest enrollments among academic associate’s degree seekers (43 versus 86 versus 97 percent, 

respectively). Similarly, occupational certificate students were the most likely of the three 

subbaccalaureate groups to enroll in for-profit institutions, with lower enrollments among 

occupational associate’s degree seekers and the lowest enrollments among academic associate’s 

degree seekers (55 versus 10 versus 1 percent, respectively). 
26 

What are the average tuition costs incurred by occupational students, and how do 

these costs compare to those incurred by other postsecondary students?

BPS:96/01 collects information on the tuition charged to students in the 1995–96 school 

year (table 2.6). Both occupational and academic subbaccalaureate students had lower tuition 

costs than baccalaureate students. For example, occupational students had an average tuition cost 

of about $2,300 compared to about $7,000 for baccalaureate students. Occupational certificate 

students—who are the most likely of the three subbaccalaureate groups to attend for-profit 

institutions and to enroll full time—have higher average tuition costs than either occupational or 

academic associate’s degree seekers: about $3,600 for occupational certificate students compared 

to about $1,700 or less for associate’s degree seekers. 

What is the work status of occupational students—how likely are they to work, how 

much do they work, and in what occupational areas—and how do they compare to other 

students in terms of their work status? 

About three-quarters of occupational students (74 percent) worked during their first year 

of school, although more of these working students were self-defined as “students working to 

meet expenses” (hereafter “working students,” 45 percent) rather than as “employees enrolled in 

school” (hereafter “enrolled employees,” 29 percent) (table 2.7). Both occupational and 

academic subbaccalaureate students were more likely to work than were baccalaureate students 

(74 and 76 versus 62 percent, respectively), but no measurable difference was found between the 

percentage of occupational and academic subbaccalaureate students who worked. Nonetheless, 

among subbaccalaureate students, occupational certificate students were less likely to work than 

were both occupational and academic associate’s degree-seeking students (61 versus 80 and 76 

percent, respectively). 

Occupational and academic subbaccalaureate students are more likely to work than are 

baccalaureate students because more of the former than the latter were “enrolled employees.” 

Specifically, more occupational students than baccalaureate students were “enrolled employees” 
27 

Students' initial credential goal Total

Student 

meeting 

expenses

Employee 

enrolling 

in classes Part-time Full-time

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 29.7 70.3 52.7 17.6 70.0 30.0

Subbaccalaureate credential 24.0 76.0 50.1 25.9 60.7 39.3

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 26.3 73.7 45.1 28.5 57.0 43.0

nnnnCertificate 39.5 60.5 29.8 30.7 51.1 48.9

nnnnAssociate's degree 20.4 79.6 52.0 27.6 59.1 40.9

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 24.1 75.9 60.0 15.9 67.8 32.2

nnnnCertificate ‡‡‡‡ ‡‡

nnnnAssociate's degree 24.3 75.7 59.5 16.2 67.5 32.5

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 17.0 83.0 57.1 25.9 65.0 35.0

Baccalaureate credential 37.6 62.4 56.3 6.2 85.7 14.3

nnCareer baccalaureate 36.4 63.6 57.5 6.1 85.1 14.9

nnAcademic baccalaureate 38.8 61.2 55.8 5.4 88.4 11.6

nnUndeclared baccalaureate 38.3 61.7 54.8 6.9 84.4 15.6

‡ Reporting standards not met. Too few cases to report.

1

 Part-time is defined as working 1–34 hours per week. Full-time is defined as working 35 or more hours per 

week.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and students 

enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, associate’s 

degree, or transfer to a less-than-4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes students enrolled at 4-year 

institutions whose initial credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher degree or transfer to a 4-year 

institution. Associate’s degree category includes students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions whose goal 

was to earn an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-year or 4-year institution, or complete a bachelor’s degree. 

Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined in exhibit 1.1. Detail may not sum to 100 because of 

rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

Work status in first year

Worked in first year Intensity of work1 

Table 2.7. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students, by 

Table 2.7. work status in the first year, intensity of work, and initial credential goal: 1996 

Did not 

work in 

first year

(29 versus 6 percent), while fewer were “working students” (45 versus 56 percent). Academic 

subbaccalaureate students were also more likely than baccalaureate students to be “enrolled 

employees,” but no measurable difference was found in their likelihood of being “working 

students.” Although there were no measurable differences between occupational and academic 

subbaccalaureate students in their overall likelihood of working, occupational students were 

more likely to be “enrolled employees” and less likely to be “working students” than were 
28 

academic subbaccalaureate students. Occupational certificate students were less likely than other 

subbaccalaureate students to be “working students” (which accounts for their lower likelihood of 

working overall). In contrast, both occupational certificate and occupational associate’s degreeseeking students were more likely to be “enrolled employees” than were academic associate’s 

degree seekers. 

Among those students who worked, 43 percent of occupational students worked full time 

(table 2.7). In line with the fact that they are more likely than baccalaureate students to be 

enrolled employees, occupational students are also more likely to work full time (43 versus 14 

percent). However, even though occupational students are more likely than academic 

subbaccalaureate students to be enrolled employees, no difference was detected in the likelihood 

that these two student groups worked full time when they did work. In comparison, working 

occupational certificate students were more likely than working academic associate’s degree 

seekers to work full time. 

Summary 

Other studies have noted differences in the background and enrollment characteristics of 

baccalaureate and subbaccalaureate students (Bailey et al. 2004b; Berkner, He, and Cataldi 2002; 

Berkner, Cuccaro-Alamin, and McCormick 1996). This chapter examined the characteristics of 

these students across occupational, career, and academic areas of study. As seen here, 

baccalaureate students in career and academic areas typically have similar backgrounds, with 

measurable differences found only in their sex distribution (more academic students than career 

students are female, table 2.2).16 In contrast, as summarized below and in exhibit 2.2, 

occupational and academic subbaccalaureate students often have different background and 

enrollment characteristics. 

Occupational and academic subbaccalaureate students differ in terms of their age, sex, 

minority status (the percentage who are Black), educational background, parents’ educational 

 

16 A relatively small difference of 2 percentage points was also found in the likelihood that career and academic 

baccalaureate students enroll in for-profit institutions (2 percent vs. less than 1 percent, respectively; table 2.6). 
29 

Exhibit 2.2. Summary of comparisons of the background and enrollment characteristics of the 

Exhibit 2.2. three groups of students with subbaccalaureate credential goals: 1996 

 Students’ credential goals 

Background and enrollment characteristics 

Occupational 

associate’s degree 

vs. academic 

associate’s degree

Occupational 

certificate vs. 

academic 

associate’s 

degree 

Occupational 

certificate vs. 

occupational 

associate’s 

degree

Background characteristic 

 Age - ↑ ↑

 Female - ↑ -

 Black, non-Hispanic ↑ ↑ -

 Hispanic - - ↑

 High school diploma (vs. GED) - ↓ ↓

 Parents have no high school - ↑ ↑

 Parents have some college - ↓ ↓

 Lowest family SES quartile - ↓ -

Enrollment characteristic 

 Delayed entry ↑ ↑ ↑

 Enrolled exclusively full time in first year - ↑ -

 First enrolled in public institution ↓ ↓ ↓

 First enrolled in for-profit institution ↑ ↑ ↑

 First enrolled in not-for-profit institution ‡ ‡ ‡

 First-year tuition costs ↑ ↑ ↑

 Working during first year - ↓ ↓

 “Enrolled employees” ↑ ↑ -

 “Working students” - ↓ ↓

 Working full time during first year - ↑ -

‡ Reporting standards not met. Standard error is greater than or equal to half the estimate. 

NOTE: GED stands for General Educational Development. SES stands for socioeconomic status. 

- Indicates no measurable difference between the two student groups. 

↑ Indicates the first group was measurably higher than the second group. 

↓ Indicates the first group was measurably lower than the second group. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01). 

background, delayed enrollment, enrollment in public and for-profit institutions, tuition costs, 

and their student versus employee work role (tables 2.2–2.7). For some characteristics, however, 

differences between occupational and academic subbaccalaureate students disappear when one 

compares only students who are seeking an associate’s degree (rather than those seeking a 

certificate). For other characteristics, both occupational certificate and associate’s degree seekers 

are different from academic associate’s degree seekers. Even on these characteristics, however, 
30 

occupational certificate students often stand out, in that they have different backgrounds from 

both academic and occupational associate’s degree seekers. 

More specifically, occupational and academic associate’s degree seekers differ in terms 

of the percentage who are Black, the type of institution attended, tuition costs, whether they 

delay enrollment, and whether they view themselves as “enrolled employees” (tables 2.3, 2.5–

2.7). Occupational certificate students, in comparison, differ from academic associate’s degree 

seekers on every measure for which occupational and academic subbaccalaureate students differ; 

in addition to the measures listed immediately above, they differ in age, sex, educational 

background, parents’ educational background, family SES, full-time enrollment, full-time work 

status, and whether they view themselves as “working students” (tables 2.3–2.5, 2.7). Certificate 

students also differ from occupational associate’s degree seekers on most of these measures. 

Thus, the overall differences in student background between occupational and 

subbaccalaureate academic students (i.e., age, sex, educational background, parents’ educational 

background) largely reflect differences in the background of occupational certificate students. 

(The proportion of students who are Black is the notable exception.) In comparison, only one of 

the enrollment characteristics examined here (i.e., percent who are “working students,” table 2.7) 

seems to reflect exclusively a difference in occupational certificate students’ enrollment patterns. 

Other enrollment differences—the type of institution attended, tuition costs, and whether 

students delay enrollment or are “enrolled employees,”—reflect differences among all three 

groups of subbaccalaureate students, although even on these characteristics certificate students 

tend to be the outliers (tables 2.5–2.7). For example, 34 percent of academic associate’s degree 

seekers had delayed enrollment, compared to 48 percent of occupational associate’s degree 

seekers and 73 percent of occupational certificate students (table 2.5). The percentages enrolled 

in public and in for-profit institutions show similar patterns, as do tuition costs (table 2.6). 

Finally, some of the background and enrollment differences between occupational and 

academic subbaccalaureate students are related to student progress (the topic of the next chapter). 

Specifically, occupational associate’s degree seekers are more likely than academic associate’s 

degree seekers to be Black and to have delayed postsecondary enrollment (tables 2.3, 2.5), both 
31 

of which are associated with lower persistence and attainment rates (Berkner, Cuccaro-Alamin, 

and McCormick 1996). Occupational certificate students also differ from academic associate’s 

degree students on these measures and on the following characteristics associated with lower 

postsecondary persistence or attainment: being older, being Hispanic, working full time while in 

school, and having a lower educational background and a lower SES background (ibid; Berkner, 

He, and Cataldi 2002) (tables 2.2–2.4, 2.7). 

33 

Chapter 3: Educational Persistence and Attainment 

This chapter examines the educational outcomes of beginning postsecondary students 

who had different credential goals. These outcomes are assessed as of June 2001, approximately 

6 years after the BPS:96/01 students had begun their postsecondary education. A number of 

educational outcomes are compared among these students: rates of persistence and credential 

attainment, the proportion of completing students who met or exceeded their initial credential 

goals, and the reasons noncompleters left without attaining a postsecondary credential. As was 

true in the previous chapter, baccalaureate students in career programs were not measurably 

different from baccalaureate students in academic programs on these outcomes, so these two 

groups were combined into one overall baccalaureate group in this chapter. The final section of 

the chapter provides an overview of the credentials attained by beginning students; this 

categorization is used in the next chapter to examine the labor market outcomes of postsecondary 

completers. 

BPS:96/01 provides a rich data source for examining student persistence and attainment, 

and a number of past studies have used these data to examine these outcomes. Most of these 

studies have focused on identifying the demographic and enrollment characteristics that are 

associated with lower probabilities of persistence and attainment—factors such as poor high 

school preparation, enrolling at an older age, low socioeconomic background, being Black or 

Hispanic, being a single parent, delayed entry to postsecondary education, attending part time, 

attending multiple institutions, and working full time while enrolled (Berkner, Cuccaro-Alamin, 

and McCormick 1996; Horn and Carroll 1996; Horn, Cataldi, and Sikora 2005; Horn and Kojaku 

2001; Peter and Cataldi 2005). As seen in the previous chapter, occupational students differ from 

academic associate’s degree seekers on some of these characteristics, with the occupational 

groups being more likely to have the characteristics associated with lower rates of persistence 

and attainment. 

A few recent studies using BPS:96/01 are roughly comparable to the analysis in this 

report and are thus worth discussing in further detail. Berkner, He, and Cataldi (2002) used 
34 

BPS:96/01 to examine persistence and attainment among beginning postsecondary students in 

general. They found that over this 6-year period, 51 percent of beginning students attained a 

credential, 14 percent were still enrolled in postsecondary education (without having attained a 

credential), and 35 percent did not have a credential and were no longer enrolled. Thus, the 

overall persistence and attainment rate for 1995–96 beginning students as of 2001 was 65 

percent. Berkner, He, and Cataldi (2002) also examined persistence and attainment for students 

who began at 4-year institutions and at public 2-year institutions. Those who began at 4-year 

institutions were more likely to persist or attain a credential, with 79 percent doing so, compared 

to 53 percent of those who began at public 2-year institutions. 

Hoachlander, Sikora and Horn (2003) used BPS:96/01 to examine students enrolled in 

community colleges (public 2-year institutions) who were seeking to earn a credential or transfer 

to a 4-year institution. These analysts found that 51 percent of these students attained a credential 

or transferred by 2001.17 In addition, credential attainment rates were higher among community 

college students who initially sought a certificate than among those who sought an associate’s 

degree (42 versus 38 percent). 

Finally, the Community College Research Center (CCRC) used BPS:96/01 to examine 

the persistence and attainment of occupational students in particular (Alfonso, Bailey, and Scott 

2004; Bailey et al. 2004a). These researchers used a definition of student persistence and 

attainment that is similar to but more stringent than the definition typically used in NCES reports 

(including this one). NCES reports typically examine whether students are still enrolled in 

postsecondary education or have left after attaining any postsecondary credential. In the CCRC 

studies, successful persistence and attainment was more narrowly defined as persistence in a 4-

year institution or attainment of a credential at or above the level initially sought. Using this 

measure, the CCRC study found that baccalaureate students were most likely to persist or attain, 

followed by certificate students, then associate’s degree students. Comparing occupational and 

academic students at each credential level, the CCRC study found no differences in student 

persistence and attainment at the certificate and baccalaureate levels, but occupational associate’s 

 

17 The persistence estimates from Berkner, He, and Cataldi (2002) and Hoachlander, Sikora, and Horn (2003) differ 

slightly because the latter study was restricted to students who were seeking a credential or transfer and because the 

latter study did not include enrollment in less-than-4-year institutions as successful persistence. 
35 

degree students were less likely to persist or attain than were academic associate’s degree 

students. Further, the study found that this persistence/attainment gap was reduced, but not 

eliminated, when a variety of student background and enrollment characteristics was held 

constant. 

This chapter examines student persistence and attainment in postsecondary education 

using the rate typically used in NCES studies (i.e., persistence or attainment at any level). After 

that analysis, the chapter looks at the likelihood that students attain at least the level of credential 

they originally sought, and at the reasons for leaving postsecondary education given by 

noncompleters (those who left without attaining a credential). Finally, the chapter examines the 

distribution of credentials attained by 1995–96 beginning students as of June 2001. The chapter 

does not attempt to explain observed differences in student persistence and attainment; it merely 

describes the progress of students who initially enrolled in each type of credential program. As 

seen in the previous chapter (and in previous research), these students differ in their background 

characteristics, so the observed differences in progress should not be attributed to any given 

student or program characteristic. 

Persistence and Completion 

To what extent do occupational students persist in and complete postsecondary 

education over a 6-year time period? How do their persistence and completion rates 

compare to other postsecondary students? 

Berkner, He, and Cataldi (2002) reported an overall persistence and attainment rate of 53 

percent for students who began at public 2-year institutions and 79 percent for those who began 

at 4-year institutions. In comparison, this analysis found that among credential-seeking

beginning students, 60 percent of subbaccalaureate students and 82 percent of baccalaureate 

students had earned a postsecondary credential or were still enrolled without a credential as of 
36 

2001 (table 3.1).18 The overall persistence and attainment rates for both occupational and 

academic subbaccalaureate students (60 and 64 percent, respectively) were lower than for 

baccalaureate students (82 percent), while no difference was detected in the persistence and 

attainment rate for the two subbaccalaureate groups. Likewise, no differences were detected in 

the persistence and attainment rates for occupational certificate students and the two groups of 

associate’s degree seekers (figure 3.1). In other words, occupational and academic 

subbaccalaureate students are both more likely than baccalaureate students to leave 

postsecondary education without earning a credential, but the different groups of 

subbaccalaureate students are not measurably different in their likelihood of leaving without a 

credential. 

Looking just at credential attainment, a similar pattern is found for subbaccalaureate and 

baccalaureate students. Baccalaureate students attained a credential by 2001 at a higher rate than 

either occupational or academic subbaccalaureate students, while the two subbaccalaureate 

groups did not differ in their credential attainment rates. However, persistence rates show a 

different pattern, with academic subbaccalaureate students being more likely to persist in 

postsecondary education than either baccalaureate students or occupational students. This 

relatively high rate of persistence among academic subbaccalaureate students might be due in 

part to transfers to 4-year institutions. Students who intend to transfer to 4-year institutions may 

be more likely to persist over 6 years than other students,19 and academic subbaccalaureate 

students are more likely than occupational students to intend to transfer to 4-year institutions. 

 

18 The current study found an overall persistence and attainment rate of 70 percent, compared to 65 percent in 

Berkner, He, and Cataldi (2002). The figures in this report may be higher than those obtained by the previous study 

because the current study excluded students who were not initially seeking a credential and students who had not 

completed high school, two groups that are likely to have lower persistence and attainment rates. Berkner, He, and 

Cataldi (2002), for example, found persistence and attainment rates of 44 percent for students with no credential 

goal, compared to 56–77 percent for those with specific credential goals. Likewise, those analysts found persistence 

and attainment rates of 67 percent for beginning students who had a high school diploma, compared to 53 percent 

for students with a GED/other equivalency, and 41 percent for students with no high school credential. 

19 Berkner, He, and Cataldi (2002) found that 25 percent of students at public 2-year institutions who first 

transferred to a 4-year institution persisted as of 2001, compared to 12 percent of these students who did not transfer. 
Students' initial credential goal Total Certificate

Associate's 

degree

Bachelor's 

degree

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 69.7 54.7 11.5 10.3 32.9 

Subbaccalaureate credential 60.4 44.9 18.4 16.1 10.5 

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 59.9 48.4 25.4 15.4 7.5 

nnnnCertificate 65.6 62.2 56.9 4.6 ! 0.7 ! 

nnnnAssociate's degree 57.4 42.1 11.2 20.3 10.6 

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 63.6 43.5 3.0 ! 20.6 20.0 

nnnnCertificate ‡ ‡‡‡‡ nnnnAssociate's degree 63.0 43.8 2.3 ! 21.0 20.5 nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 59.6 35.9 9.6 14.5 11.8 

Baccalaureate credential 82.3 68.0 2.0 2.5 63.5 nnCareer baccalaureate 82.5 68.6 2.2 2.9 63.5 nnAcademic baccalaureate 82.5 69.4 1.7 2.0 65.7 nnUndeclared baccalaureate 81.9 66.1 1.9 ! 2.4 61.8 

Table 3.1. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students, by persistence and Table 3.1. initial credential goal: 2001

Total Highest degree attained

attained or 

persisted1

No 

stil

! Interpret data with caution. Standard error is more than one-third as large as the estimate.‡ Reporting standards not met. Too few cases to report.

1 Persisted includes students still enrolled in a postsecondary institution but with no degree.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and students enrolled at 4-year initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, associate’s degree, or transfer to a less-than-4-year institution. Baccalincludes students enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher degree or transfer to 

Associate’s degree category includes students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions whose goal was to earn an associate’s deyear or 4-year institution, or complete a bachelor’s degree. Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined in exhibisum to totals because of rounding. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students Study (BPS:96/01).

37 
-37

15

3

11

57

42

31

5

-43

-34

19

2

-1 -1 -1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 

123

Initial credential goal

Percent 

NnoNstiAtceAtasor de

Figure 3.1. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students according Figure 3.1. and attainment status, by initial credential goal: 2001

NOTE: Student categories are defined in exhibit 1.1. Detail may not sum to 100 because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal 

Occupational certificateOccupational associate's degreeAcademic associate's degree

Did not attain a credential Attained credential or persisted

100 80 60 40 20 0 20 40 60 80 

42 percent attained

62 percent attained

44 percent attained

38 
39 

Although occupational certificate students were not measurably different from 

occupational and academic associate’s degree seekers in their overall persistence and attainment 

rates, these student groups did differ in their rates of attainment (figure 3.1). Specifically, 

occupational certificate students were more likely than other subbaccalaureate students to attain a 

credential; this pattern probably reflects at least in part the shorter time typically required to 

attain certificates rather than associate’s or higher degrees. However, in spite of the relatively 

short time required to complete a certificate, no measurable difference was found in the 6-year 

credential attainment rate between certificate students and baccalaureate students. 

Contrary to these findings, Bailey et al. (2004a) found that students seeking occupational 

associate’s degrees were less likely than their academic peers to persist or complete (using their 

more stringent definition that requires obtaining a credential at the level initially sought). This 

difference in findings may be due to a “downgrading” of occupational associate’s degree seekers 

from obtaining an associate’s (or higher) degree to obtaining a certificate. Table 3.1 and figure 

3.1 show the percentage of occupational and academic associate’s degree seekers who attained 

(as their highest credential) a certificate and the percentage who attained an associate’s or higher 

degree; more occupational associate’s degree seekers attained a certificate than did their 

academic subbaccalaureate peers (11 versus 2 percent, respectively), and fewer attained an 

associate’s or higher degree (31 versus 42 percent, respectively). The next section examines in 

more detail students’ likelihood of attaining the level of credential they initially sought. 
40 

Meeting Expectations 

To what extent do occupational students meet or exceed their initial credential 

expectations? How do they compare to other postsecondary students on this measure of 

success? 

This section presents findings on the percentage of completers (credential attainers) who 

received a credential lower than their initial goal (e.g., a student who had an initial goal of an 

associate’s degree, but attained a certificate) or who met or exceeded their initial goal (e.g., a 

student who had an initial goal of a certificate, but attained an associate’s degree).20 Thus, by 

definition, all certificate seekers who earned a credential met or exceeded their goal, since a 

certificate is the lowest credential available. 

As seen in table 3.2, most occupational students who earned a credential (80 percent) met 

or exceeded their initial credential goal. By definition, all credential attainers who initially 

sought an occupational certificate met or exceeded their initial goal, as did 66 percent of those 

who sought an occupational associate’s degree. The 34 percent of attaining occupational 

associate’s degree seekers who attained a certificate as their highest credential (table 3.2) 

corresponds to the 11 percent of all occupational associate’s degree seekers “downgrading” to a 

certificate seen in table 3.1 and figure 3.1. 

Occupational students do not fare as well as baccalaureate students on this measure. 

Occupational students are not only less likely than baccalaureate students to attain a credential, 

but even among those who do attain a credential, students seeking an occupational credential are 

less likely than their baccalaureate counterparts to meet or exceed their initial credential goal; 80 

percent of the former met or exceeded their initial goal compared to 93 percent of the latter (table 

3.2). Among occupational and academic subbaccalaureate students, just as no differences were 

detected in the percentage of subbaccalaureate students with each goal who attained a credential, 

 

20 The statistics for credential completers are presented in table 3.2 and discussed in the text. Analogous statistics for 

all beginning students are presented in table 3.1; those statistics are not discussed in the text. 
41 

Table 3.2.—Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

Table 3.2.—students who earned a credential, by whether they met or exceeded their initial 

Table 3.2.—credential goal, and initial credential goal: 2001 

Students' initial credential goal

Earned lower credential 

than goal

Met or exceeded 

credential goal

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 12.9 87.1

Subbaccalaureate credential 19.9 80.1

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 20.4 79.6

nnnnCertificate † 100.0

nnnnAssociate's degree 34.0 66.0

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 12.7 ! 87.3

nnnnCertificate ‡ ‡

nnnnAssociate's degree 13.0 ! 87.0

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 24.4 75.6

Baccalaureate credential 6.6 93.4

nnCareer baccalaureate 7.5 92.5

nnAcademic baccalaureate 5.3 94.7

nnUndeclared baccalaureate 6.5 93.5

† Not applicable.

! Interpret data with caution. Standard error is more than one-third as large as the estimate.

‡ Reporting standards not met. Too few cases to report.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and 

students enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, 

associate’s degree, or transfer to a less-than-4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes 

students enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher 

degree or transfer to a 4-year institution. Associate’s degree category includes students enrolled at lessthan-4-year institutions whose goal was to earn an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-year or 4-year 

institution, or complete a bachelor’s degree. Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined 

in exhibit 1.1. Detail may not sum to 100 because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

there were also no differences detected in the rates at which these students met or exceeded their 

credential goal when they did earn a credential. However, this finding results in part from the 

fact that (by definition) all completers who had a certificate goal met or exceeded their goal. 

For the two groups of associate’s degree seekers, those seeking an occupational 

associate’s degree were less likely than those seeking an academic associate’s degree to meet or 

exceed their goal when they did attain a credential (66 versus 87 percent, respectively). Thus, 
42 

even though no difference was detected in the percentage of occupational and academic 

associate’s degree seekers who attain a credential, the level of credentials they earn are different, 

with occupational students being more likely to downgrade to a certificate. This difference may 

occur in part because the relatively wide range of occupational (relative to academic) certificates 

available at many less-than-4-year institutions provides more opportunity for “downgrading” in 

occupational fields. 

These data can also be examined in a way that more closely approximates the definition 

of successful completion used by CCRC. To do so, this analysis looks at the percentage of all 

beginning students (not just completers) who met their credential goals and includes those 

students who are still enrolled as meeting their goal. Using this measure, which might be called 

“on target” persistence and attainment, this study finds results similar to those found by CCRC 

(figure 3.2): Baccalaureate students are the most likely to have “on target” persistence and 

attainment, followed by the two groups of academic associate’s degree seekers and occupational 

certificate students, and with occupational associate’s degree seekers being the least likely to 

remain “on target.”21 

For the two associate’s degree-seeking groups, the difference appears to result from a 

difference in attainment, as occupational associate’s degree students were less likely than their 

academic counterparts to attain an associate’s or higher degree, but no difference was detected in 

the rates at which these two student groups persisted in postsecondary education. One reason 

academic associate’s degree seekers are more likely than their occupational peers to have “on 

target” attainment is the downgrading discussed above. However, another factor is that these 

students are relatively likely to switch to an occupational degree; this finding is discussed in 

more detail in the next section. It is worth noting here, however, that 25 percent of the academic 

associate’s degree seekers who earned a credential did so by earning an occupational degree (not 

shown in tables).

 

21 This definition is not exactly the same as that used by CCRC, because this report does not distinguish enrollment 

at a 4-year from a less-than-4-year institution. This definition of “on target” is thus somewhat biased toward 

baccalaureate students, since persisting baccalaureate students who transferred to 2-year institutions are counted 

here as “on target.” 
43 

66

43

57

78

0

20

40

60

80

100

Occupational certificate Occupational associate's

degree

Academic associate's

degree

Baccalaureate degree

Initial credential goal

Percent

Figure 3.2. Percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students who met 

Figure 3.2. or exceeded their initial credential goal or who are still enrolled, by initial credential 

Figure 3.2. goal: 2001

NOTE: Student categories are defined in exhibit 1.1. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary 

Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

When students don’t attain their intended credential, what do they do instead? 

This analysis focuses on the three groups of subbaccalaureate students: those seeking an 

occupational certificate, those seeking an occupational associate’s degree, and those seeking an 

academic associate’s degree. These students are divided into the following groups based on their 

status in 2001: 

• those who attained a credential at the level and in the area of study (occupational 

versus academic) that they had originally intended to attain (regardless of any other 

credential that was also attained); 

• those who attained a credential at the intended level but who switched areas of study 

(occupational to academic or vice versa); 
44 

• those who upgraded to a higher-level credential (in any area of study);22 

• those who downgraded to a lower-level credential (in any area of study); 

• those who are still enrolled; and 

• those who dropped out. 

Figure 3.3 shows how the groups are distributed on these educational outcomes. 

The analysis above showed that 62 percent of occupational certificate seekers attained a 

credential. This percentage does not change substantially when restricted to the percentage who 

attained an occupational certificate (57 percent). These statistics imply that about 90 percent of 

the occupational certificate seekers who earned a credential got the level and type of credential 

they initially sought (the remainder switched areas of study or upgraded to a higher credential). 

Figure 3.3 shows that, in general, occupational certificate students tend to have one of two 

outcomes—dropping out or attaining the level and type of credential they originally sought; 92 

percent of occupational certificate seekers fall into these categories. As noted above, 

occupational certificate students were not found to differ from associate’s degree seekers in the 

rate at which they dropped out of school; however, they were more likely to attain a credential. 

This analysis shows that these students are not just more likely than associate’s degree seekers to 

attain a credential, but also more likely to attain the credential they originally sought. 

Occupational and academic associate’s degree seekers show a more complicated pattern 

of educational outcomes. As noted above, these students were not measurably different in their 

rates of attaining a degree by 2001. They also were not measurably different in the rate at which 

they attained the level and type of degree they originally sought. However, among both groups, 

fewer students attained the level and type of degree they originally sought than attained any 

degree; the percentages for each group dropped at least 20 percentage points, from roughly 40 to 

20 percent, implying that about half of each group of associate’s degree seekers who attained a 

 

22 Although the associate’s degree group includes students intending to transfer to a 4-year institution (and thus 

presumably intending to earn a bachelor’s degree), these students were all counted as “upgrading” if they attained a 

bachelor’s degree. This decision was made based on the fact that all the transfer-seeking students in this group were 

initially enrolled in less-than-4-year institutions, so attaining a bachelor’s degree was in some sense a step up. 
22

17

57

5

14

4

3

11

15

19

3

11

2 37

1

43

34

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Occupational associate's degree

Academic associate's degree

Occupational certificate

Percent

Initial credential goal

Figure 3.3. Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students according to educFigure 3.3. outcome, by initial credential goal: 2001

NOTE: Student categories are defined in exhibit 1.1. Detail may not sum to 100 because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BP

0 20 40 60 80 100

45 
46 

credential did so at the associate’s degree level and in the broad area of study they had originally 

sought (table 3.1 and figure 3.3). Losses from the attained-level-and-type outcome differ for the 

two student groups, however. As previously discussed, occupational associate’s degree seekers 

are more likely than their academic counterparts to downgrade to a certificate, while academic 

students are more likely than their occupational counterparts to remain enrolled and to switch to 

an occupational associate’s degree. Eleven percent of academic associate’s degree seekers 

switched to attain an occupational associate’s degree, compared to three percent of occupational 

associate’s degree seekers switching to academic associate’s degrees (figure 3.3).23 

Reasons for Leaving 

Why do occupational students leave postsecondary education without attaining a 

credential? Do their reasons for leaving differ from those of other postsecondary students? 

As reported in table 3.1, 30 percent of all beginning credential-seeking students did not 

attain a credential and were no longer enrolled after 6 years. Moreover, occupational students (as 

well as academic subbaccalaureate students) were more likely than baccalaureate students to 

leave school without a credential; 40 percent of occupational students (and 36 percent of 

academic subbaccalaureate students) left without a credential, compared to 18 percent of 

baccalaureate students. No measurable differences were detected in the rates at which the three 

subbaccalaureate groups left. 

These findings raise the question of why students leave school prior to earning a 

credential, and whether occupational students leave for different reasons than other students. 

BPS:96/01 asks students who left (and had not returned) by 2001 their main reason for doing so; 

based on the categories available in the data file, students’ reasons for leaving were aggregated 

for this analysis into the following six categories: Dissatisfaction or academic problems, done 

 

23 This switching of study areas explains why academic associate’s degree seekers are more likely than their 

occupational counterparts to earn at least the level of degree they initially sought, although they were not found to be 

more likely to earn the level and type of degree they initially sought. It also should be noted that academic 

associate’s degree seekers appear to be more likely than their occupational counterparts to earn a bachelor’s degree 

(21 vs. 11 percent in table 3.1; 14 vs. 5 percent “upgrading” in figure 3.3), but these differences were not statistically 

significant, possibly due to large standard errors for the academic student group. 
47 

taking desired classes, family demands, job or financial demands, moved to another city or state, 

and other/unknown reasons (e.g., taking time off, pursuing other interests, or not reported). 

As seen in table 3.3, the most common reason occupational students gave for leaving 

school was job or financial demands (14 percent of all occupational students, or 34 percent of the 

occupational students who left), followed by family demands and a move to another city or state 

(6 percent each). Dissatisfaction or academic problems and having finished taking desired 

classes were less common reasons for leaving among this group of credential-seeking students (2 

and 3 percent, respectively). Job or financial demands was also the most common reason for 

leaving given by academic subbaccalaureate students and by baccalaureate students; however, as 

discussed below, baccalaureate students were less likely than subbaccalaureate students to leave 

for this reason. 

Comparing the percentage of subbaccalaureate and baccalaureate students who gave each 

reason for leaving suggests that occupational and academic subbaccalaureate students typically 

leave for the same reasons, and that these two groups leave more often than baccalaureate 

students for reasons that may be related to the older age and stronger work affiliation of the 

former two groups: The two groups of subbaccalaureate students were more likely than 

baccalaureate students to leave due to job or financial demands, family demands, having taken 

desired classes, and a move to another city or state.24 In comparison, dissatisfaction or academic 

problems was a more common reason for leaving among occupational students and baccalaureate 

students than among academic subbaccalaureate students. 

In one case, these findings are qualified when one examines certificate and associate’s 

degree-seeking students separately (figure 3.4). Although occupational and academic associate’s 

degree seekers were not measurably different in their likelihood of leaving because of job or 

financial demands, occupational certificate students were less likely than both groups of 

associate’s degree seekers to report leaving for this reason. 

 

24 There was one exception to this pattern: Although no difference was detected in the percentage of occupational 

and academic subbaccalaureate students who left school because they were done taking desired classes, and 

occupational students were more likely than baccalaureate students to leave for this reason, no difference was 

detected in the percentage of academic subbaccalaureate students and baccalaureate students who left for this 

reason. 
48 

Students' initial credential goal

Total 

percentage 

who left

Not 

satisfied/

academic 

problems

Done 

with 

desired 

classes

Family 

demands

Job/

financial 

demands

Moved to 

another 

city/state

Other or 

unknown 

reason

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 30.3 2.0 1.8 4.0 10.7 4.0 7.8

Subbaccalaureate credential 39.6 2.0 2.8 5.3 14.4 5.9 9.2

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 40.1 2.5 2.7 6.0 13.5 6.1 9.2

nnnnCertificate 34.4 2.1 5.5 3.2 ! 6.5 9.1 8.1

nnnnAssociate's degree 42.6 2.7 ! 1.5 ! 7.3 16.6 4.8 9.8

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 36.4 0.4 ! 1.8 ! 5.3 16.6 5.5 ! 6.7 !

nnnnCertificate ‡ ‡‡‡‡‡‡

nnnnAssociate's degree 37.0 ‡ ‡ 5.4 17.1 5.5 ! 6.8 !

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 40.4 1.7 ! 3.7 ! 3.4 ! 15.3 5.6 10.8

Baccalaureate credential 17.7 2.0 0.5 2.3 5.6 1.4 5.9

nnCareer baccalaureate 17.6 2.1 0.6 ! 1.7 5.7 1.5 5.9

nnAcademic baccalaureate 17.5 1.6 ! 0.5 ! 2.6 5.7 1.3 ! 5.7

nnUndeclared baccalaureate 18.1 2.3 0.4 ! 2.8 5.4 1.3 5.9

Table 3.3. Percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students who left school without a 

Table 3.3. credential and had not returned as of 2001, by the reason for leaving, and initial credential goal: 2001

Reason for leaving

! Interpret data with caution. Standard error is more than one-third as large as the estimate.

‡ Reporting standards not met. Too few cases to report.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and students enrolled at 4-

year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, associate’s degree, or transfer to a less-than4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes students enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal was 

a baccalaureate or higher degree or transfer to a 4-year institution. Associate’s degree category includes students enrolled at 

less-than-4-year institutions whose goal was to earn an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-year or 4-year institution, or 

complete a bachelor’s degree. Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined in exhibit 1.1. Detail may not sum 

to totals because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary 

Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

The Role of Academic Achievement 

Although these data suggest that low academic achievement is a relatively infrequent 

reason for students leaving school, it is possible that this reason is more common than suggested 

by these data, as students may be reluctant to report that this is why they left. One way to address 

whether academic problems might be a more common problem would be to see how many 

students had a low cumulative grade point average (GPA) through their last enrollment. Ideally, 

these GPA data would be obtained from institutional records, the most reliable source for this 

information. In BPS:96/01, however, GPA data are obtained from student reports. These data 
7

9

3

6

17

5

7

2 

17

6 5

2

0

102030405060

Job or financial demands Moved to another city or

state

Family demands Done taking desired classes Dissat

Reason for leaving

Percent

Occupational certificate Occupational associate's degrAcademic associate's degree

Figure 3.4. Percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students who gave each reason for Figure 3.4. school, by initial credential goal: 2001

# Estimate rounds to zero.1 Due to small cell sizes, the academic student group includes associate's degree-seeking students and certificate students.NOTE: Student categories are defined in exhibit 1.1. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Stu

1

49 
50 

may also be influenced by students’ desire to appear academically strong, but since they are 

arguably more objective data than “reason for leaving” responses, they are presumed to be less 

subject to this type of social desirability bias. 

Using a cutoff of 2.25 as representing a low GPA that might signify academic problems, 

table 3.4 shows that overall, about 5 percent of students reported a GPA this low. Since 30 

percent of students left school without a credential, these data do suggest that low academic 

achievement is not the main factor for leaving in most cases. Based on these findings, if all 

students with a GPA less than 2.25 had left school without a credential, this would account for 

only about 16 percent of all leavers. A second perspective leads to the same conclusion. 

Although (as one might expect) students with low GPAs are more likely to leave school without 

a credential than are those with higher GPAs, only 12 percent of students who left without 

completing a credential reported a GPA below 2.25. 

These same data could suggest that academic problems are underestimated as a reason for 

leaving (even if they are an infrequent reason), since 12 percent of leavers had low GPAs, but 

fewer (7 percent) reported leaving due to dissatisfaction or academic problems. However, 

students may incur low GPAs due to constraints caused by work or family responsibilities, and 

thus may (justifiably) report those responsibilities as the cause of their leaving, rather than 

academic problems. To fully understand the role of academic achievement in motivating students 

to leave postsecondary education would require more extensive analysis than is possible here, 

including detailed questioning of how work and family life affect students’ academic 

performance and persistence. 

Attained Credentials 

What is the distribution of credentials attained by beginning postsecondary 

students? What percentage earned occupational credentials? 

Thus far, this report has examined students based on their initial credential goals. In this 

section, beginning students are categorized according to the type of credential they earned rather 
51 

Table 3.4.—Percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students with cumulative 

Table 3.4.—GPA below 2.25, by persistence and attainment status, and initial credential goal: 2001 

Students' initial credential goal All students

Still enrolled or 

attained credential

Not enrolled, no 

credential

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 4.8 3.3 11.9

Subbaccalaureate credential 5.9 4.6 9.6 !

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 5.4 3.5 10.4 !

nnnnCertificate 4.8 ! ‡ ‡

nnnnAssociate's degree 5.5 3.4 ! 11.3 !

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 7.5 ! 6.7 ! ‡

nnnnCertificate ‡‡‡

nnnnAssociate's degree 7.7 ! 7.0 ! ‡

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 5.4 ! 5.0 ! ‡

Baccalaureate credential 3.8 2.3 16.6

nnCareer baccalaureate 4.3 2.8 17.3

nnAcademic baccalaureate 3.3 1.4 ! 19.0

nnUndeclared baccalaureate 3.6 2.2 14.2

! Interpret data with caution. Standard error is more than one-third as large as the estimate.

‡ Reporting standards not met. Too few cases to report.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and students 

enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, associate’s 

degree, or transfer to a less-than-4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes students enrolled at 4-year 

institutions whose initial credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher degree or transfer to a 4-year institution. 

Associate’s degree category includes students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions whose goal was to earn 

an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-year or 4-year institution, or complete a bachelor’s degree. Occupational, 

career, and academic categories are defined in exhibit 1.1. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

than their initial credential goal; in other words, students are now categorized based on their 

educational endpoint rather than their starting point. The credential groupings are similar to those 

in the previous sections but include an additional category for students who attained a credential 

of undetermined type. This analysis delineates the credentials earned by 1995–96 beginning 

credential-seeking students as of 2001, with the constraint that credentials beyond the bachelor’s 

degree are not included (because BPS:96/01 did not collect information on credentials beyond 

the baccalaureate). 

Since students can earn more than one credential over a 6-year period, students’ 

credential attainment is categorized in two ways: 
52 

1. Percentage of students who attained a specific type of credential at any point during 

their 1995–2001 postsecondary experience (overlapping categories); and 

2. Percentage of students who attained a specific type of credential as their highest 

credential award from 1995 to 2001 (nonoverlapping or mutually exclusive 

categories). 

Both sets of percentages are listed in table 3.5.25 The two analyses yield similar results, as 

multiple-credential attainment was not common over this 6-year period. The next chapter of the 

report, which focuses on the economic outcomes of postsecondary occupational education, 

examines students based on their highest credential attainment (the rightmost column in table 

3.5). This table thus serves as an introduction to the population for the analysis of economic 

outcomes. 

Table 3.5 shows that among the 1995–96 beginning credential-seeking students who 

obtained a credential by 2001, 37 percent earned occupational credentials, with 21 percent 

earning occupational certificates and 18 percent earning occupational associate’s degrees. (Two 

percent earned both.) Academic subbaccalaureate credentials were less common, with only 7 

percent of completers earning these credentials. Occupational fields were also relatively common 

among baccalaureate degree earners; 35 percent of completers earned baccalaureate degrees in 

career fields compared to 25 percent who earned academic baccalaureate degrees. 

Because about 5 percent of these completers obtained a bachelor’s degree as well as a 

subbaccalaureate credential, the percentage of completers who obtained a subbaccalaureate 

credential as their highest credential declines to 39 percent (from the 44 percent who earned a 

subbaccalaureate credential). Academic subbaccalaureate credentials are sometimes intended as 

transfer credentials, so it may not be surprising that although 7 percent of students earned 

academic subbaccalaureate credentials, only 4 percent earned these credentials as their highest 

 

25 Table 3.5 presents percentages of completers (students with credentials) with each type of credential while table 

3.1 presents percentages of credential seekers with each type of credential; thus, the percentages in the two tables are 

not comparable. 
53 

Table 3.5.—Percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students with a 

Table 3.5.—credential who earned each type of credential, and who earned each type of credential 

Table 3.5.—as their highest credential: 2001

Type of credential earned

Percent 

who earned 

credential1

Percent who earned 

credential as 

highest2

nnnnnTotal, all credential attainers 100.0 100.0

Subbaccalaureate credential 43.7 38.5

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 37.3 33.4

nnnnCertificate 20.6 19.2

nnnnAssociate's degree 17.8 14.2

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 6.5 4.2

nnnnCertificate 1.0 ! 0.5 !

nnnnAssociate's degree 5.8 3.7

nnSubbaccalaureate, major unknown 1.2 0.9 !

Baccalaureate credential 58.8 58.8

nnCareer baccalaureate 34.5 33.6

nnAcademic baccalaureate 24.9 24.8

nnBaccalaureate, major unknown 0.4 ! 0.4 !

Attained credential, level and major unknown 2.8 2.8

! Interpret data with caution. Standard error is more than one-third as large as the estimate. 

1

 Detail sums to more than 100 because students could earn more than one credential.

2

 Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

NOTE: Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined in exhibit 1.1. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

credential. However, even some occupational credentials were combined with higher credentials; 

although 37 percent of students earned subbaccalaureate occupational credentials, a smaller 

percentage (33 percent) earned them as their highest credential. 

Finally, it is interesting to compare the findings in table 1.1, showing the percentage of 

beginning students intending to attain each credential, with table 3.5, showing the percentage of 

credential attainers who received each credential. The differences in the tables reflect losses due 

to students dropping out of school, as well as students who are still enrolled and student mobility 

across credentials of different levels and types. For example, in 1995–96, 58 percent of 
54 

beginning students expected to attain a subbaccalaureate credential and 42 percent expected to 

attain a baccalaureate credential; in 2001, however, these percentages were reversed, with 44 

percent of students who had attained a credential having earned a subbaccalaureate credential 

and 59 percent having earned a baccalaureate credential. As noted earlier in this chapter, 

baccalaureate-seeking students are more likely to attain a credential than are their 

subbaccalaureate peers; this reversal reflects in part the effects of that attainment rate difference. 

Summary 

Obtaining a postsecondary credential and persisting toward a credential are important 

educational outcomes. According to this analysis, 60 percent of 1995–96 beginning students who 

intended to earn a credential in occupational areas had earned a postsecondary credential or were 

still enrolled as of 2001, and 48 percent of these credential seekers had earned a credential (table 

3.1). 

Compared to baccalaureate students, occupational students do not fare as well, as they are 

less likely than baccalaureate students to persist or attain a credential; however, this appears to be 

a subbaccalaureate versus baccalaureate difference, as both occupational and academic 

subbaccalaureate students have lower persistence-and-attainment rates than their baccalaureate 

peers, but are not measurably different from each other on this outcome (table 3.1). The same 

pattern is found when comparing credential attainment rates. However, these findings mask one 

important difference among the subbaccalaureate groups: Occupational associate’s degreeseeking students are more likely than their academic counterparts to “downgrade” their credential 

when they attain one—that is, to get a certificate rather than a degree (figure 3.3). Another 

reason academic associate’s degree seekers are more likely than their occupational counterparts 

to get at least an associate’s degree is that they switch to occupational associate’s degrees at a 

relatively high rate. Finally, occupational certificate students fare better than occupational 

associate’s degree seekers, as they are more likely than both groups of associate’s degree seekers 

to earn a credential over a 6-year period (table 3.1). 
55 

Students in BPS:96/01 were not asked why they attained a credential that was lower than 

their initial goal, but those who left school were asked why they did so, and these reasons may 

also be relevant to the “downgrading” issue. The most common reason for leaving given by the 

40 percent of occupational students who had done so by 2001 was job or financial demands, 

followed by family demands and moving to another city or state (table 3.3). At least the first two 

of these reasons for leaving could also motivate students to switch to a shorter educational 

program (downgrade), as well as to leave school. 

Overall, occupational and academic subbaccalaureate students leave school for similar 

reasons, although academic subbaccalaureate students are less likely to leave due to 

dissatisfaction or academic problems than are occupational students (table 3.3). Compared to 

baccalaureate students, subbaccalaureate students are more likely to leave for a variety of 

reasons, including job or financial demands, family demands, moving, and having taken desired 

classes (even though all of these students had originally said they were seeking a credential). 

Many of these reasons are likely a result of the older age and stronger connection to the labor 

market (i.e., more working students, more students identified as “enrolled employees”) 

characteristic of subbaccalaureate students, and many can indirectly affect student performance. 

However, dissatisfaction and academic problems do not appear to (directly) motivate 

subbaccalaureate students to leave more often than baccalaureate students, at least according to 

students’ reports. Finally, certificate students are less likely than other subbaccalaureate students 

to leave because of job or financial demands. This finding suggests the value of short, skillsfocused programs for some students; these programs may interfere less with jobs and can provide 

at least entry-level labor market skills relatively quickly. The extent to which these advantages 

translate into labor market benefits is an issue addressed in the next chapter. 

57 

Chapter 4: Labor Market Outcomes of Occupational Education 

Postsecondary education can be costly for both individuals and for society.26 These costs 

are presumed to be outweighed by the benefits education provides in terms of increased earnings 

and productivity in the labor market, making education a good investment for individuals and 

society. Human capital theory provides a framework for understanding these educational benefits 

(Becker 1962, 1975). This theory postulates that education has positive labor market benefits 

because it provides individuals with the skills and knowledge (i.e., human capital) needed by 

employers, who then reward this attainment through their hiring and salary practices. As 

discussed below, extensive literature documents these labor market benefits of education (or the 

“returns to education,” in economic terms), based on the years of education completed and the 

level of the educational credential attained. This section of the report uses BPS:96/01 data to 

examine the labor market benefits received by students who complete an occupational credential 

(i.e., an occupational certificate or associate’s degree). First, however, this section summarizes 

some of the more recent literature that focuses specifically on the attainment of subbaccalaureate 

credentials. 

An earlier NCES study used BPS data from 1995–96 to 1998 (BPS:96/98) and the 

National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88, a longitudinal study of students who 

were in the eighth grade in 1988) to examine community college students’ reports of the effect of 

their education on their labor market outcomes (Hoachlander, Sikora, and Horn 2003).27 In both 

the BPS:96/98 and NELS:88 analyses, community college students who completed a credential 

reported more positive labor market outcomes than those who had not completed a credential. 

These data suggest positive labor market outcomes for attaining a subbaccalaureate credential, 

but they are based on subjective, indirect measures of those outcomes. Other studies have used 

 

26 Individuals’ costs include not just tuition and fees but also foregone earnings for those who do not work or work 

only part time while in school; society’s costs include financial aid support and other education subsidies as well as 

lost tax revenues from foregone earnings. 

27 The outcomes reported in Hoachlander, Sikora, and Horn (2003) were whether enrollment improved salary, 

increased job responsibilities, or increased job opportunities (from BPS:96/98) and whether postsecondary education 

led to a higher salary, better jobs, more responsibility, promotion opportunities, or improved job performance (from 

NELS:88). 
58 

national-level data to examine more objective, direct measures of labor market outcomes, such as 

earnings and labor force participation. For example, using the Current Population Survey, Day 

and Newburger (2002) reported that the average annual earnings of full-time, year-round 

workers between 1997 and 1999 for those who had earned an associate’s degree was $38,200, 

which was $1,400 more than individuals with some college but no credential, and $7,800 more 

than high school graduates with no postsecondary education. 

In recent reviews of studies on the returns to a subbaccalaureate education, Grubb (1997, 

2002) concludes that the evidence is mixed for an economic payoff to subbaccalaureate 

education that does not lead to an associate’s degree (after controlling for students’ background 

characteristics). Grubb’s later study summarized the findings from several national longitudinal 

datasets28 and, in some cases, found measurable gains in the earnings of men who obtain a 

certificate in engineering and computer fields, and for both men and women with certificates in 

health-related fields, compared to individuals with no additional schooling beyond high school; 

however, most other students who earned a certificate did not experience improved economic 

outcomes. On the other hand, Grubb finds that individuals who complete an associate’s degree 

earn, on average, between 20 to 30 percent more than high school graduates without any 

additional education. Similarly, Kane and Rouse (1995) found that individuals (particularly 

women) with associate’s degrees have higher earnings than similar individuals with a high 

school diploma only. 

In a recent report conducted for the National Assessment of Vocational Education, 

Bailey, Kienzl, and Marcotte (2004) used three nationally representative longitudinal datasets—

High School and Beyond, NELS:88, and BPS:1989/94—to analyze economic returns among 

students with differing amounts of postsecondary education accumulated with and without a 

credential, as well as by the type of credential earned and area of study (occupational or 

academic). In general, the evidence presented in their study suggests a positive benefit to a 

subbaccalaureate education when compared to high school graduation (only), but no greater 

benefit for occupational subbaccalaureate rather than academic subbaccalaureate students. For 

 

28 The following longitudinal datasets were used by the studies reviewed by Grubb (2002): National Longitudinal 

Survey of the Class of 1972, High School and Beyond, National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, Survey of Income 

and Program Participation, and National Adult Literacy Survey. 
59 

example, their findings from NELS:88 show that subbaccalaureate students are more likely than 

high school graduates to participate in the labor force, be employed full time, and have higher 

wage rates and earnings. Their analysis of BPS:1989/94 compared credential completers to 

students who completed less than three full-time equivalent (FTE) months of postsecondary 

school; this analysis found mixed results, with increased salaries for younger women (age 24 or 

less) and for older men (over age 24) who earned occupational associate’s degrees. 

Comparisons of postsecondary credential completers with those who never entered 

postsecondary education are most useful for showing the effects of each additional year of 

postsecondary education beyond high school and for showing the “full effect” of attaining a 

postsecondary credential versus not entering postsecondary education at all. However, this “full 

effect” includes a selection effect, as those who do not enter postsecondary education may differ 

from those who do enter on a number of dimensions that may also be related to labor market 

outcomes (e.g., motivation, intelligence, long-term career focus).29 In other words, part of the 

reason students with an associate’s degree earn more than those who never entered 

postsecondary education may be that those who enter postsecondary education are simply more 

motivated to make money than those who do not enter postsecondary education, which leads 

both to the former group’s postsecondary credential and—independent of that credential—higher 

earnings (e.g., by being more motivated to work longer hours on the job, participate in job 

training, etc.). To remove this selection effect, one needs a different study design—specifically, a 

study that uses a data set like BPS, limited to individuals who all entered postsecondary 

education. 

Another advantage to using BPS data is that it allows for an examination of the 

“sheepskin effect.” This term refers to a common empirical issue in the returns to education 

literature (Belman and Heywood 1991; Blair, Finn, and Stevenson 1981; Card 1999; Heywood 

1994; Jaeger and Page 1996)—does attaining a credential provide added benefits beyond staying 

in school for however long it takes to earn the credential? If it does, the credential is said to 

confer a sheepskin effect, as the credential itself has value beyond the years of education 

 

29 Some studies attempt to control for these potential differences (e.g., by controlling for high school grades or 

standardized test scores; see Card 1999, Heckman 1979, Kienzl 2005, Willis and Rosen 1979); however, such 

controls are proxy measures and thus likely to be imperfect. 
60 

completed. Some analysts have found that in terms of effects on earnings, a credential may 

matter more than the years of schooling completed in order to attain the credential, especially for 

women and minorities (Belman and Heywood 1991, Card 1999). 

Thus, the main questions of interest in this chapter are: Do students who earn 

occupational credentials have better labor market outcomes than students who enroll in 

postsecondary education but do not earn a postsecondary credential? Does the type of credential 

(certificate versus associate’s degree) matter? Are labor market benefits fully explained by the 

years of education that students complete (a proxy for human capital development), or is there an 

additional sheepskin effect? To examine these issues, the chapter focuses on a different group of 

students than was examined in previous chapters. Instead of looking at students who intend to 

earn an occupational credential, this chapter focuses on 1995–96 beginning students who 

attained an occupational credential by 2001 (regardless of their initial credential goal), 

categorized by the type of credential they attained (as listed in table 3.5 in the previous chapter). 

The labor market outcomes of these credential completers are compared to those of students who 

intended to earn an occupational credential but who, as of 2000, had left school without attaining 

any credential (i.e., the chapter compares occupational completers with occupational 

noncompleters).30

This chapter also uses regression analyses to control for differences in students’ 

backgrounds that may make educational effects on labor market outcomes more difficult to 

observe. The regression analyses also allow for an examination of sheepskin effects, by allowing 

for the simultaneous control of credential attainment and years of education. Thus, the chapter 

begins with descriptive, cross-tabular analyses showing the labor market outcomes of 

occupational completers and noncompleters, then presents a series of regression equations on 

selected outcomes to help disentangle the effects of student background, credential attainment, 

and years of education on labor market outcomes. In the cross-tabular analyses, both 

occupational certificate and occupational associate’s degree completers are compared to, 

respectively, occupational certificate and occupational associate’s degree noncompleters, to 

determine whether there is an advantage to earning either credential over earning no 

 

30 Students enrolled in school in 2001 were excluded from this analysis. 
61 

postsecondary credential. In addition, occupational certificate completers are compared to 

occupational associate’s degree completers, to determine whether there is an added advantage to 

earning an associate’s degree above any advantage to earning a certificate. 

The outcomes examined in this chapter are listed below; each outcome is constructed 

based on former students’ self-reports of their labor force status in 2001: 

• labor force participation rate (defined below); 

• employment rate (defined below); 

• unemployment rate (defined below); 

• percent of employed former students who are working full time; 

• percent of employed former students who are working in an occupation related to 

their field of study; and 

• average annual salary of employed former students. 

Labor force participation rate. Consistent with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS),31

this rate indicates the proportion of the total population that is either employed or not employed 

but looking for work: 

Labor force participation = (Number employed + Number not employed but looking for 

work) / Number in total population 

By including both those in employment and those seeking employment, the labor force 

participation rate provides an indicator of labor force interest (i.e., of the extent to which 

individuals choose to participate in the labor force, regardless of whether they are able to get a 

job). 

 

31 Bureau of Labor Statistics definitions for the three labor force terms defined here can be found at 

http:/bls.gov/bls/glossary.htm. 
62 

Employment rate. Consistent with BLS (which uses the term “employment-population 

ratio”), the employment rate indicates the proportion of the total population that is employed: 

 

Employment rate = Number employed / Number in total population 

Thus, the employment rate provides an overall measure of the extent of employment, regardless 

of whether individuals seek to be employed. This measure is useful as an indicator of the extent 

to which individuals are both willing and able to get a job, (i.e., the extent to which employment 

is “achieved” among a population). 

Unemployment rate. As traditionally calculated by BLS, the unemployment rate is a 

measure of the extent to which those who want a job are unable to find one: 

Unemployment rate = Number not employed but looking for work / (Number employed + 

Number not employed but looking for work) 

The unemployment rate can thus be considered an indicator of how successful labor force 

participants are at finding work. 

Descriptive Findings 

As discussed below, the descriptive analyses found few measurable differences in labor 

market outcomes between occupational certificate completers and noncompleters, between 

occupational associate’s degree completers and noncompleters, and between completers who 

earned an occupational associate’s degree rather than an occupational certificate. 

To what extent do occupational program completers participate in the labor market 

and to what extent are they employed? How do occupational completers compare to 

noncompleters on these employment characteristics? How do occupational associate’s 

degree completers compare to certificate completers? 
63 

Labor force participation rate. The labor force participation rate was 94 percent for 

occupational certificate completers and 93 percent for occupational associate’s degree 

completers (table 4.1). Labor force participation rates were not found to be related to program 

completion: No measurable differences were found between occupational certificate completers 

and noncompleters, between occupational associate’s degree completers and noncompleters, or 

between occupational certificate and associate’s degree completers in the percentage who were 

in the labor force in 2001. 

Completion and credential status

In labor 

force Employed

Employed 

full time

Occupational subbaccalaureate completer 94.0 87.0 75.1 86.4 7.4

 Certificate completer 94.4 87.1 72.8 83.6 7.8

 Associate's degree completer 93.3 86.9 79.3 91.2 6.9 !

Occupational subbaccalaureate noncompleter 92.9 85.2 75.4 88.5 8.3

 Certificate noncompleter 88.9 74.4 61.3 82.3 16.3 !

 Associate's degree noncompleter 94.3 89.2 80.6 90.4 5.4 !

Table 4.1. Percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students with each labor force 

Table 4.1. characteristic, by students' completion and credential status: 2001 

Percent of all respondents Percent of

workers 

employed 

full time

Unemployment rate1

! Interpret data with caution. Standard error is more than one-third as large as the estimate.

1 Unemployment rate is the number of individuals who are not working and are seeking work divided by the number 

of individuals in the labor force (working, or not working and seeking work).

NOTE: Occupational categories are defined in exhibit 1.1. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary 

Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

Employment rate. Eighty-seven percent of occupational certificate completers and of 

occupational associate’s degree completers were employed in 2001 (table 4.1). Certificate 

completers had a higher rate of employment than did certificate noncompleters (87 versus 74 

percent), although no measurable difference was found in the employment rates of associate’s 

degree completers and noncompleters (87 and 89 percent, respectively). Thus, occupational 

certificate completion, but not occupational associate’s degree completion, was associated with a 

higher rate of entry into employment (compared to noncompletion). This finding, in combination 

with the finding for labor force participation rates, suggests that occupational certificate 
64 

noncompleters may have a higher unemployment rate than certificate completers. Unfortunately, 

as seen below, the findings for unemployment rate do not help to resolve this issue. 

Full-time employment. Seventy-three percent of occupational certificate completers and 

79 percent of occupational associate’s degree completers worked full time in 2001 (table 4.1). 

For both occupational groups, completers were not found to differ from noncompleters in their 

likelihood of working full time. This was true both among former students overall, and among 

those who were employed. Among former students who were employed, certificate completers 

were less likely than associate’s degree completers to work full time (84 versus 91 percent, 

respectively). It is unclear, however, whether this difference is unique to program completers; a 

difference of similar size—although not statistically significant—was observed among 

occupational certificate and associate’s degree noncompleters.32

Unemployment rate. As seen in table 4.1, the unemployment rate was 8 percent for 

occupational certificate completers and 7 percent for occupational associate’s degree completers. 

Occupational noncompleters do not appear to have a more difficult time finding a job than do 

completers; no measurable relationship was found between unemployment rates and any of the 

completion/noncompletion groups, although occupational certificate noncompleters had an 8 

percentage point higher unemployment rate than did occupational certificate completers (8 

versus 16 percent). The relatively large standard error for these noncompleters may account for 

this lack of statistical relationship (table B-4.1). 

To what extent are occupational program completers employed in jobs related to 

their field of study? Are occupational completers more likely than noncompleters to have 

related jobs? How do occupational associate’s degree completers and occupational 

certificate completers compare on this measure? 

 

Most occupational program completers who worked reported that they were employed in 

a job related to their field of study (table 4.2). There are many reasons why students who 

 

32 These percentages were 82 and 90 percent respectively, and the standard error for certificate noncompleters was 

relatively large (table B-4.1). 
65 

Table 4.2.—Percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

Table 4.2.—students who were working, by relatedness of their job to their classes, and students' 

Completion and credential status

Occupational subbaccalaureate completer 70.1 29.9

 Certificate completer 67.6 32.4

 Associate's degree completer 74.5 25.5

Occupational subbaccalaureate noncompleter 46.2 53.8

 Certificate noncompleter 57.8 42.3

 Associate's degree noncompleter 42.6 57.4

NOTE: Occupational categories are defined in exhibit 1.1. Detail may not sum to 100 because of 

rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

Closely or 

somewhat related

Not 

related

Table 4.2.—completion and credential status: 2001

complete an occupational program might be more likely than noncompleters to end up in a job 

related to their field of study. The most obvious reason is that program completers have acquired 

the skills and credentials necessary for a job in their study field, while noncompleters have fewer 

skills and no educational credential. In addition, noncompleters may have failed to complete 

their educational program because they realized they did not have sufficient interest or ability to 

pursue that field of study (and work), while completers presumably had sufficient interest and 

ability. Given these factors, it is perhaps not surprising to find that, among those who worked, 

occupational associate’s degree completers were more likely than noncompleters to work in a job 

related to their field of study (75 versus 43 percent, respectively). Although 68 percent of 

occupational certificate completers were employed in a job related to their field of study, 

compared to 58 percent of occupational certificate noncompleters, this difference was not 

statistically significant, possibly due to the relatively large standard error for certificate 

noncompleters (table B-4.2). No measurable difference was found in the likelihood that 

occupational certificate versus associate’s degree completers worked in a job related to their field 

of study. 
66 

What is the average salary earned by occupational program completers, and how 

does this compare to the salary earned by noncompleters? Do occupational associate’s 

degree completers earn a higher salary than certificate completers? 

The average 2001 salary of occupational certificate completers was $25,900. This was 

lower than the average salary of occupational associate’s degree completers, which was $30,100 

(table 4.3). However, at least some of this difference appears to be due to the higher rate of fulltime employment among associate’s degree completers. Comparing only full-time workers, there 

was no measurable difference in the 2001 salaries of these groups ($27,900 versus $30,700, 

respectively). No measurable relationship was found between average 2001 salary and credential 

completion for either former certificate or associate’s degree students overall or for those 

working full time. As will be seen below, however, there is one subgroup of former students for 

whom occupational education is linked to higher salaries. 

Table 4.3.—Average annual salary in 2000 of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postTable 4.3.—secondary students who worked, by students' completion and credential status: 2001

Completion and credential status All workers

Part-time 

workers

Full-time 

workers

Occupational subbaccalaureate completer $27,400 $17,000 $29,000

 Certificate completer 25,900 15,200 27,900

 Associate's degree completer 30,100 23,000 30,700

Occupational subbaccalaureate noncompleter 26,200 12,800 28,000

 Certificate noncompleter 24,400 14,100 ! 26,600

 Associate's degree noncompleter 26,700 12,100 28,400

! Interpret data with caution. Standard error is more than one-third as large as the estimate. 

NOTE: Occupational categories are defined in exhibit 1.1.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

Regression Analysis 

The results above suggest there is not much of a labor market advantage to completing a 

postsecondary credential (beyond attending postsecondary education at all). However, it is 

possible that these descriptive findings mask an underlying effect. For example, males earn more 
67 

than females at equivalent education levels (Ryan 2005), so if males are more likely than females 

to drop out of postsecondary occupational programs, their higher earnings could mask an 

education effect in these data. Similarly, workers with more experience tend to earn more than 

workers with less experience (Heckman, Lochner, and Todd 2006; Mincer 1974), so if older 

workers (who tend to be more experienced) are more likely to drop out than are younger 

workers, this also could mask an education effect. To control for these and other differences in 

the sociodemographic backgrounds of (former) students, this section of the chapter presents a 

regression analysis predicting three key outcomes—employment rate, full-time employment, and 

average salary—from the variables listed below: 

• whether students earned an occupational certificate as their highest credential; 

• whether students earned an occupational associate’s degree as their highest credential; 

• years of education completed (in full-time equivalency, or FTE); 

• students’ sex; 

• students’ age; 

• students’ race/ethnicity; 

• family SES at initial school entry (unless student is independent, then own SES); and 

• whether students were “employees enrolled in school” (a proxy measure to control for 

labor market experience). 

Particularly for occupational subbaccalaureate students, it is possible that years of 

education is more strongly related to labor market outcomes than is credential attainment. The 

regression analyses tested this hypothesis by including the amount of education completed as 

well as the attainment of an occupational certificate or associate’s degree as independent 

variables.33 It is also possible that salary benefits accrue only to students who enter an occupation 

related to their study area. So the variable indicating whether (former) students are working in an 

occupation related to their field of study was included in the regression predicting average salary. 

 

33 Regression equations were first run with the attained credentials variable but not with years of education; 

however, those regressions found no significant effects for credential attainment. Thus, only the regression analyses 

that include years of education are presented here. The analyses include only students who were seeking or had 

received a sub-baccalaureate credential; however, the years of education variable includes all education these 

students received during the 6-year period, at either the sub-baccalaureate or baccalaureate level. 
68 

Finally, interactions were tested between sex and highest credential earned, between sex and 

years of education completed, and between working in a related occupation and years of 

education completed;34 most of these interactions were found to be nonsignificant and thus were 

dropped from the final regression models. The one significant interaction (between working in a 

related occupation and years of education completed) in the prediction of salary was retained in 

the regression equation predicting that outcome. 

Linear regression methods assume a continuous, normally distributed outcome variable. 

When the outcome variable does not meet these assumptions, a different regression method must 

be used. Thus, to predict the dichotomous outcomes of employment and full-time employment, 

logistic regression was used. To predict the non-normally distributed (skewed) continuous salary 

outcome, semi-log regression was used (Mincer 1974). These regression methods are more fully 

explained in appendix A. 

Some Caveats 

Three cautions are in order before presenting the regression results. First, regression is a 

correlational analysis method and thus does not support causal inference. In other words, finding 

that one or more predictor variables (covariates) are related to an “outcome” variable (e.g., that 

years of education is related to salary) does not mean that the covariate is the cause of the 

outcome. For example, another variable not included in the regression model could be related to 

both the covariate and outcome variable and be the cause of both. However, education’s effects 

on labor market outcomes are generally accepted within the framework of human capital theory 

(e.g., Becker 1962, 1975; Cameron and Heckman 1998; Card 1999; Heckman 1979; Mincer 

1974; Willis and Rosen 1979). 

Second, it is important to bear in mind that this analysis examines only short-term labor 

market outcomes measured, on average, about 3 years after students had completed their 

education. It is possible that the labor market benefits that accrue to students who earn 

 

34 The hypothesis for this last interaction, derived from human capital theory, is that years of education is related to 

salary only when individuals are employed in jobs related to their education (i.e., only when their human capital is 

of the correct currency). 
69 

credentials come not immediately after they enter the labor market, but years later, as their 

credentials are transferred to job skills that then are rewarded over time (Hollenbeck 1993; Leigh 

and Gill 1997). A different analysis, using a longitudinal study over a longer time frame, would 

be necessary to examine the relationship between education and labor market benefits over one’s 

lifetime. In addition, these labor market outcomes are also point-in-time measures that do not 

capture individuals’ full labor market history since leaving school; a richer employment outcome 

variable could produce different findings. 

Finally, the regression analyses performed here are relatively basic and are not assumed 

to present a complete analysis of the issue of educational labor market outcomes. The intention 

here is to merely move a step beyond the simple bivariate analyses to see if relationships 

between educational attainment and labor market outcomes can be found when some of the more 

obvious possible confounding variables are controlled. It is left to the research community to 

provide a more thorough analysis, using these or other data. 

Likelihood of being employed. This regression model (table 4.4) predicted whether a 

former student was employed, from among those in and out of the labor force. No relationship 

was detected between a former student’s likelihood of being employed and whether or not the 

student attained either an occupational certificate or an occupational associate’s degree. 

Likewise, no differences were found in the likelihood that former students with more years of 

education were employed compared to students with fewer years of education. These results 

differ from the bivariate analysis, where those with an occupational certificate were more likely 

to be employed than those without a certificate (and where students’ background characteristics 

were not held constant). 

Full-time employment. The analysis of “likelihood of being employed” combines 

former students’ participation in the labor force with their ability to get a job. The second 

regression focused on only former students who were employed, thus removing labor force 

participation rates from the equation, and focused on a more stringent outcome, full-time 
70 

Educational and demographic characteristics Coefficient

Standard 

error

Marginal 

effect

Standard 

error

Years of full-time equivalent postsecondary education 0.20 0.151 0.02 0.014

Highest credential attained (Reference category: Did not

nnnattain a credential or still enrolled )

nnAttained certificate 0.36 0.309 0.04 0.028

nnAttained associate's degree -0.02 0.292 # †

Sex (Reference category: Male )

nnFemale -0.91 0.492 -0.09 0.035

Race/ethnicity1 (Reference category: White, non-Hispanic )

nnBlack, non-Hispanic 0.14 0.651 0.01 0.057

nnHispanic 1.03 * 0.323 0.10 0.019

nnOther, non-Hispanic 0.62 0.682 0.06 0.044

Age (Reference category: 16–18 years old )

nn19 years old -0.62 0.543 -0.06 0.070

nn20–23 years old -0.82 0.621 -0.08 0.095

nn24 years or older -0.91 * 0.311 -0.09 0.040

Family socio-economic status (Reference category: 

nnnMiddle quartiles)

nnLowest quartile -0.28 0.364 -0.03 0.039

nnHighest quartile 0.67 0.511 0.06 0.032

Student/employee role (Reference category: Student

nnnworking to meet expenses)

nnEmployee enrolled in classes 0.16 0.379 0.02 0.036

Intercept (constant) 2.44 * 0.591

Adjusted R-squared 0.046 *

Number of observations 1,193

Table 4.4. Logistic regression results for 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary occupational 

Table 4.4. students, estimating employment from students' educational and demographic characteristics: 

Table 4.4. 2001

† Not applicable.

# Estimate rounds to zero.

* p < .05. 1 Black, non-Hispanic includes African American, Hispanic includes Latino, and Other, non-Hispanic includes 

Asian, Native Hawaiian, Other Pacific Islander, American Indian, and Alaska Native.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).
71 

employment (table 4.5). However, even among this population of workers, no differences were 

found in the probability of full-time employment for those with and without an occupational 

credential, or for those with more or fewer years of education. These findings mirror those of the 

bivariate analysis. 

Educational and demographic characteristics Coefficient

Standard 

error

Marginal 

effect

Standard 

error

Years of full-time equivalent postsecondary education -0.10 0.084 -0.02 0.012

Highest credential attained (Reference category: Did not

nnnattain a credential or still enrolled )

nnAttained certificate -0.01 0.288 # †

nnAttained associate's degree 0.62 0.316 0.09 0.035

Sex (Reference category: Male )

nnFemale -0.93 * 0.348 -0.14 0.049

Race/ethnicity1 (Reference category: White, non-Hispanic )

nnBlack, non-Hispanic -0.06 0.484 -0.01 0.073

nnHispanic -0.33 0.551 -0.05 0.095

nnOther, non-Hispanic -0.62 0.506 -0.09 0.103

Age (Reference category: 16–18 years old )

nn19 years old -0.03 0.536 # †

nn20–23 years old -0.41 0.548 -0.06 0.095

nn24 years or older -0.46 0.395 -0.07 0.064

Family socio-economic status (Reference category: 

nnnMiddle quartiles)

nnLowest quartile 0.07 0.216 0.01 0.031

nnHighest quartile 0.19 0.478 0.03 0.064

Student/employee role (Reference category: Student

nnn working to meet expenses)

nnEmployee enrolling in classes 0.71 0.389 0.10 0.046

Intercept (constant) 2.23 * 0.511

Adjusted R-squared 0.036 *

Number of observations 1,106

Table 4.5. Logistic regression results for 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary occupational 

Table 4.5. students who were employed, estimating full-time employment from students' educational and 

Table 4.5. demographic characteristics: 2001

† Not applicable. 

# Estimate rounds to zero.

* p < .05. 1

 Black, non-Hispanic includes African American, Hispanic includes Latino, and Other, non-Hispanic includes 

Asian, Native Hawaiian, Other Pacific Islander, American Indian, and Alaska Native.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).
72 

Average salary. Employment outcomes may not be a robust indicator of success in the 

labor market, particularly when unemployment rates are low, as they were during 2001.35 When 

obtaining a job is relatively easy, salary may be a more useful measure of labor market success. 

The third regression analysis thus predicted the average salary earned by former students, for 

those who were employed full time (table 4.6). As was true in the bivariate analysis, this analysis 

also did not find a relationship between earning an occupational credential and salary; however, 

there was an interaction based on years of education and the relatedness of the job to one’s field 

of study. Figure 4.1 plots this interaction, for the “average” former student who worked full time 

in 2001. As seen in that figure, average salary increased with years of education—but only for 

former students who were employed in a job that was related to their field of study. For former 

students who did not work in a job related to their field of study, years of education did not 

appear to have an effect; average salary was not found to differ for those with more or fewer 

years of education. 

Summary 

This examination of labor market outcomes is relatively simple and is based only on 

correlational analyses. More rigorous studies should be conducted to provide more conclusive 

evidence of the relationship between earning a postsecondary occupational credential, years of 

education, and labor market outcomes. In this study, obtaining a postsecondary occupational 

credential was not found to be related to employment rates or to salary, but years of education 

was related to salary (only) among those in jobs related to their education (tables 4.4–4.6). This 

finding is consistent with human capital theory, which postulates that the skills and knowledge 

(human capital) attained through education are valuable commodities in the labor market. Under 

this theory, the job-specific skills provided through occupational education should have labor 

market benefits only if the worker is employed in a job that uses those skills. These findings also 

are consistent with the role of skill development (rather than a “sheepskin”) in fostering labor 

market success. In sum, the relationship between salary and years of education for those in 

training-related jobs supports the argument that in the short term, postsecondary occupational 

 

35 In 2001, the average monthly unemployment rate was 4.74. It averaged 5.59 in the 4 years after that (2002–2005), 

and averaged 6.59 from 1991–1995 and 4.61 from 1996–2000 (U.S. Department of Labor 2006). 
73 

Table 4.6.—Semi-log regression results for 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

Table 4.6.—occupational students who were working full time, estimating annual salary in 2000 

Table 4.6.—from students' educational and selected demographic characteristics: 2001

Educational and demographic characteristics Coefficient

Standard

error

Years of full-time equivalent (FTE) postsecondary education -0.01 0.029

Highest credential attained (Reference category: Did not attain

nnn a credential or still enrolled )

nnAttained certificate 0.01 0.055

nnAttained associate's degree 0.03 0.059

Sex (Reference category: Male )

nnFemale -0.29 * 0.045

Race/ethnicity1 (Reference category: White, non-Hispanic )

nnBlack, non-Hispanic 0.01 0.076

nnHispanic -0.09 0.068

nnOther, non-Hispanic 0.07 0.125

Age (Reference category: 16–18 years old )

nn19 years old -0.08 0.057

nn20–23 years old -0.09 0.065

nn24 years or older -0.03 0.064

Family socio-economic status (Reference category: Middle

nnn quartiles)

nnLowest quartile -0.06 0.038

nnHighest quartile 0.04 0.081

Student/employee role (Reference category: Student working

nnn to meet expenses)

nnEmployee enrolling in classes 0.09 0.055

Relatedness of employment (Reference category: Not related )

nnEmployment is related to field of study 0.01 0.069

Interaction of relatedness of employment and years of FTE 

nnnpostsecondary education 0.07 * 0.024

Intercept (constant) 10.24 * 0.081

Adjusted R-squared 0.198 *

Number of observations 817

* p < .05.

1

 Black, non-Hispanic includes African American, Hispanic includes Latino, and Other, non-Hispanic 

includes Asian, Native Hawaiian, Other Pacific Islander, American Indian, and Alaska Native.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

 
74 

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

01234

Years of full-time equivalent postsecondary education

Predicted 2000 salary 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary 

Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

Employment is not related

Employment is related

Figure 4.1. Predicted 2000 salary for 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning students who are fullFigure 4.1. time employees in 2000, by whether employment is related to field of study and years 

Figure 4.1. of full-time equivalent postsecondary education: 2001

$35,000

 0

education provides valuable job skills that are rewarded in the labor market (via salary)—as long 

as one works in a field that uses those skills. 

These findings may have implications for a number of educational decisions students 

make, such as whether to enroll in a shorter versus longer educational program, how long to 

remain in school, and the importance of having clear career goals. Although these findings do 

not provide evidence of the need for students to earn a subbaccalaureate credential as part of 

their postsecondary education, at least having the goal of completing a credential may be 

important in order to provide students with (a) the motivation to stay in school (and thus acquire 

more skills) and (b) a portfolio of coursework designed to maximize skill development within 

one’s chosen field. These are issues beyond the scope of this report but suggest avenues for 

further analysis and research.
75 

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Education Statistics. 
A-1 

Appendix A: Technical Notes and Methodology 

The data in this report come from the 1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students 

Longitudinal Study, including the 1995–96 base-year survey and its 1998 and 2001 follow-ups 

(BPS:96/01). This appendix provides more detail on the technical features of this survey and on 

the analyses conducted for this report. Included here is information on survey response rates, 

data reliability, weighting procedures, statistical analyses and testing procedures, and variables 

created for the analyses (i.e., derived variables). 

1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study 

The 1995–96 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study is composed of a 

subset of the students who participated in the 1995–96 National Postsecondary Student Aid 

Study (NPSAS:96). NPSAS:96 consisted of a nationally representative sample of students 

enrolled in all levels of postsecondary education during the 1995–96 academic year. The BPS 

sample was derived from that sample and comprises a nationally representative sample of 

students who began postsecondary education for the first time in 1995–96. 

Respondents were selected for inclusion in NPSAS:96 using a two-stage sampling 

design; the first stage involved selecting eligible institutions (derived from the 1993–94 

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System Institutional Characteristics [IPEDS IC] file), 

and the second stage was the selection of eligible respondents within each eligible institution. 

Approximately 9,500 institutions were identified in the IPEDS IC file. These eligible institutions 

were then partitioned into institutional strata based on level and control, and additional implicit 

stratification was done within each institution type by region and size. Sampling frames for 

selecting students consisted of enrollment lists or data files provided by the institutions for 

students enrolled during the NPSAS:96 year. The final NPSAS:96 sample included over 900 

postsecondary institutions and 62,000 postsecondary students, including 50,000 undergraduates. 
A-2 

The BPS sample consists of 12,080 undergraduates identified in NPSAS:96 as beginning 

postsecondary education for the first time in 1995–96. The first follow-up of the BPS cohort 

(BPS:96/98) was conducted in 1998, approximately 3 years after these students first enrolled, 

and the second follow-up (BPS:96/01) was conducted 6 years after the students had first 

enrolled. The Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study of 1996–2001 (BPS:96/01) 

consists of the data gathered in all three of these survey years. 

This report uses data from the base year BPS (BPS:96) to examine who enters 

postsecondary occupational education (in chapter 2) and data from the full BPS:96/01 for 

analyses of student persistence, attainment, and outcomes (in chapters 3 and 4). However, using 

the base-year BPS:96 data, the sample of beginning postsecondary students was further restricted 

for use in this report. To provide a relatively clean definition of postsecondary students, firsttime students who had not previously attained a high school diploma or its equivalent, such as a 

general educational development (GED) certificate, were excluded from the analysis. In addition, 

students who did not expect to earn a postsecondary credential at their first postsecondary 

institution, did not know which credential they expected to earn, or did not provide a response to 

this question are also omitted. These restrictions reduced the size of the base-year BPS:96 

sample used in this report by 24 percent, from 12,080 first-time postsecondary students to 9,221 

first-time credential-seeking students in 1995–96. About 17 percent of students were lost due to 

missing responses on the question about credential goals (including refusals and “don’t know” 

responses); about 6 percent were lost because they reported that they had no credential goal, and 

the remainder (about 1 percent) were lost because they did not have a high school diploma or 

equivalent. The use of sampling weights further restricted the sample to 7,274 students. 

(Sampling weights were not available for students who did not respond to the BPS 2001 followup; see discussion below under “Sampling Errors” and in Wine et al. 2002.) 

The BPS:96/01 student interviews were conducted using computer-assisted telephone 

interviews (CATI) and computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI). Data were also collected 

from the institutions in which the students were enrolled, the Central Processing System 

database, and the National Student Loan Data System. The CATI and CAPI systems were 

programmed with range editing and consistency edits. Multiple post-interview data cleaning 
A-3 

steps were also used to ensure internal consistency within items and to maintain skip-pattern 

relationships. Logical imputations were performed where appropriate, with the goal of 

maximizing the number of respondents to which each item applied. 

Response Rates 

Students in the BPS sample were initially surveyed in 1996, at the end of their first year 

in postsecondary education. They were interviewed again in 1998, 3 years after they had started, 

and interviewed for the last time in 2001, 6 years after starting school. Approximately 10,300 of 

the students who first began in 1995–96 were located and interviewed in the 1998 follow-up, for 

an overall weighted response rate of 79.8 percent. This response rate includes those who were 

nonrespondents in NPSAS:96; among NPSAS:96 respondents, the response rate was 85.9 

percent. For the second follow-up of the BPS cohort (BPS:96/01), all respondents to the first 

follow-up, as well as a subsample of nonrespondents in 1998, were eligible to be interviewed. 

Among these eligible students, about 9,200 students were located and interviewed, for a final 

weighted response rate of 83.6 percent. This rate was somewhat higher among respondents to 

both the 1996 and the 1998 interviews (87.4 percent). 

Nonresponse among cohort members causes bias in survey estimates when the outcomes 

of respondents and nonrespondents are different. A bias analysis was conducted on the 2001 

survey results to determine if any variables were significantly biased due to nonresponse, and 

weight adjustments were applied to the BPS:96/01 sample to reduce bias found due to unit 

nonresponse. After the weight adjustments, some variables were found to reflect zero bias, and 

for the remaining variables, the bias was not measurably different from zero. 

For more information on the BPS:96/98 survey, consult the Beginning Postsecondary 

Students Longitudinal Study First Follow-up 1996–98 (BPS:96/98) Methodology Report (Wine 

et al. 2000) and for more information on the BPS:96/01 survey, consult the Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study:1996–2001 (BPS:1996/2001) Methodology Report 

(Wine et al. 2002). 
A-4 

Data Reliability 

Estimates produced using data from BPS:96/01 are subject to two types of errors: 

sampling errors and nonsampling errors. Sampling errors occur because the data are collected 

from a sample rather than the whole population. Nonsampling errors are errors made in the 

collection and processing of data. 

 

Nonsampling Errors 

Nonsampling error is the term used to describe variations in the estimates that may be 

caused by population coverage limitations and data collection, processing, and reporting 

procedures. The sources of nonsampling errors are typically problems like unit and item 

nonresponse, respondents’ differing interpretations of the meaning of the questions, response 

differences related to the particular time the survey was conducted, and mistakes in data 

preparation. 

Another potential source of nonsampling error is response bias. Response bias occurs 

when respondents systematically misreport information in a study (intentionally or 

unintentionally). There are many different forms of response bias. One of the best known is 

social desirability bias, which occurs when respondents report what they believe is the response 

they “should” give. For example, when comparing self-reported measures of educational 

attainment with postsecondary transcripts from the same students, Adelman (2004) found that 

students tended to overstate their participation postsecondary education (although the correlation 

between these measures was 92 percent). Response bias may affect the accuracy of overall 

estimates, but it does not necessarily invalidate other results from a survey. If there are no 

systematic differences among specific groups under study in their tendency to give socially 

desirable responses, then comparisons of the different groups will accurately reflect differences 

among the groups. 
A-5 

Sampling Errors 

The sample of beginning postsecondary students selected for BPS:96/01 is just one of the 

many possible samples that could have been selected. Therefore, estimates produced from the 

BPS sample may differ from estimates that would have been produced from other potential 

samples. This type of variability is called sampling error because it arises from surveying a 

sample of beginning students, rather than all beginning students. 

The standard error is a measure of the variability due to sampling when estimating a 

statistic. Standard errors can be used as a measure of the precision expected from a particular 

sample. The probability that a sample estimate would differ from the population parameter 

obtained from a complete census count by less than 1 standard error is about 68 percent. The 

chance that the difference would be less than 1.65 standard errors is about 90 percent, and that 

the difference would be less than 1.96 standard errors, about 95 percent. These standard errors 

and precision estimates can be used to produce confidence intervals. For example, an estimated 

36.1 percent of beginning postsecondary students in 1995–96 intended to earn an occupational 

credential (certificate or associate’s degree), and this figure has an estimated standard error of 

2.48 (tables 1.3 and S1.1). Therefore, the estimated 95 percent confidence interval for this 

statistic is 31.2 to 41.0 percent (36.1 ± 1.96 x 2.48). That is, in 95 out of 100 samples from the 

survey population, the estimated participation rate should fall between 31.2 and 41.0 percent. 

Standard errors for all the estimates in the tables of this report are presented in appendix B. 

To minimize both sampling and nonsampling errors, the estimates in this report are based 

on observations that were weighted using the probabilities of selection of the respondents and 

other weighting adjustments to account for nonresponse and coverage bias. For cross-sectional 

analyses of students in 1995–96 (chapter 2), the weight B01AWT was used; this weight applies 

to the beginning students who responded to NPSAS:96, but it also requires that students 

responded to the 2001 administration of BPS:96/01. For longitudinal analyses of students as of 

2001 (chapters 3 and 4), the weight B01LWT2 was used; this weight applies to beginning 
A-6 

students who responded in both NPSAS:96 and the 2001 administration of BPS:96/01.1 In 

addition, special procedures for estimating the standard errors of the estimates were used to 

account for the survey’s complex sample design. Complex sample designs result in data that 

violate some of the assumptions that are required to properly estimate standard errors and thus to 

assess the statistical significance of results. Frequently, the standard errors of the estimates from 

a complex sample design are larger than would be expected if the sample were a simple random 

sample, as is assumed for traditional statistical testing. To compute approximately unbiased 

estimates of the standard errors, balance repeated replicates variance estimation was used to 

compute the standard errors for all estimates in this report. 

Finally, to ensure adequate sample size to meet the assumptions of sampling theory, 

estimates for cells based on fewer than 30 observations are not reported. These cells are indicated 

in tables with a special symbol and the following text: “Reporting standards not met. Too few 

cases to report.” 

Significance Tests for Analyses 

Pairwise Comparisons 

Comparisons of pairs of estimates were tested using Student’s t statistic. For this 

procedure, differences between estimates are tested against the probability of a Type I error,2

 or 

significance level. The significance levels were determined by calculating the Student’s t value 

for the difference between each pair of estimates and comparing the t value with published tables 

of significance levels for two-tailed hypothesis testing. 

Student’s t values are computed to test the difference between estimates with the 

following formula: 

 

1

 See Wine et al. (2002) for a description of the combination of weights and survey corrections available in 

BPS:96/01 data due to its stratified sampling design. 

2

 A Type I error occurs when one concludes that a difference observed in a sample reflects a true difference in the 

population from which the sample was drawn, when no such difference exists. 
A-7 

 2

2

2

1

1 2

se se

E E

t

+

− = (1) 

where E1 and E2 are the estimates to be compared and se1 and se2 are their corresponding 

standard errors. This formula is valid only for independent estimates. When estimates are not 

independent, a covariance term is added to the formula: 

 

1 2

2

2

2

1

1 2

se se 2(r)se se

E E

t

+ −

− = (2) 

where r is the correlation between the two estimates. This formula is used, for example, when 

comparing two percentages from a distribution that adds to 100. If the comparison is between the 

mean of a subgroup and the mean of the total group, the following formula is used: 

 t =

E E

se se p se

sub tot

sub tot sub

−

+ − 22 2 2 

 (3) 

where p is the proportion of the total group contained in the subgroup. 

A few caveats should be kept in mind when reporting these statistical tests. First, 

comparisons based on large t statistics may appear to merit special attention. This can be 

misleading since the magnitude of the t statistic is related not only to the observed differences in 

percentages but also to the number of respondents in the specific categories used for comparison. 

Hence, a small difference compared across a large number of respondents would produce a large 

t statistic. 

A second issue in reporting statistical tests is the possibility that one can report a “false 

positive” or Type I error. In the case of a t statistic, this false positive would result when a 

difference measured with a particular sample showed a statistically significant difference when 

there is no difference in the underlying population. Statistical tests are designed to control this 

type of error, denoted by alpha. The alpha level of .05 selected for findings in this report 

indicates that a difference of a certain magnitude or larger would be produced no more than one 

time out of 20 when there was no actual difference in the quantities in the underlying population. 

When hypothesis tests show t values at the .05 level or smaller (p < .05), this finding is treated as 
A-8 

rejecting the null hypothesis that there is no difference between the two quantities. However, 

there are cases when exercising additional caution is warranted. When a large number of related 

comparisons (a family of comparisons) is tested, Type I errors cannot be ignored. For example, 

when making paired comparisons among different occupation groups, the probability of a Type I 

error for these comparisons taken as a group is larger than the probability for a single 

comparison. 

When this situation was encountered in this report, a Bonferroni correction was made to 

the test’s alpha level. In the Bonferroni correction, comparisons are made with p < .05/k for a 

particular pairwise comparison, where that comparison was one of k tests within a family. This 

guarantees both that the individual comparison would have p < .05 and that for k comparisons 

within a family of possible comparisons, the significance level for all the comparisons will sum 

to p < .05.3

The main use of the Bonferroni in this report was when the three subbaccalaureate 

credential-goal groups—occupational certificate seekers, occupational associate’s degree 

seekers, and academic associate’s degree seekers—were compared to each other. In this family 

of tests, when all possible comparisons are made, k = 3 and the significance level of each test is 

adjusted to p < .05/3, or p < .017. The formula for calculating family size (k) is as follows: 

 2

( −1) = j j k (4) 

where j is the number of categories for the variable being tested. In the example with three 

credential-goal groups, k = 3(2)/2 = 3. 

Regression Analysis 

Many of the independent variables included in the analyses in this report are related, and 

to some extent, the pattern of differences found in the descriptive analyses reflects this 

 

3

 The standard that p ≤ .05/k for each comparison is more stringent than the criterion that the significance level of 

the comparisons should sum to p ≤ .05. For tables showing the t statistic required to ensure that p ≤ .05/k for a 

particular family size and degrees of freedom, see Dunn (1961). 
A-9 

covariation. For example, when examining the employment rates of students who do and do not 

complete an occupational certificate, it is possible that some of the observed relationship is due 

to differences among other factors related to the outcomes, such as socioeconomic status. 

However, if nested tables were used to isolate all the influence of all related factors, cell sizes 

would become too small to support analysis. For these situations, regression analysis permits the 

analyst to statistically control for multiple factors without a loss of sample size. 

Regression analysis was used in this report to determine the relationship between earning 

an occupational postsecondary occupational credential and labor market outcomes, 

independently of the sociodemographic background of students, and independently of years of 

postsecondary schooling. The reader is cautioned that regression analysis is a correlational 

analysis, and thus regression findings should not be viewed as indicating causal relations. For 

example, a finding that years of schooling is positively related to salary (with other factors 

controlled) is consistent with the hypothesis that higher years of schooling leads to increased 

salary, but it does not prove that hypothesis. 

Standard linear regression analysis assumes that the outcome variable is normally 

distributed. The outcomes of interest in this report—annual salary and employment status—are 

not normally distributed. Therefore, two variants of linear regression analysis were used. The 

first type is logistic regression, used to predict the dichotomous employment outcomes. The 

second type is semi-log regression, used to predict salary, which has a skewed distribution. 

Logistic Regression 

The logistic regression model takes the following form: 

ln p / (1 – p) = B0 + B1x1 + ... +Bkxk (5)

for a regression model with k predictor variables. 
A-10 

The p / (1 - p) in this formula is referred to as an odds. Odds indicate the probability of an 

event occurring (p), divided by the probability that the event does not occur (1 - p) (e.g., the 

probability that an individual is employed divided by the probability that the individual is not 

employed). The log of the odds is used in logistic regression to convert a nonlinear probability 

function into a linear logarithmic function. B0 represents the intercept in this model, which can 

be interpreted in this case as the log of the odds (or log-odds) of the outcome variable when all 

the predictor variables are zero. The coefficient B1 represents the increase in the log-odds of the 

outcome variable accounted for by a one-unit increment in the predictor variable x1 after 

adjusting for (controlling for) the effects of the other predictor variables in the model. 

To make the predictor variables more interpretable, they are converted into probabilities 

or marginal effects (see Petersen 1985). For categorical variables, the marginal effect indicates 

the change in the probability of an event occuring for those in the selected category versus those 

in the comparison category, after adjusting for (controlling for) the effects of the other predictor 

variables in the model. For a continuous variable, the marginal effect indicates the change in the 

probability of an event occurring for each unit change in the continuous variable (e.g., for each 

year of education completed) after adjusting for the effects of the other predictor variables. 

Tables 4.5 and 4.6 in chapter 4 list the marginal effects (as well as B-values, or regression 

coefficients) for the final logistic regression equations predicting respondents’ likelihood of 

employment and likelihood of full-time employment. 

Semi-log Regression 

The semi-log regression model follows the standard linear regression model, but the 

outcome variable is transformed into a natural logarithm (ln) in order to normalize it. The semilog equation is: 

ln Y = B0 + B1x1 + ... +Bkxk (6) 

for a regression model with k predictor variables. 
A-11 

Note that coefficients from the semi-log regression predict the natural log of salary, rather 

than salary. Therefore, in this model, the B0 intercept is the predicted natural log of the outcome 

variable when all the predictor variables are zero. The coefficient B1 represents the increase in 

the natural log of the outcome variable accounted for by a one-unit increment in the predictor 

variable x1 after adjusting for (controlling for) the effects of the other predictor variables in the 

model. Table 4.6 lists the regression coefficients (B-values) for the final semi-log regression 

equation predicting respondents’ average 2000 salary (in natural logs). In figure 4.1, predicted 

salary values were calculated for the “average” respondent after converting the coefficients from 

the natural log of salary (from the semi-log regression equation) to coefficients for salary, using 

the equation exp

B

 – 1. 

Derived Variables 

This section lists the variables used in this report, all of which were taken directly from 

the restricted-use version of the BPS:96/01 data file or were derived from variables in that file. 

The names of derived variables are listed below in italicized lower-case text and the names of 

original data file variables are listed in upper-case text. The variables are organized by topic, in 

the following order: 

1. student background characteristics; 

2. initial enrollment characteristics; 

3. tuition costs; 

4. educational outcomes; and 

5. economic outcomes. 

Student Background Characteristics 

Age (AGE) 

AGE indicates the age of the student on December 31, 1995. Responses ranged between 

16 and 84 years old but were categorized into the following four groups: 
A-12 

• 18 years or younger; 

• 19 years old; 

• 20 to 23 years old; and 

• 24 years or older. 

Highest parental education (PARED)

This variable is equal to the maximum of the highest level of education completed by the 

student’s father or by the student’s mother, as of 1995–96. The variable has three categories: 

Less than high school, High school graduate, and College degree. 

High school diploma type (HSDEG) 

HSDEG indicates the type of high school degree the student received. The first source of 

information for HSDEG was the sample institution. If the information was not available from the 

sample institution, student reported data was used. Students who did not have a high school 

degree or certificate of completion (HSDEG = 4) were not included in the analysis sample for 

this report. The following categories of high school diploma type were used: 

• High school diploma (HSDEG = 1); and 

• GED or certificate of completion (HSDEG = 2 or 3). 

Race/ethnicity (SBRACE) 

Students’ race/ethnicity was reported in SBRACE. Three categories from the SBRACE 

variable—Asian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and other—were combined 

into one group for this report. This procedure left the following four categories: Hispanic, nonHispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and non-Hispanic other. 
A-13 

Sex (SBGENDER) 

This variable indicates the sex of the student. It is based on student- or institutionreported sex or, where student and institution data were not available, sex reported on the Free 

Application for Federal Student Aid. If the sex of the respondent was not available from any of 

these sources, it was imputed based on the student’s first name. 

Socioeconomic status (SFPCT294) 

Using family or personal income as a measure of socioeconomic status, SFPCT294 

represents the percentile rank of income in 1994 for all students. This variable was calculated 

separately for dependent and independent students, with each ranking comparing the student to 

those of the same dependency status. Parents’ income was used for dependent students and the 

respondent’s family income was used for independent students. For some analyses in this report, 

SFPCT294 was converted to quartiles and the lowest quartile was used to indicate low 

socioeconomic status. 

Initial enrollment characteristics 

Credential goal (studtype) 

This variable classifies postsecondary students into 12 nested groups, based on their 

initial credential goal and major in 1995–96. The 12 groups are 

1. Subbaccalaureate students 

a. Occupational students 

i. Occupational subbaccalaureate students seeking a certificate 

ii. Occupational subbaccalaureate students seeking an associate’s degree 

b. Academic subbaccalaureate students 

i. Academic subbaccalaureate students seeking a certificate 

ii. Academic subbaccalaureate students seeking an associate’s degree 
A-14 

c. Undeclared subbaccalaureate students 

2. Baccalaureate students 

a. Career baccalaureate students 

b. Academic baccalaureate students 

c. Undeclared baccalaureate students 

Three variables from the BPS:96/01 datafile were used to compute studtype: LEVEL (the 

level of the first postsecondary institution attended), EPHDEGNP (students’ initial credential 

intention) and SEMAJ1Y1 (students’ first self-reported major). All students in less-than-4-year 

institutions (LEVEL = 2 or 3) were defined as subbaccalaureate students. With two exceptions, 

all students in 4-year institutions (LEVEL = 1) were defined as baccalaureate students. The two 

exceptions are as follows: Students who initially attended a 4-year institution and expected to 

earn a certificate or associate’s degree at that institution (EPHDEGNP = 4) were categorized as 

subbaccalaureate students. Students who initially enrolled in a 4-year institution but who 

intended to transfer to a 2-year institution (EPHDEGNP = 1) were also counted as 

subbaccalaureate students. 

Baccalaureate and subbaccalaureate students were further divided based on their first 

self-reported major. In this step, the most detailed major variable, SEMAJ1Y1, was used to 

distinguish academic majors, occupational/career majors, and undeclared majors (see “area of 

study” below). 

Level of institution (LEVEL) 

This variable indicates the level of the postsecondary institution from which the student 

was sampled in 1995–96 and was used to define “credential goal” (studtype). LEVEL classifies 

institutions as 4-year, 2-year, or less-than-2-year. For a small number of cases, the level of the 

institution was reclassified on the data file in November 2000. The variable used in this report 

reflects this change. 
A-15 

Initial degree expectation (EPHDEGNP) 

EPHDEGNP indicates the highest level of education the student was seeking at the initial 

NPSAS institution in 1995–96 and was used to define “credential goal” (studtype). Students who 

reported having no degree and no transfer expectation (EPHDEGNP = 0; n = 702) or for whom 

no expected education level was reported (EPHDEGNP = -1, -2, or -9; n = 1,999) were excluded 

from the sample. For the remaining students, the responses were categorized into the following 

five groups: 

• transfer to a 2-year school (EPHDEGNP = 1); 

• transfer to a 4-year school (EPHDEGNP = 2); 

• certificate (EPHDEGNP = 3); 

• associate’s degree (EPHDEGNP = 4); and 

• bachelor’s degree or higher (EPHDEGNP = 5–8). 

 

Area of study (SEMAJ1Y1) 

SEMAJ1Y1 indicates the area of study for a student’s major in 1995–96. This variable 

was used to classify students into academic, occupational, and undeclared credential categories 

in order to define “credential goal” (studtype) as follows: 

• academic major (SEMAJ1Y1 = 6–8, 37, 39, 61, 62, 64, 65, 67, 71, 72, 74, 75, 79–85, 

or 95–99); 

• occupational/career major (SEMAJ1Y1 = 1–5, 10–36, 40–60, 63, 66, 69, 73, 77, 78, 

or 86–94): classified as “occupational” for subbaccalaureate students and as “career” 

for baccalaureate students; and 

• undeclared major (SEMAJ1Y1 = 0 or 70). 

Students who did not respond to SEMAJ1Y1 (n = 5) or who responded that they did not know 

their major (n = 46) were not included in the sample. 
A-16 

Delayed enrollment (ENDELAY) 

This variable indicates whether students delayed their enrollment in postsecondary 

education, as determined by receipt of a high school diploma prior to 1995 or having reached age 

20 before December 31, 1995. 

Enrollment intensity (ATTNPTRN) 

Enrollment intensity (exclusively full time, exclusively part time, or mixed/other) during 

the first year is captured with the variable ATTNPTRN. Students were considered to have 

enrolled exclusively full time if they were enrolled full time during all enrolled months in the 

first year and were considered to have enrolled exclusively part time if they were enrolled half 

time or less during all enrolled months. Students were considered to have “mixed/other” 

enrollment intensity if some other combination of full-time and part-time enrollment was 

reported. The recoded categories are: 

• exclusively full time (ATTNPTRN = 1); 

• exclusively part time (ATTNPTRN = 3, 4, or 5); and 

• mixed/other (ATTNPTRN = 2 or 6). 

Initial college control (ITNPSAS) 

ITNPSAS identifies the first institution’s control (public, not-for-profit, or for-profit). 

The variable was aggregated as follows: 

• public (ITNPSAS = 1, 2, or 3); 

• not-for-profit (ITNPSAS = 4, 5, or 6); and 

• for-profit (ITNPSAS = 7, 8, or 9). 
A-17 

Work status while enrolled and intensity of work (J1HOURY1)

This variable indicates the number of hours students worked during the 1995–96 

enrollment period; in this report, it was used two ways. First, it was used to indicate whether 

students worked during their 1995–96 enrollment period and, second, for students who worked, 

JIHOURY1 was used to indicate the amount of time they worked in 1995–96. Students were 

considered “not working” if J1HOURY1 was equal to zero. If J1HOURY1 was greater than zero, 

then students were coded as “working.” 

For students who worked, the number of hours worked per week during the 1995–96 

enrollment period was collapsed into two categories: part time (1–35 hours) and full time (35 

hours or more). 

Student/employee role (SEROLEY1) 

 

This variable asks students who were enrolled and working in 1995–96 to self-identify 

primarily as either a student working to meet expenses (SEROLEY1 = 1) or an employee who 

has decided to enroll in school (SEROLEY1 = 2). Values of zero were imputed for students who 

were enrolled but not employed during the 1995–96 academic year.

Tuition costs (TUITION)

This variable indicates the amount of tuition and fees charged to the student for the year 

July 1, 1995 to June 30, 1996, as reported by the first institution. Thus, students enrolled for one 

term would typically have lower tuition costs than students enrolled full year. If tuition amounts 

were not reported, they were estimated based on the average per-credit or per-term charges for 

other students at the institution according to their class level, degree program, and attendance 

status. 
A-18 

Educational Outcomes 

Credential attainment by academic year (DGREYX1, DGREYX2, DGREYX3, DGREYX4, 

DGREYX5, DGREYX6) 

 

The variables listed above indicate whether a student attained a credential in each of the 6 

academic years (1995–96 to 2000–01) covered by the survey. The value of one is assigned if a 

student had attained a credential in the given academic year, and a value of zero is assigned if the 

student did not have any attainment. The first three variables, DGREYX1, DGREYX2, and 

DGREYX3, were updated based on responses from the first and second follow-up surveys. 

Cumulative grade point average (SEGPA2B) 

SEGPA2B is a self-reported variable, derived from QCGPA and QCGPAEST, indicating 

the actual or estimated cumulative grade point average (GPA) by the last term as an 

undergraduate. If students did not know their GPA or if no grades had been awarded at the time 

of the interview, students were asked to choose between one of the following responses: 

• mostly As (3.75 and above); 

• As and Bs (3.25–3.74); 

• mostly Bs (2.75–3.24); 

• Bs and Cs (2.25–2.74); 

• mostly Cs (1.75–2.24); 

• Cs and Ds (1.25–1.74); or 

• mostly Ds or below (below 1.24). 

Students who were not awarded grades or whose grades were pass/fail were coded as missing on 

SEGPA2B. For this report, the values of SEGPA2B were recoded into a dichotomous variable. 

Reported GPAs below 2.25 were given the value of 1 and GPAs of 2.25 and above were given 

the value of 0. 
A-19 

Number of credentials attained (DGRENU2B) 

This variable indicates the total number of credentials attained by 2001. For this report, 

students who earned more than two postsecondary credentials of any type (n = 5) or who did not 

respond to this item (n = 1,947) are not included in the educational outcomes section. 

First credential attained (DGRE2B)

 

DGRE2B indicates the first credential attained through June 2001. The responses to the 

variable are 

• never attained (DGRE2B = 0); 

• certificate (DGRE2B = 1); 

• associate’s degree (DGRE2B = 2); and 

• bachelor’s degree (DGRE2B = 3).

Last credential attained (DGRELA2B)

 

DGRELA2B indicates the last credential attained through June 2001. The responses to 

the variable are the same as DGRE2B. 

Highest degree attained (DGREHI2B)

 

DGREHI2B indicates the highest credential attained through June 2001. The responses to 

the variable are the same as DGRE2B. 

Type of credential(s) attained (DGRETY2B)

This variable describes the combination of credentials that students attained through June 

2001. The credential combinations are 
A-20 

• no credential (DGRETY2B = 0); 

• certificate only (DGRETY2B = 1); 

• associate’s degree only (DGRETY2B = 2); 

• certificate and associate’s degree (DGRETY2B = 3); 

• bachelor’s degree only (DGRETY2B = 4); 

• certificate and bachelor’s degree (DGRETY2B = 5); and 

• associate’s degree and bachelor’s degree (DGRETY2B = 6). 

Similar to DGRENU2B, students who earned more than two postsecondary credentials of any 

type (n = 1) or who did not respond to this item (n = 1,947) are not included in the educational 

outcomes section. 

Still enrolled (stillenr) 

 

This variable is derived from PRAT2B and indicates whether or not the student was still 

enrolled as of spring 2001. Students were coded as “still enrolled” (PRAT2B = 3) if they had 

never attained a credential and were still enrolled after January 2001. All other values of 

PRAT2B were coded as “not still enrolled.” 

Reason for leaving (RLFIRS2B) 

RLFIRS2B indicates the first reason given for leaving postsecondary education, among 

those who left without attaining a credential and had not returned by spring 2001. This variable 

combines the responses given by students in 1998 (RLFIRSB1) and 2001 (QCLEAV1). If 

different reasons were given in the 1998 and 2001 follow-ups, the response given during the 

1998 interview took priority over the response from 2001. For this report, this variable was 

coded as follows: 

• not satisfied or academic problems (RLFIRS2B = 1 or 3); 

• done with desired classes (RLFIRS2B = 5); 

• family demands (RLFIRS2B = 12 or 13); 
A-21 

• job demands or financial demands (RLFIRS2B = 9, 10, or 11); 

• moved to another city or state (RLFIRS2B = 15); and 

• other or unknown reason (RLFIRS2B = 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 14, 16 or –9). 

Earned credential (degtype) 

The variable degtype uses the type of credential(s) attained by 2001 and the student’s 

major at the time of attainment to define the type of credential students earned. For students who 

did not earn a credential by 2001 (the comparison group in the regression analysis), the 

classification from studtype is used (i.e., credential intention). To compute degtype, MAJORS2, 

SEMAJ1B1, SEMAJ2B, and DGREYX1–DGREYX6 were used to classify the type 

(occupational, academic, and unknown) of credential earned and to flag when the credential was 

attained. Cases where DGREYX1–DGREYX6 did not indicate attainment were omitted from the 

analysis. If two credentials were earned, the highest earned credential was determined by 

comparing DGRE2B and DGRELA2B. For example, if the first earned credential was an 

associate’s degree (DGRE2B = 2) and the second was a certificate (DGRELA2B = 1), the former 

would take precedence over the latter despite being earned first. 

Major when last enrolled 1998 (SEMAJ1B1) 

SEMAJ1B1 indicates a student’s major or program of study in the 1997–98 academic 

year. This variable was used to classify the type of credential earned by students who attained a 

credential during or prior to the 1997–98 academic year. For students who had not earned a 

credential and were not in school during this time period, this variable is used to identify the 

program in which the student was last enrolled. Similar coding to SEMAJ1Y1 was used to 

classify students into academic, occupational, and other credential areas of study. 

Major when last enrolled 2001 (SEMAJ2B) 

SEMAJ2B indicates a student’s major or program of study in the 2000–01 academic year. 

This variable was used to classify the type of credential earned by students who attained a 
A-22 

credential during or prior to the 2000–01 academic year. For students who had not earned a 

credential and were not in school during this time period, this variable is used to identify the 

program in which the student was last enrolled. Similar coding to SEMAJ1Y1 was used to 

classify students into academic, occupational, and other areas of study. 

Full-time equivalent years of schooling (yrs_fte) 

To compute the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) years of postsecondary education 

students had completed, reported monthly enrollment—from ENNUYX1, ENNUYX2, 

ENNUYX3, ENNUYX4, and ENNUYX5—were summed. These five variables indicate the 

number of months enrolled at any institution during a given academic year. To account for parttime attendance, months of part-time enrollment—ENPTYX1, ENPTYX2, ENPTYX3, 

ENPTYX4, and ENPTYX5—were also summed. If this sum (number of part-time months 

enrolled) was greater than zero, the value was multiplied by one-third and the product subtracted 

from the total number of months enrolled. The last step in the calculation was to divide this value 

by 9, which is the typical length of an academic year. For example, if the total number of months 

enrolled was 60 and the total number of part-time months enrolled was 30, the derived FTE years 

of schooling would be 5.6 years (60 – (30 * 0.33) / 9). Enrollment during the 2000–01 academic 

year was not included in the calculation since the analysis of economic outcomes (the only 

analysis for which this variable was used) did not include individuals who were still enrolled in 

postsecondary education during this period. 

Economic Outcomes 

Current employment status (wrkout01) 

This variable identifies respondents who were working at the time of the second followup survey in spring 2001 and, among those who were not working, whether or not the respondent 

was looking for work. In order to be consistent with the employment intensity variable 

(indicating part-time and full-time workers; defined below), two variables were used to define 

those who were working: QECUREMP, which indicates whether or not the respondent was 
A-23 

working at the time of the second follow-up, and QEHRSC, which indicates the hours typically 

worked each week. Respondents who did not provide a valid response to QEHRSC (i.e., missing, 

refused, don’t know, not reached, and legitimate skip) were coded as missing. Among those who 

were not working (QECUREMP = 0), the JSLOOK2B distinguishes between respondents who 

were looking for work (JSLOOK2B = 1) and those who were not (JSLOOK2B = 0). Thus, 

wrkout01 was coded as follows: 

• working (QECUREMP = 1 and QEHRSC ≥ 0); 

• not working not looking for work (QECUREMP = 0 and JSLOOK2B = 0); and 

• not working, looking for work (QECUREMP = 0 and JSLOOK2B = 1). 

Unemployment (unempl01) 

The variable unempl01 indicates whether the respondent was unemployed at the time of 

the second follow-up survey in spring 2001. This variable was used to calculate the unemployment rate among the subsample of respondents who were employed (QECUREMP = 1 and 

QEHRSC ≥ 0) or not employed but looking for work (QECUREMP = 0 and JSLOOK2B = 1). 

 

Labor force participation (lfprte01) 

The variable lfprte01 indicates whether the respondent was in the labor force at the time 

of the second follow-up in spring 2001. Respondents were considered labor force participants if 

they were employed (QECUREMP = 1 and QEHRSC ≥ 0) or not employed but looking for work 

(QECUREMP = 0 and JSLOOK2B = 1). Unlike the unemployment rate, respondents who were 

neither employed at the time of the second follow-up nor looking for a job (QECUREMP = 0 

and JSLOOK2B = 0) were included in the calculation of the labor force participation rate. 
A-24 

Employment intensity (emphrs01) 

The employment intensity variable indicates, among respondents who were working at 

the time of the second follow-up survey in 2001, whether the respondent was working part time 

or full time. The variable emphrs01 was coded as follows: 

• part time (QEHRSC > 0 and QEHRSC < 35); and 

• full time (QEHRSC ≥ 35). 

Average annual salary (QEINCEC) 

This variable represents the annual salary earned by employed respondents in 2000. It is 

taken directly from QEINCEC unless QEINCEC = -1 (“don’t know,” n = 47), in which case it 

was calculated using QEWAGEC (reported amount for those with a pay rate) and QETIMC (pay 

rate). The following formula was used to calculate QEINCEC in these cases: 

if QETIMC = 1 (hourly rate), then QEINCEC = QEWAGEC * 2000 

if QETIMC = 2 (weekly rate), then QEINCEC = QEWAGEC * 52 

if QETIMC = 3 (twice per month), then QEINCEC = QEWAGEC * 26 

if QETIMC = 4 (monthly rate), then QEINCEC = QEWAGEC * 12 

if QETIMC = 5 (annually), then QEINCEC = QEWAGEC 

This above formula assumes full-time work and does not take number of hours worked 

per week (QEHRSC) into consideration. Outliers, such as values greater than 140,000 or less 

than 100, were coded as missing. 

 

Relatedness of employment (QERELC) 

QERELC asks respondents to classify how related the job they held at the time of second 

follow-up was to the classes they took at their most recent undergraduate postsecondary 
A-25 

institution. Only respondents who were working at the time of the second follow-up could 

respond. For this report, this variable was coded as follows: 

• closely or somewhat related (QERELC = 1 or 2); and 

• not related (QERELC = 3). 

B-1 

Appendix B: Standard Error Tables 

Table B-1.1.—Standard errors for the percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking 

Table B-1.1.—beginning postsecondary students, and of credential-seeking subbaccalaureate 

Table B-1.1.—students, and number of students, by initial credential goal: 1996

Students' initial credential goal

Percent of all 

students

Percent of subbaccalaureate 

students

Number of all 

students 

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals † † 139,800

Subbaccalaureate credential 2.40 † 121,100

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 2.48 2.99 93,300

nnnnCertificate 1.79 2.96 49,400

nnnnAssociate's degree 2.32 3.49 72,800

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 1.17 1.93 33,100

nnnnCertificate 0.11 0.19 2,600

nnnnAssociate's degree 1.13 1.85 32,200

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 1.72 3.00 45,700

Baccalaureate credential 2.40 † 58,400

nnCareer baccalaureate 1.33 † 36,200

nnAcademic baccalaureate 0.84 † 20,800

nnUndeclared baccalaureate 0.91 † 17,900

† Not applicable.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and 

students enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, 

associate’s degree, or transfer to a less-than-4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes students 

enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher degree or 

transfer to a 4-year institution. Associate’s degree category includes students enrolled at less-than-4-

year institutions whose goal was to earn an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-year or 4-year institution, 

or complete a bachelor’s degree. Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined in exhibit 

1.1. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).
B-2 

Students' initial credential goal

Transfer to 

2-year 

institution

Transfer to 

4-year 

institution Certificate

Associate's 

degree

Bachelor's 

or higher 

degree

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 0.38 1.70 1.79 1.86 2.23

Subbaccalaureate credential 0.62 2.73 2.97 3.17 0.45

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 0.85 1.77 4.50 4.10 0.88

nnnnCertificate † † † † †

nnnnAssociate's degree 1.24 2.41 † 2.54 1.31

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 2.60 5.26 1.06 4.49 0.56

nnnnCertificate † † † † †

nnnnAssociate's degree 2.67 5.40 † 4.56 0.57

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 1.79 4.53 2.50 5.30 1.03

Baccalaureate credential † 0.37 † † 0.37

nnCareer baccalaureate † 0.63 † † 0.63

nnAcademic baccalaureate † 0.86 † † 0.86

nnUndeclared baccalaureate † 0.84 † † 0.84

Table B-2.1. Standard errors for the percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning 

Table B-2.1. postsecondary students, by specific goal at first institution, and initial credential goal: 

Table B-2.1. 1996 

† Not applicable.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and students 

enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, associate’s 

degree, or transfer to a less-than-4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes students enrolled at 4-

year institutions whose initial credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher degree or transfer to a 4-year 

institution. Associate’s degree category includes students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions whose goal 

was to earn an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-year or 4-year institution, or complete a bachelor’s degree. 

Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined in exhibit 1.1.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

Specific goal at first institution
B-3 

Students' initial credential goal

Average 

age

18 years or 

younger

19 years 

old

20–23 

years old

24 years 

or older Male Female

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 0.20 1.24 0.89 1.44 1.00 1.18 1.18

Subbaccalaureate credential 0.34 1.77 1.40 2.23 1.68 1.65 1.65

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 0.36 2.22 1.09 2.72 2.24 2.21 2.21

nnnnCertificate 0.58 2.44 1.80 4.40 3.85 3.19 3.19

nnnnAssociate's degree 0.40 2.41 1.88 2.74 2.58 2.93 2.93

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 0.54 3.84 5.27 3.56 3.61 3.78 3.78

nnnnCertificate † † † † † ††

nnnnAssociate's degree 0.58 4.27 5.61 3.61 3.70 3.92 3.92

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 0.65 3.12 2.76 2.45 2.69 4.32 4.32

Baccalaureate credential 0.12 1.29 0.77 0.94 0.60 1.48 1.48

nnCareer baccalaureate 0.13 1.66 1.03 1.08 0.77 1.98 1.98

nnAcademic baccalaureate 0.13 2.02 1.67 1.35 0.65 2.00 2.00

nnUndeclared baccalaureate 0.22 1.95 1.56 1.29 1.07 2.53 2.53

Sex

† Not applicable.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and students enrolled at 

4-year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, associate’s degree, or transfer to a 

less-than-4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes students enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial 

credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher degree or transfer to a 4-year institution. Associate’s degree category 

includes students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions whose goal was to earn an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-

year or 4-year institution, or complete a bachelor’s degree. Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined in 

exhibit 1.1. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary 

Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

Table B-2.2. Standard errors for the average age of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

Table B-2.2. students, and percentage distribution by age, sex, and initial credential goal: 1996 

Age
B-4 

Students' initial credential goal

White, nonHispanicBlack, nonHispanic HispanicOther, nonHispanic Diploma GED2

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 1.48 0.99 1.03 0.66 0.53 0.53

Subbaccalaureate credential 2.41 1.39 1.78 0.84 0.80 0.80

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 2.21 1.62 1.38 0.76 1.29 1.29

nnnnCertificate 3.61 2.78 2.31 0.93 2.53 2.53

nnnnAssociate's degree 3.08 1.68 1.82 0.95 1.40 1.40

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 3.25 2.60 2.64 3.06 1.26 1.26

nnnnCertificate †††† ††

nnnnAssociate's degree 3.09 2.41 2.72 3.13 1.31 1.31

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 6.78 2.77 4.48 3.13 0.93 0.93

Baccalaureate credential 1.61 1.17 0.81 0.89 0.27 0.27

nnCareer baccalaureate 1.87 1.63 1.26 0.79 0.27 0.27

nnAcademic baccalaureate 2.90 1.57 1.24 2.09 0.43 0.43

nnUndeclared baccalaureate 2.83 2.44 0.82 1.31 0.62 0.62

† Not applicable.

1

 Black, non-Hispanic includes African American, Hispanic includes Latino, and Other, non-Hispanic includes Asian, 

Native Hawaiian, Other Pacific Islander, American Indian, and Alaska Native.

2

 GED stands for General Educational Development.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and students enrolled 

at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, associate’s degree, or transfer to 

a less-than-4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes students enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial 

credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher degree or transfer to a 4-year institution. Associate’s degree category 

includes students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions whose goal was to earn an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-

year or 4-year institution, or complete a bachelor’s degree. Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined 

in exhibit 1.1.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary 

Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

Race/ethnicity High school completion 1

Table B-2.3. Standard errors for the percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postTable B-2.3. secondary students, by race/ethnicity, high school completion, and initial credential goal: 1996 
B-5 

Students' initial credential goal

Less than 

high 

school

High 

school 

graduate

Postsecondary

education

Lowest 

quartile

Middle 

quartiles

Highest 

quartile

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 0.75 1.57 1.83 1.53 1.39 1.48

Subbaccalaureate credential 1.23 2.20 2.64 2.34 2.03 1.75

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 1.35 2.51 2.80 2.63 1.89 1.84

nnnnCertificate 1.98 3.13 3.07 3.50 3.77 1.45

nnnnAssociate's degree 1.31 3.18 3.37 3.06 1.81 2.87

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 1.18 4.54 4.47 3.64 3.84 3.70

nnnnCertificate ††† †††

nnnnAssociate's degree 1.19 4.57 4.80 3.67 3.59 3.40

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 2.44 4.06 4.22 3.89 4.88 4.65

Baccalaureate credential 0.43 1.52 1.59 1.01 1.22 1.47

nnCareer baccalaureate 0.42 1.53 1.60 1.07 1.29 1.32

nnAcademic baccalaureate 0.71 1.72 2.02 1.84 1.97 1.82

nnUndeclared baccalaureate 0.65 2.39 2.60 1.40 2.02 2.56

† Not applicable. 

1

 Highest education level of either the mother or father of the respondent.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and students enrolled 

at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, associate’s degree, or transfer to 

a less-than-4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes students enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial 

credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher degree or transfer to a 4-year institution. Associate’s degree category 

includes students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions whose goal was to earn an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-

year or 4-year institution, or complete a bachelor’s degree. Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined 

in exhibit 1.1. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary 

Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

Parents' highest education level1 Family socioeconomic status

Table B-2.4. Standard errors for the percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postTable B-2.4. secondary students, by parents' highest education level, family socioeconomic status, and initial 

Table B-2.4. credential goal: 1996 
B-6 

Students' initial credential goal Yes No

Exclusively 

full-time

Exclusively 

part-time

Mixed/

other

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 1.73 1.73 1.67 1.02 1.31

Subbaccalaureate credential 2.59 2.59 2.87 1.83 2.30

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 2.36 2.36 3.37 2.02 2.61

nnnnCertificate 3.68 3.68 6.27 4.84 3.52

nnnnAssociate's degree 1.87 1.87 4.71 2.78 2.96

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 5.79 5.79 3.40 2.53 2.87

nnnnCertificate †† † † †

nnnnAssociate's degree 6.20 6.20 3.23 2.38 3.13

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 3.93 3.93 5.71 3.54 4.67

Baccalaureate credential 0.95 0.95 1.05 0.55 0.75

nnCareer baccalaureate 1.17 1.17 1.21 0.77 0.94

nnAcademic baccalaureate 1.41 1.41 1.51 0.82 1.36

nnUndeclared baccalaureate 1.52 1.52 1.70 0.99 1.13

Table B-2.5. Standard errors for the percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking 

Table B-2.5. beginning postsecondary students, by delayed enrollment, enrollment intensity, and 

Table B-2.5. initial credential goal: 1996 

† Not applicable.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and 

students enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, 

associate’s degree, or transfer to a less-than-4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes students 

enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher degree or transfer 

to a 4-year institution. Associate’s degree category includes students enrolled at less-than-4-year 

institutions whose goal was to earn an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-year or 4-year institution, or 

complete a bachelor’s degree. Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined in exhibit 1.1. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

Delayed enrollment Enrollment intensity
B-7 

Table B-2.6.—Standard errors for the percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking 

Table B-2.6.—beginning postsecondary students, by control of initial institution, tuition cost, 

Students' initial credential goal Public Not-for-profit For-profit

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 2.31 1.57 1.94 $230

Subbaccalaureate credential 3.26 0.43 3.27 190

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 4.84 0.63 4.90 270

nnnnCertificate 8.32 0.93 8.59 560

nnnnAssociate's degree 2.55 0.78 2.42 110

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 0.70 0.55 0.27 120

nnnnCertificate ††† †

nnnnAssociate's degree 0.61 0.45 0.28 130

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 1.83 0.71 1.75 110

Baccalaureate credential 2.71 2.73 0.13 340

nnCareer baccalaureate 3.54 3.55 0.31 320

nnAcademic baccalaureate 3.90 † † 390

nnUndeclared baccalaureate 2.71 2.71 † 540

Tuition cost

† Not applicable.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and 

students enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, 

associate’s degree, or transfer to a less-than-4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes students 

enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher degree or 

transfer to a 4-year institution. Associate’s degree category includes students enrolled at less-than-4-

year institutions whose goal was to earn an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-year or 4-year institution, 

or complete a bachelor’s degree. Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined in exhibit 

1.1. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

Table B-2.6.—and initial credential goal: 1996 

Institution control
B-8 

Students' initial credential goal Total

Student 

meeting 

expenses

Employee 

enrolling 

in classes Part-time Full-time

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 1.27 1.27 1.04 1.22 1.62 1.62

Subbaccalaureate credential 1.84 1.84 1.69 1.63 2.62 2.62

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 2.47 2.47 2.30 2.37 2.32 2.32

nnnnCertificate 3.29 3.29 1.94 3.10 3.57 3.57

nnnnAssociate's degree 2.70 2.70 2.10 3.02 2.78 2.78

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 4.90 4.90 4.34 2.66 6.77 6.77

nnnnCertificate †††† ††

nnnnAssociate's degree 4.90 4.90 4.34 2.83 6.75 6.75

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 3.12 3.12 3.79 3.27 5.26 5.26

Baccalaureate credential 1.22 1.22 0.96 0.64 1.09 1.09

nnCareer baccalaureate 1.39 1.39 1.18 0.75 1.41 1.41

nnAcademic baccalaureate 2.59 2.59 2.49 1.08 1.52 1.52

nnUndeclared baccalaureate 1.88 1.88 1.71 1.41 2.14 2.14

Intensity of work1 

Table B-2.7. Standard errors for the percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning 

Table B-2.7. postsecondary students, by work status in the first year, intensity of work, and initial 

Table B-2.7. credential goal: 1996 

† Not applicable. 

1

 Part-time is defined as working 1–34 hours per week. Full-time is defined as working 35 or more hours per 

week.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and students 

enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, associate’s 

degree, or transfer to a less-than-4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes students enrolled at 4-year 

institutions whose initial credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher degree or transfer to a 4-year 

institution. Associate’s degree category includes students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions whose goal 

was to earn an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-year or 4-year institution, or complete a bachelor’s degree. 

Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined in exhibit 1.1.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

Work status in first year

Worked in first year

Did not 

work in 

first year
Students' initial credential goal Total Certificate

Associate's 

degree

Bachelor's 

degree

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 1.21 1.28 1.13 1.04 1.60 Subbaccalaureate credential 2.10 1.85 1.73 1.71 1.12 nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 1.92 1.89 2.50 1.69 0.95 

nnnnCertificate 3.08 3.60 3.74 1.90 0.45 nnnnAssociate's degree 3.15 2.26 1.34 2.07 1.11 nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 3.81 4.19 1.08 3.76 5.39 

nnnnCertificate † †††† nnnnAssociate's degree 3.91 4.54 0.85 3.83 5.58 nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 3.53 3.76 2.79 3.73 1.88 

Baccalaureate credential 0.87 1.32 0.35 0.19 1.39 nnCareer baccalaureate 1.10 1.43 0.64 0.35 1.46 

nnAcademic baccalaureate 1.16 1.97 0.39 0.55 2.29 

nnUndeclared baccalaureate 2.08 2.31 0.62 0.52 2.46 

Table B-3.1. Standard errors for the percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary st

Table B-3.1. and attainment status, and initial credential goal: 2001

Total Highest degree attained

attained or 

persisted1

No 

stil

† Not available.

1 Persisted includes students still enrolled in a postsecondary institution but with no degree.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and students enrolled at 4-year 

initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, associate’s degree, or transfer to a less-than-4-year institution. Baccalincludes students enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher degree or transfer to Associate’s degree category includes students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions whose goal was to earn an associate’s deyear or 4-year institution, or complete a bachelor’s degree. Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined in exhibi

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary Students 

(BPS:96/01). 

B-9 
B-10 

Table B-3.2.—Standard errors for the percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking 

Table B-3.2.—beginning postsecondary students who earned a credential, by whether they met 

Students' initial credential goal

Earned lower credential 

than goal

Met or exceeded 

credential goal

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 1.14 1.14

Subbaccalaureate credential 2.23 2.23

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 3.22 3.22

nnnnCertificate † †

nnnnAssociate's degree 3.93 3.93

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 6.19 6.19

nnnnCertificate † †

nnnnAssociate's degree 6.30 6.30

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 3.98 3.98

Baccalaureate credential 0.53 0.53

nnCareer baccalaureate 0.91 0.91

nnAcademic baccalaureate 1.04 1.04

nnUndeclared baccalaureate 1.03 1.03

Table B-3.2.—or exceeded their initial credential goal, and initial credential goal: 2001 

† Not applicable.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and 

students enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, 

associate’s degree, or transfer to a less-than-4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes 

students enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher 

degree or transfer to a 4-year institution. Associate’s degree category includes students enrolled at lessthan-4-year institutions whose goal was to earn an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-year or 4-year 

institution, or complete a bachelor’s degree. Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined 

in exhibit 1.1. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).
B-11 

Students' initial credential goal

Total 

percentage 

who left

Not 

satisfied/

academic 

problems

Done 

with 

desired 

classes

Family 

demands

Job/

financial 

demands

Moved to 

another 

city/state

Other or 

unknown 

reason

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 1.21 0.27 0.28 0.39 0.90 0.37 0.66

Subbaccalaureate credential 2.10 0.46 0.47 0.60 1.56 0.57 1.14

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 1.92 0.66 0.68 0.96 1.76 0.82 1.31

nnnnCertificate 3.08 0.61 1.03 1.00 1.56 2.63 2.19

nnnnAssociate's degree 3.15 0.93 0.96 1.26 2.41 0.91 1.67

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 3.81 0.34 1.25 1.42 3.89 2.13 2.03

nnnnCertificate † ††††††

nnnnAssociate's degree 3.91 † † 1.46 4.04 2.18 2.11

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 3.53 1.26 1.55 1.08 2.67 1.15 2.25

Baccalaureate credential 0.87 0.23 0.16 0.35 0.48 0.20 0.05

nnCareer baccalaureate 1.10 0.37 0.24 0.30 0.57 0.34 0.66

nnAcademic baccalaureate 1.16 0.56 0.26 0.53 0.81 0.42 0.93

nnUndeclared baccalaureate 2.08 0.40 0.24 0.64 1.02 0.38 1.11

Table B-3.3. Standard errors for the percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary students 

Table B-3.3. who left school without a credential and had not returned as of 2001, by the reason for leaving, and 

Table B-3.3. initial credential goal: 2001

† Not applicable.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and students enrolled at 4-

year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, associate’s degree, or transfer to a less-than4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes students enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal was 

a baccalaureate or higher degree or transfer to a 4-year institution. Associate’s degree category includes students enrolled at 

less-than-4-year institutions whose goal was to earn an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-year or 4-year institution, or 

complete a bachelor’s degree. Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined in exhibit 1.1.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary 

Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

Reason for leaving
B-12 

Table B-3.4.—Standard errors for the percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary

Table B-3.4.—students with cumulative GPA below 2.25, by persistence and attainment status, and initial 

Students' initial credential goal All students

Still enrolled or 

attained credential

Not enrolled, no 

credential

nnnnnTotal, all credential goals 0.52 0.47 2.28

Subbaccalaureate credential 0.92 0.83 3.32

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 1.01 0.89 4.87

nnnnCertificate 1.64 † †

nnnnAssociate's degree 1.13 1.05 5.84

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 2.46 2.99 †

nnnnCertificate †††

nnnnAssociate's degree 2.54 3.10 †

nnUndeclared subbaccalaureate 2.11 2.16 †

Baccalaureate credential 0.46 0.42 2.01

nnCareer baccalaureate 0.51 0.54 3.09

nnAcademic baccalaureate 0.83 0.44 4.95

nnUndeclared baccalaureate 0.74 0.60 3.58

Table B-3.4.—credential goal: 2001 

† Not applicable.

NOTE: Subbaccalaureate category includes all students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions and students 

enrolled at 4-year institutions whose initial credential goal at that institution was a certificate, associate’s 

degree, or transfer to a less-than-4-year institution. Baccalaureate category includes students enrolled at 4-year 

institutions whose initial credential goal was a baccalaureate or higher degree or transfer to a 4-year institution. 

Associate’s degree category includes students enrolled at less-than-4-year institutions whose goal was to earn 

an associate’s degree, transfer to a 2-year or 4-year institution, or complete a bachelor’s degree. Occupational, 

career, and academic categories are defined in exhibit 1.1. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).
B-13 

Table B-3.5.—Standard errors for the percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postTable B-3.5.—secondary students with a credential who earned each type of credential, and who 

Type of credential earned

Percent who earned 

credential

Percent who earned 

credential as highest

nnnnnTotal, all credential attainers † †

Subbaccalaureate credential 2.66 2.47

nnOccupational subbaccalaureate 2.39 2.20

nnnnCertificate 1.99 1.94

nnnnAssociate's degree 1.66 1.32

nnAcademic subbaccalaureate 0.80 0.46

nnnnCertificate 0.32 0.16

nnnnAssociate's degree 0.87 0.50

nnSubbaccalaureate, major unknown 0.33 0.28

Baccalaureate credential 2.63 2.63

nnCareer baccalaureate 1.79 1.82

nnAcademic baccalaureate 1.47 1.46

nnBaccalaureate, major unknown 0.20 0.20

Attained credential, level and major unknown 0.54 0.54

Table B-3.5.—earned each type of credential as their highest credential: 2001

† Not applicable.

NOTE: Occupational, career, and academic categories are defined in exhibit 1.1. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).
B-14 

Completion and credential status

In labor 

force Employed

Employed 

full time

Occupational subbaccalaureate completer 1.76 1.11 1.80 1.82 1.48

 Certificate completer 1.72 0.94 2.65 2.19 1.57

 Associate's degree completer 3.60 2.37 3.68 3.03 2.90

Occupational subbaccalaureate noncompleter 2.61 1.72 3.29 1.88 1.93

 Certificate noncompleter 5.96 4.29 6.33 6.37 5.56

 Associate's degree noncompleter 1.98 1.63 3.37 2.47 1.89

Percent of all respondents

1 Unemployment rate is the number of individuals who are not working and are seeking work divided by the number 

of individuals in the labor force (working, or not working and seeking work).

NOTE: Occupational categories are defined in exhibit 1.1. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning Postsecondary 

Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).

Unemployment rate1

Percent of

workers 

employed 

full time

Table B-4.1. Standard errors for the percentage of 1995–96 credential-seeking beginning postsecondary 

Table B-4.1. students with each labor force characteristic, by students' completion and credential status: 2001 

Table B-4.2.—Standard errors for the percentage distribution of 1995–96 credential-seeking 

Table B-4.2.—beginning postsecondary students who were working, by relatedness of their job to 

Completion and credential status

Occupational subbaccalaureate completer 2.39 2.39

 Certificate completer 3.27 3.27

 Associate's degree completer 3.96 3.96

Occupational subbaccalaureate noncompleter 3.81 3.81

 Certificate noncompleter 8.36 8.36

 Associate's degree noncompleter 3.76 3.76

Table B-4.2.—their classes, and students' completion and credential status: 2001

Closely or 

somewhat related

Not 

related

NOTE: Occupational categories are defined in exhibit 1.1.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).
B-15 

Table B-4.3.—Standard errors for the average annual salary in 2000 of 1995–96 credentialTable B-4.3.—seeking beginning postsecondary students who worked, by students' completion 

Completion and credential status All workers

Part-time 

workers

Full-time 

workers

Occupational subbaccalaureate completer $ 670 $1,950 $ 640

 Certificate completer 1,130 2,050 1,080

 Associate's degree completer 1,200 4,380 1,420

Occupational subbaccalaureate noncompleter 1,220 1,760 1,230

 Certificate noncompleter 2,110 5,400 1,980

 Associate's degree noncompleter 1,580 1,220 1,470

Table B-4.3.—and credential status: 2001

NOTE: Occupational categories are defined in exhibit 1.1.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1996/01 Beginning 

Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/01).