U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

NCES 2016-107 NOVEMBER 2016

Employment Status of 

Postsecondary Completers in 2009: 

Examination of Credential Level 

and Occupational Credentials 

This Data Point uses data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS). BPS follows a nationally 

representative cohort of students who have enrolled in postsecondary education for the first time. The BPS students 

examined here were initially surveyed in 2003–04 (at the end of their first academic year), then resurveyed in 2005–06 

and in 2008–09. The final BPS:04/09 dataset contains information on nearly 16,700 students.

This Data Point looks at two employment 

outcomes for the 71 percent of 2003–04 

beginning students who were not 

enrolled 6 years later (in 2009). The first 

outcome, employment rate, is the 

percentage of former students who 

reported that they were employed at the 

time of the 2009 interview. The second 

outcome, employment in a job related to 

one’s field of study, is the percentage of 

employed former students who reported 

that their job was related to their major 

or field of study. These outcomes are 

examined for students who did and did 

not earn a postsecondary credential, 

and for those who earned a credential 

(certificate or degree) in an occupational 

versus academic field of study.1 Readers 

are cautioned not to make causal 

inferences from the correlational data 

presented here. One cannot conclude 

from these data that employment 

outcomes are caused by differences in 

the level or type of credential earned.

Postsecondary students who 

completed a credential had 

higher employment rates than 

noncompleters, and those who 

earned a degree had higher 

employment rates than those 

who earned a certificate. 

Among students who began their 

postsecondary education in 2003–04 

and were not enrolled 6 years later, 

84 percent of those who completed a 

credential were employed in 2009, 

compared to 75 percent of students who 

did not complete a credential (figure 1). 

Employment rates were also higher for 

completers than for noncompleters at 

each credential level. For example, 

77 percent of certificate completers were 

employed in 2009, compared to 

62 percent of students who intended to 

complete a certificate, but did not. 

Among students who had completed a 

credential, those who completed a 

certificate had the lowest employment 

rate (77 percent), while there was no 

measureable difference between the 

employment rates of bachelor’s and 

associate’s degree completers (87 and 

84 percent, respectively).

FIGURE 1. Employment rate of 2003–04 beginning postsecondary 

students who were not enrolled 6 years later, by credential level 

and completion status: 2009 

NOTE: Standard errors for estimates can be found at http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ctes/tables/B03.asp. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, 

2003–04 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study, Second Follow-up (BPS:04/09).

To learn more about the BPS, visit http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/bps. 

For questions about content or to view this report online, go to 

http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2016107.
Employment Status of Postsecondary Completers in 2009: Examination of Credential Level and Occupational Credentials

The remainder of this Data Point 

compares students who earned a 

credential in an occupational field to 

those who earned a credential in an 

academic field. Overall, students who 

earned credentials in occupational fields 

earned bachelor’s degrees less often 

and subbaccalaureate credentials more 

often than students who earned 

credentials in academic fields. For 

example, 58 percent of occupational 

completers earned a bachelor’s degree, 

compared to 85 percent of academic 

completers (not in figures; see http://

nces.ed.gov/surveys/ctes/tables/

B07.asp).

Compared to students who 

earned an academic credential, 

a higher proportion of students 

who earned an occupational 

credential were employed in 

2009. 

Employment rates were also related to 

whether students earned their credential 

in an occupational or academic field of 

study (figure 2). Overall, 86 percent of 

students with a credential in an 

occupational field were employed in 

2009, compared to 82 percent of 

students with a credential in an 

academic field. 

Among employed completers, a 

higher proportion of those with 

an occupational credential 

reported working in a job 

related to their field of study, 

compared to those with an 

academic credential. 

In 2009, about 74 percent of employed 

completers with an occupational 

credential reported that their job was 

related to their field of study, compared 

to 53 percent of employed completers 

with an academic credential (figure 2). 

Endnotes

1 See figure 2 for definitions of these fields of 

study. These categories are described in more 

detail at http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ctes/tables/

postsec_tax.asp.

FIGURE 2. Employment rate and percentage of workers who were employed in a job related to their 

field of study, among 2003–04 beginning postsecondary students who earned an occupational or 

academic credential: 2009 

NOTE: Standard errors for estimates can be found at http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ctes/tables/B03.asp. Occupational credentials are credentials in the fields of agriculture and 

natural resources; business management and support; communications and communication technologies; computer and information sciences; construction; consumer 

services; education; engineering and architecture; health sciences; manufacturing; marketing; protective services; public, legal, and social services; repair and transportation; 

and visual and performing arts. Academic credentials are credentials in the fields of natural sciences and science technologies; English/letters; foreign languages; general 

studies and liberal arts; interdisciplinary studies; mathematics; philosophy, theology, and religious studies; and social sciences and history.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, 2003–04 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal 

Study, Second Follow-up (BPS:04/09).

This National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Data Point presents information on education topics of current interest. It was authored by Ashley 

Roberts of the American Institutes for Research. Estimates based on samples 

are subject to sampling variability, and apparent differences may not be 

statistically significant. All stated differences are statistically significant at 

the .05 level. In the design, conduct, and data processing of NCES surveys, 

efforts are made to minimize effects of nonsampling errors, such as item 

nonresponse, measurement error, data processing error, or other systematic 

error.