DATA POINT

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

NCES 2018-057 MARCH 2018

 Degree and Nondegree 

Credentials Held by Labor 

Force Participants

This Data Point uses data from the Adult Training and Education Survey (ATES), administered as part of the 2016 National Household Education 

Surveys Program (NHES:2016). ATES:2016 collected information from a nationally representative sample of over 47,000 adults ages 16 to 65 who 

were not enrolled in high school. ATES focuses on nondegree credentials and training, including certifications, licenses, postsecondary certificates, 

and work experience programs.

A common approach to describing the credentials required for 

occupations is to cite whether workers hold an educational 

degree beyond a high school diploma—that is, whether they 

hold a postsecondary degree.1 Using a postsecondary degree 

as a measure of occupational credentialing, 45 percent of 

labor force participants (adults who are working or looking for 

work) had this type of credential in 2016 (figure 1). Data from 

the new ATES:2016 allow for a more expansive analysis of 

credentials; in addition to measuring degrees, the ATES 

identifies adults who have nondegree credentials—that is, 

subbaccalaureate educational certificates (hereafter, 

“certificates”) and the two work credentials of certifications 

and licenses (e.g., Cisco Certified Network Associate [CCNA], 

cosmetology license, medical license).2 When these types of 

credentials are considered in addition to postsecondary 

degrees, 58 percent of labor force participants had a credential 

beyond high school completion in 2016. 

FIGURE 1. Percentage of adults in the labor force who have different degree and nondegree 

credentials: 2016

Any 

postsecondary 

degree

Postsecondary 

degree and 

no nondegree 

credential

Postsecondary 

degree and 

nondegree 

credential

No postsecondary 

degree and a 

nondegree credential

No postsecondary 

degree and no 

nondegree 

credential

No postsecondary 

degree

NOTE: As defined in the survey, adults are ages 16 to 65 and not enrolled in high school. A nondegree credential is a certification, license, or postsecondary certificate. A 

postsecondary certificate is defined in the survey as a certificate obtained from a community or technical college or other school after high school, and that included at 

least 40 hours of instruction and did not require being enrolled in or having completed a bachelor’s or higher degree program. Adults can have more than one credential. 

Standard errors for estimates can be found at https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ctes/tables/A8.asp. Detail may not sum to total because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Training and Education Survey (ATES) of the 

National Household Education Surveys Program, 2016. 

To learn more about the data collection used in this report, visit https://nces.ed.gov/nhes. 

For questions about content or to view this report online, go to https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/

pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2018057.
Degree and Nondegree Credentials Held by Labor Force Participants

As figure 1 shows,13 percent of labor 

force participants did not have a 

postsecondary degree but did have a 

nondegree credential. An additional 

18 percent of labor force participants 

had both a degree and a nondegree 

credential, for a total of 31 percent of 

all labor force participants holding a 

nondegree credential. 

For the 13 percent of labor force 

participants who do not have a degree, 

the nondegree credential is their only 

work credential. 

What types of credentials do these 

nondegreed labor force participants 

hold?

Among the 13 percent of nondegreed 

labor force participants, the most 

common credential, held by about half 

of these adults (56 percent), was a 

license (figure 2). The next most 

common credential was a postsecondary

certificate (43 percent). The least 

common nondegree credential held 

by these adults was a certification 

(21 percent).3 

Endnotes

1 For example, O*NET OnLine (https://

www.onetonline.org/) allows users to 

research the educational attainment of 

people working in a given occupation. 

2 Certifications and licenses document 

that the credential holder has the skills 

and knowledge needed to perform a 

specific job. As defined in the ATES, 

licenses are issued by government 

agencies, while certifications are 

issued by credentialing bodies, often 

a professional or trade association. 

3 Note that adults may hold any 

combination of these credentials.

FIGURE 2. Percentage of adults in the labor force without a postsecondary degree and with 

a nondegree credential who have a license, certification, or postsecondary certificate: 

2016 

Postsecondary 

certificate

License

Certification

Percent

NOTE: As defined in the survey, adults are ages 16 to 65 and not enrolled in high school. A nondegree credential is a certification, license, or postsecondary certificate. A 

postsecondary certificate is defined in the survey as a certificate obtained from a community or technical college or other school after high school, and that included at least 

40 hours of instruction and did not require being enrolled in or having completed a bachelor’s or higher degree program. Details do not sum to 100 because adults can have more 

than one credential. Standard errors for estimates can be found at https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ctes/tables/A9.asp. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, Adult Training and Education Survey (ATES) of the National 

Household Education Surveys Program, 2016. 

This National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Data Point presents 

information on education topics of current interest. It was authored by 

Stephanie Cronen and Emily Isenberg of the American Institutes for Research 

(AIR). 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.