PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Katharine E. Meyer
AU  - Kelli A. Bird
AU  - Benjamin L. Castleman
TI  - Stacking the Deck for Employment Success: Labor Market Returns to Stackable Credentials
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.1120-11320R2
DP  - 2022 Jun 10
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 1120-11320R2
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2022/06/01/jhr.1120-11320R2.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2022/06/01/jhr.1120-11320R2.full
AB  - With rapid technological transformations to the labor market, many working adults return to college after graduation to obtain additional training or credentials. Using a comparative individual fixed effects strategy and an administrative panel dataset of enrollment and employment in Virginia, we estimate the labor market returns to credential “stacking” – earning two or more community college certificates or degrees – among working adults. We find stacking increases employment by four percentage points and quarterly wages by $375 (four percent). Returns are larger for individuals studying in Health and who return to college after first completing a short-term certificate.