Changes in Postsecondary Awards Below the Bachelor’s Degree: 1997 to 2007

In light of the growing labor market demand for jobs requiring a minimum of subbaccalaureate credentials, this Statistics in Brief presents recent changes in subbaccalaureate awards in the decade between 1997 and 2007, using 2002 as a midpoint. It describes changes in the number and types of awards conferred, overall and within particular fields of study. The report also examines changes in the types of institutions conferring the awards and differences in awards by gender and race/ethnicity. These results can serve as a baseline against which to measure future changes.

Key findings include:

• The total number of subbaccalaureate awards conferred increased 28 percent between 1997 and 2007, to 1.5 million.
• While community colleges still confer the majority of subbaccalaureate credentials—58 percent in 2007—the rate of increase in the number of awards was less than half the rate observed for institutions in the for-profit sector, which increased its share of awards from 24 percent to 29 percent.
• Health care is the most common field of study in which subbaccalaureate credentials are awarded, accounting for 31 percent of all awards in 2007, and increasing 68 percent over the decade studied.
• Women earn a majority of subbaccalaureate awards (62 percent in 2007), and the increase in awards to women was larger than that found for men (31 percent vs. 24 percent increase between 1997 and 2007).

Source: Data Quality Campaign, Institute of Education Sciences

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