Stacking the Deck for Employment Success: Labor Market Returns to Stackable Credentials

Katharine E. Meyer, Kelli A. Bird and Benjamin L. Castleman

Journal of Human Resources, 2025, vol. 60, issue 1, 129-152

Abstract: 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 data set 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 (4 percent). Returns are larger for individuals studying in Health and who return to college after first completing a short-term certificate.

JEL-codes: I26 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
Note: DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.1120-11320R2
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:60:y:2025:i:1:p:129-152

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