New Study Shows How Noncredit Community College Training Boosts Earnings and Employment
A new research study is drawing attention to an often overlooked part of the education system: noncredit workforce training at community colleges. These short, job-focused programs don’t lead to traditional degrees, but according to this large-scale analysis, they can still make a measurable difference in a person’s earnings and likelihood of being employed. What makes this especially interesting is that millions of adults participate in these programs every year, yet their outcomes haven’t been widely studied until now.
The research, titled Labor Market Returns to Community College Noncredit Occupational Education, was conducted by Peter Riley Bahr from the Strada Institute for the Future of Work and Rooney Columbus from E&E Analytics. It uses administrative data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas Workforce Commission to examine outcomes for more than 128,000 adult learners who enrolled in noncredit occupational courses at Texas community colleges between fall 2011 and fall 2014. The researchers followed each participant’s earnings and employment for five years before training and five years after, giving them an unusually rich picture of how this type of education affects people’s working lives.
One of the main takeaways is that participants experience modest but meaningful gains. Within two years after completing their training, individuals earn roughly US $2,000 more per year, adjusted for inflation. That works out to a bit more than a 4% increase, which may not sound dramatic but is consistent across multiple fields and demographic groups. The study also shows that people who complete noncredit training are nearly 4 percentage points more likely to be employed than peers who did not receive such training.
When the researchers broadened the analysis to include people who were unemployed before the program but found work afterward, the average earnings gain nearly doubled, rising to around US $4,000 per year. That higher number reflects the combined effect of a better chance at finding employment and slightly better wages once employed.
The study highlights that longer programs provide stronger outcomes. Courses lasting more than 150 hours tend to offer the greatest earnings gains. This makes intuitive sense: more hours often mean more substantial skill development or preparation for industry certifications.
But the returns aren’t uniform across all fields. Students in transportation-oriented programs, such as commercial driver training, show above-average earnings gains. The same is true for learners in engineering technology, where courses include areas like occupational safety and petroleum technology. Construction-related training, including power transmission installation and plumbing technology, also yields strong returns. In the fields of nursing and protective services, programs lasting 300 hours or more show similarly strong results, suggesting that extensive hands-on training is particularly valuable in health and safety sectors.
On the other hand, some fields show surprisingly weak wage effects. Noncredit programs in business and information sciences produce little or no earnings increase, even when the programs are long. The study warns readers not to assume these programs lack value. In some cases, noncredit business or IT courses are used to maintain certifications rather than acquire new ones. Workers taking these courses may already be employed, so wage gains aren’t necessarily expected or required.
The research also uncovers meaningful gender differences. Men experience similar earnings gains whether they complete employer-sponsored training or enroll on their own. But for women, there is a big difference: employer-sponsored programs show significantly higher earnings gains than self-funded ones. Women who enroll independently see gains that are only a fraction of what men achieve. Notably, this gender gap isn’t fully explained by differences in the fields men and women tend to pursue, which suggests that broader workforce dynamics may be at play.
Another pattern the researchers noticed is that gains are strongest among people who changed jobs around the time of training. Those who stayed in the same job saw smaller improvements. This points to an interesting insight: noncredit workforce training may be especially effective as a tool for job mobility, helping learners shift into roles with clearer career paths or better pay.
The researchers emphasize that while noncredit programs often take less time than traditional education pathways, students still need good information before enrolling. The cost of noncredit programs varies widely across institutions and fields, and prospective learners should be aware of how tuition and fees compare to potential wage gains. Since Pell Grant eligibility for short-term training expanded in July 2025, the number of noncredit programs is likely to grow significantly, making transparency even more important.
This study is valuable because noncredit workforce training is a huge but understudied part of American education. Community colleges enroll millions of students in these short courses each year, but outcomes have been difficult to measure due to fragmented data and the absence of standardized reporting. Bahr and Columbus provide the first comprehensive statewide estimate of earnings effects for noncredit occupational education, filling a critical gap in the research literature.
To give additional context, noncredit workforce training has long been a flexible pathway for adults seeking quick entry or reentry into the labor market. Programs often focus on practical, applied skills that align with local labor-market needs. Unlike degree programs, noncredit courses generally avoid general education requirements and emphasize job-specific competencies. Because of this, they’re popular among older workers, low-income learners, people changing careers, and individuals who can’t commit to multi-year programs.
However, one challenge with noncredit education is the lack of national standardization. Unlike credit-bearing courses, noncredit courses don’t necessarily follow uniform curriculum guidelines, making it harder for employers to compare skills across institutions. Some states and community college systems have been working toward better alignment with industry certifications or toward creating “bridge programs” that allow students to eventually convert noncredit coursework into credit-bearing credentials. This long-term alignment could lead to stronger career outcomes and more consistent wage gains.
Another important factor worth adding is the role of labor-market demand. Fields like transportation, construction, and engineering technology — which show the strongest returns in the study — are areas where employers have been facing ongoing shortages. These sectors often value practical competencies over formal academic credentials, which may explain why noncredit training is particularly effective in them. Meanwhile, business and IT fields are highly varied, with different types of roles requiring different levels of education. Many well-paying IT roles require nationally recognized certifications or degrees, so noncredit coursework alone might not provide enough leverage for significant wage increases.
Gender disparities in workforce training are also part of a broader national conversation about access to employer-sponsored upskilling. Women are less likely to be offered employer-funded training opportunities, which may partly explain why the gains for self-enrolled women in this study are smaller. This points to a need for further research into how training opportunities are distributed and how structural factors influence who benefits most from short-term education.
In summary, this new study provides strong evidence that noncredit occupational training can help workers increase their earnings and employment prospects, especially in technical and trade-heavy fields. The gains aren’t enormous, but they’re real — and for many adults looking to advance without committing to a lengthy degree program, that can make a meaningful difference. As financial aid eligibility expands and more students consider noncredit pathways, understanding these outcomes becomes even more important.
Research Paper:
Labor Market Returns to Community College Noncredit Occupational Education
