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Vocational Education

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Also known as career or technical education, vocational education refers to formal training and instruction for technical, paraprofessional, skilled, or semiskilled occupations, usually without requiring or providing a bachelor’s degree. RAND researchers have examined the relationship between vocational education and effective workforce planning and development, state policies influencing vocational education, vocational education quality, and more.

Report
The Value of Education and Training After High School
Most types of postsecondary credentials can lead to improved earnings. But returns can vary across different fields and by demographic characteristics. Understanding the value of credentials can help individuals, employers, and policymakers make smarter investments.
Feb 2, 2022
Commentary
If College Isn't the Pathway to the Middle Class It Once Was—What Is?
Is college still the best path to the middle class? It's complicated. College credentials still do lead many to increased earnings, but the rapid increases in college costs, coupled with a strong labor market, have made the payoff for a college degree no longer a sure thing.
Apr 5, 2022

Explore Vocational Education

Report
National Guard Youth ChalleNGe: Program Progress in 2020–2021
The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program serves young people experiencing difficulty in traditional high school. This report documents program trends in 2020–2021 and presents analyses on the Job ChalleNGe program.
Aug 22, 2022
Research Brief
Setting Goals for Success: An Assessment of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program's Post-Residential Action Plan Process
Cadets in the National Guard Youth Challenge (ChalleNGe) Program use a goal-setting process called the Post-Residential Action Plan (P-RAP) to navigate career and life choices. The authors analyzed the P-RAP process across multiple ChalleNGe sites.
Aug 10, 2022
Report
Career Services and College-Employer Partnership Practices in Community Colleges
The number of middle-skill jobs in STEM fields that require credentials but not a four-year college degree is growing. Community colleges play a key role in preparing students to fill these positions. How can states support colleges and their partnerships with employers?
Jul 6, 2022
Research Brief
Six Skills for Success: How the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program Can Support Participants in Developing Portable Skills Employers Value
The authors of this research identify a set of common skills among high-paying, growing occupations that do not require a bachelor's degree for possible incorporation into the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program curriculum.
Jun 30, 2022
Journal Article
Labour Market and Skills Demand: Horizon Scanning and Scenarios
This study developed five qualitative scenarios of what the UK labour market may look like in the future. They focused on the construction, wholesale and retail, higher education, transport and logistics, health and social care, and energy sectors.
Jun 1, 2022
Report
Leveraging Technology to Support Prisoner Reentry
How can technology help ease the transition from jails or prisons back into the community—and ensure better outcomes for individuals who have been incarcerated?
May 3, 2022
Journal Article
Optimal Allocation of Seats in the Presence of Peer Effects: Evidence from a Job Training Program
We model optimal treatment assignment in programs with a limited number of seats and study how the presence of peer effects impact the optimal allocation rule and us data from an RCT to show there are peer effects in the job training context.
Mar 29, 2022
Report
Evaluation of the Minnesota Department of Correction's Career Navigators Program: Final Report
The authors conducted an independent process and outcomes evaluation of the Minnesota Department of Corrections' Career Navigators program, which aimed to help people with educational and career opportunities before and after being incarcerated.
Feb 15, 2022
Report
What Are the Skills Required to Obtain a Good Job? An Analysis of Labor Markets, Occupational Features, and Skill Training for the Youth ChalleNGe Program
The authors of this report identify a set of common skills among high-paying, growing occupations that do not require a bachelor's degree and describe how to incorporate such broader skills into the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program curriculum.
Feb 4, 2022
Report
Goal-Setting to Support Cadet Success: Insights and Recommendations for the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program
The National Guard Youth Challenge Program uses the Post-Residential Action Plan to assist at-risk youth with identifying and achieving life goals. The authors examined various approaches to fostering adolescents' goal-setting success.
Dec 20, 2021
Commentary
Job Training Is More Effective When All Parties Work Together
The United States is facing economic gaps wider than have been seen in a century. To keep the nation economically strong and able to provide citizens with middle-class lifestyles, educators, government, and private industry need to work together to shape training opportunities.
Jul 6, 2021
Research Brief
Building Ohio's Workforce Through Stackable Credentials
Ohio has been a leader in scaling stackable credential programs since passing initial legislation on stackable credentials nearly 15 years ago. Over this time, Ohio saw strong growth in short-term credential programs. And most individuals who stacked credentials earned a degree.
Jun 8, 2021
Report
Stackable Credential Pipelines in Ohio: Evidence on Programs and Earnings Outcomes
Stackable credentials allow individuals with short-term credentials to build on them with additional credentials throughout their careers. The authors of this report examined educational programs in Ohio and earnings gains from stacking credentials.
Jun 8, 2021
Journal Article
Patterns and Predictors of Postsecondary Re-Enrollment in the Acquisition of Stackable Credentials
This paper uses 15 years of education and employment data from Ohio to examine the predicators of student re-enrollment in postsecondary education after the completion of certificates in Ohio Technical Centers, community colleges, and universities.
Jun 4, 2021
Report
Examining Career and Technical Education in National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Programs
The authors examined career and technical education opportunities for participants in the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program, a residential, quasi-military program for youth ages 16-18 who are experiencing difficulty in traditional high school.
Apr 12, 2021
Report
Fortifying Education as a Pathway to the Middle Class
Education levels in the United States have been rising for 50 years, including large gains for many demographic groups. Adults with college degrees have higher incomes than their less-educated peers. But declining public support for higher education and increasing costs are making it harder to obtain degrees.
Mar 25, 2021
Report
National Guard Youth ChalleNGe: Program Progress in 2019–2020
The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program serves young people experiencing difficulty in traditional high school through a 5.5-month residential program. The authors of this report document the progress of program participants in 2019 and 2020.
Mar 15, 2021
Report
National Guard Youth ChalleNGe: Program Progress in 2018–2019
In the fourth annual report on the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe, a residential, quasi-military program for youth struggling in traditional high school, researchers provide information on participants who entered the program in 2018.
Nov 6, 2020

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RAND Topic:
Vocational Education

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