Absence of conflict of interest.
Citation
Highlights
- The study's objective was to examine the impact of work-based courses on employment and earnings.
- The study used a nonexperimental design to compare outcomes of students who enrolled in work-based courses to a matched group of students who did not. The author used administrative data and statistical models to compare differences between the groups.
- The study found that work-based courses had positive impacts on employment and earnings for four-year students but had a positive impact on employment and a negative impact on earnings for two-year students.
- This study receives a moderate evidence rating. This means we are somewhat confident that the estimated effects are attributable to work-based courses, but other factors might also have contributed.
Intervention Examined
Work-Based Courses
Features of the Intervention
Work-based courses are a form of “hands-on” learning that emerged in response to the need for more job experience opportunities in college. Work-based courses allow students to gain work experience under the supervision of a professor as part of their course of study. Work-based courses provide instruction and experiences that aim to increase students’ knowledge of their desired field, practical and professional skills, and real-world experience and training in certain industries. The author used text mining to identify courses with work-based components in the City University of New York City (CUNY) catalog within five categories: (1) internship, externship, apprenticeship, or clerkship courses; (2) practicum, placement, professional practice, or professional experience courses (including clinical practicum and student teaching courses); (3) fieldwork, field experience, or field practice courses; (4) co-operative (co-op) courses; and (5) service-learning courses.
Features of the Study
The study used a matched comparison group design to examine the impact of work-based courses on employment and earnings. Eligible study participants were students who entered college for the first time between 2004-05 and 2013-14, completed their degrees, and did not enroll in another CUNY program after degree completion. Students who enrolled in work-based courses comprised the treatment group and students who did not enroll in work-based courses comprised the comparison group. The sample, selected from CUNY institutions in New York City, included 9,164 students who completed two-year degrees (2,779 treatment and 6,385 comparison) and 26,401 students who completed four-year degrees (6,664 treatment and 19,737 comparison). Of the two-year degree completers, the students were predominantly female (60%) and Hispanic (32%), with an average age of 22 years at enrollment. Of the four-year degree completers, the students were predominantly female (59%) and White (33%), with an average age of 19 years at enrollment.
The study used administrative data from the CUNY system and the New York State Department of Labor for the years 2004 to 2014. The author matched students who enrolled in work-based courses with students who did not enroll in work-based courses on demographic characteristics and school and work history. The study used statistical models to compare differences in post-graduation earnings and employment between the treatment and comparison groups over a six-year follow-up.
Findings
Employment
- For two-year degree students, the study found that treatment students had a significantly higher probability of employment than comparison students in year one post-graduation. However, no other significant differences were found.
- For four-year degree students, the study found that treatment students had a significantly higher probability of employment than comparison students in years one, two, and three post-graduation. However, no significant differences were found in years four and five post-graduation.
Earnings and wages
- For two-year degree students, the study found that treatment students had significantly lower earnings than comparison students in years two, four and five post-graduation. No significant differences were found in years one and three post-graduation
- For four-year degree students, the study found that treatment students had significantly higher earnings than comparison students in year two post-graduation. However, no other significant differences were found.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
The author identified and included work-based courses that were discerned based on the course titles in transcript records. Thus, the selected courses may not include all work-based courses offered due to variations in course titles, potentially limiting the findings of the study. Additionally, work-based courses are not the sole contributors to students' labor market outcomes, and their interactions with other academic learning likely would affect students' employment and earnings after graduation.
Causal Evidence Rating
This study receives a moderate evidence rating because it is based on a well-implemented nonexperimental design. This means we are somewhat confident that the estimated effects are attributable to work-based courses, and not to other factors.