By Maria Cormier, Susan Bickerstaff, and Cameron Sublett
CCRC recently released a new Data Explorer tool to help community colleges and others understand the demand for workers in high-opportunity occupations that are being impacted by advancements in technology, increased energy usage, and efforts to improve sustainability and efficiency and the role community colleges play in preparing students for such jobs.
The Advanced Infrastructure, Energy, and Agriculture Energy and Infrastructure (AIREA) framework aims to capture both classic “green” jobs—such as wind turbine technicians, solar photovoltaic installers, and environmental engineering technicians—and those affected by the economy’s evolving energy and infrastructure needs, including electrical line workers, construction managers, precision agriculture technicians, and industrial machinery mechanics. Many of these occupations require less than a bachelor’s degree and are in occupational fields where community colleges have long been the dominant provider of education. Over the past decade, demand for jobs in AIREA fields has been increasing; annual wage data reveal an earnings premium for subbaccalaureate AIREA jobs, with the average AIREA-related jobs wage at $61,000 compared to $46,000 for non-AIREA jobs.
The Data Explorer, developed by a team of researchers at the Foundation for California Community Colleges and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, allows users to explore AIREA hiring trends and the number and type of AIREA credentials awarded by community colleges. It focuses on three areas: (1) What AIREA credentials are community colleges awarding? (2) What AIREA jobs are posted? and (3) Where are AIREA jobs?
Visit the AIREA Data Explorer
To track AIREA awards at the nation’s community colleges, we used the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) degree completions and institutional directory files covering the years 2010-2023. To assess AIREA jobs across regions and time, we analyzed Lightcast job postings data from 2010-2023. We use commuting zones to represent local labor markets since they reflect the actual flow of workers across county lines, making them especially useful for analyzing the alignment between education and labor market demand. Additional methodological details, including a list of AIREA occupations and programs of study, can be found on the About tab of the Data Explorer.
What AIREA Credentials Are Community Colleges Awarding?
The Data Explorer allows users to find out which community colleges confer the most credentials in AIREA fields and to search for specifics on every community college in the country. The Credentials Awarded tab shows how the number of credentials awarded at a college has changed since 2010 and the types of credentials awarded in specific AIREA fields.
Employers can use the Data Explorer to identify community colleges producing relevant credentials and areas where stronger partnerships may be needed. The screenshot below shows that Mesalands Community College in New Mexico produces a comparable number of AIREA credentials relative to the national average. This insight may be valuable for employers operating in or near New Mexico and seeking a ready supply of credentialed talent.
Users can also see the specific number of AIREA credentials by degree program and type of award, as shown in the screenshot below. One can further filter results by year to see trends over time.
What AIREA Jobs Are Posted?
The Data Explorer’s Job Postings tab allows users to explore AIREA jobs by commuting zone. In each commuting zone, users can view the top AIREA jobs and their educational requirements as well as trends over time.
For example, using the tool, community college program leaders can see whether AIREA program offerings align with labor market demand and use that as a starting point for conversations with local industry. The screenshot below shows that the number of AIREA job postings in the Bakersfield, California, commuting zone is slightly above the U.S. national average.
To better understand the types of AIREA jobs available, one can also look at the top AIREA occupations in each commuting zone. For example, the screenshot below shows that, in the Bakersfield commuting zone, a majority of the jobs in 2023 were related to transportation and material moving. One can also see that these jobs required some postsecondary education.
Where Are AIREA Jobs?
Finally, using the Map tab, users can explore the number and share of AIREA job postings in each of the nation’s commuting zones and what proportion of awarded community college credentials are in AIREA fields. One can filter the map to see the raw number of AIREA job postings, the percent of all job postings that are in AIREA fields, or the number of AIREA job postings per 1,000 residents. One can also see changes over time by selecting years. By hovering over a specific bubble, users can see within a community zone the number of AIREA degrees, total degrees, and percent of AIREA degrees for each community college.
The screenshot below shows that the commuting zone surrounding Brazoport College in Houston, Texas, has a large number of AIREA job postings and that over half of the college’s credentials are in AIREA programs.
We invite you to explore the Data Explorer on your own and let us know what you think at csublett@foundationccc.org.
The AIREA Data Explorer was funded by JPMorganChase and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
