This project used several national educational survey datasets to describe the characteristics of students in occupational education in community colleges relative to their peers in academic programs and students in baccalaureate programs. It evaluated the educational and economic outcomes of such students to determine their individual characteristics and patterns of educational enrollment that affected their outcomes. The main purposes of the study were to investigate who participates in postsecondary occupational education (including their demographic characteristics, their educational background, and their goals), identify their enrollment pathways, and evaluate the extent to which student characteristics and enrollment pathways affect educational and subsequent economic success.
This project was funded by the Office of Vocational and Adult Education.