Completers and Wage Progression: Joining Wage Data and Student Records

1. Completers and Wage Progression: Joining Wage Data and Student Records Patrick Perry, Vice Chancellor California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office

2. California Community Colleges • 112 campuses • ~2.5 million students • Good UR data collection system (92-present) • Passed bill to become repository of CA EDD wage data • Send all student SSN’s annually; return file includes quarterly wage record matches • Have now built web-based tools to show wage outcomes for graduates

3. Methodology • We are looking at wage outcomes for CCC award recipients (AA, AS, certificates down to 12 units) • Not looking at 4-yr transfers or non-completers (yet) • What is the wage return of the “terminal” CCC degree?

4. Methodology • Start with all award recipients in any given year. • Remove from dataset any of the following if they occurred after date of award: • Still enrolled anywhere in CCC system • Transferred to any other institution outside system

5. Methodology • Match remaining non-enrolled/non-transferred award recipients by SSN with EDD quarterly wage records. • Sum of all quarterly wages = annual wage (fiscal/academic year= Q3-Q4-Q1-Q2) • If any quarter in a calendar year has $1 or more of wages, this is counted (need just one quarter’s worth of wages to be counted).

6. Reporting • We look at wages between 2 years prior through 5 years after date of award. • Median (not average) wages reported at various time intervals. • All wages adjusted to CA CPI (current dollars.) • Minimum n=10 matches for any reporting cell to be disclosed. • Not all programs at all campuses meet this threshold.

7. Reporting • Two different public views: • 5 years of graduates, by program (TOP/CIP), degree type (AA/S, Cert.) statewide aggregation (maximizes # of programs reported) • Aka “Salary Surfer”; for students/counselors, paired with program inventory • 8 years of graduates, by college, deg type, by program aggregation (campus view) • Aka “Wage Tracker Data Mart Module”; for research, local program review, policy audiences

8. Salary Surfer • http://testsite.cccco.edu/SalarySearcher/ • Measures latest 5 year running window of graduates median wages at: • 2 years before award date (previous employment) • 2 years after award date (roughly, starting salary) • 5 years after award date (roughly, journey salary)

16. Salary Surfer: Data Mart • CCCCO “Data Mart” is public application designed for research audiences to build their own queries • Results downloadable, expanded datasets

21. Wages by College by Program • http://testsite.cccco.edu/ccccodatamart/outcomes/College_Wage_Tracker.aspx • Measures median wages for 8 years of graduates at: • 3 years after awarddate

27. OR

32. Data Caveats • EDDUI Data contains wages of occupations covered by CA Unemployment Insurance • Excludes military, federal government, self-employed, out of state and unemployed • No way of determining part time or full time wages. Hours worked not in the EDDUI data. • Only students with SSNs counted.

33. Analysis Caveats • Data reflects only the wage outcomes of award earners who remained in CA. • Region/locale within CA significantly impacts wages. • Wages are not necessarily from employment associated with a particular award discipline; no information on job or whether degree/job match.

34. Overall Wages • Statewide median for wages 5 year after award: • $52,700 for Associate Degrees • $49,700 for Certificates. • Of those that earned associate degrees: • ~50% had wages >$54,000 (equal to median income for CA residents with BA/BS as highest degree (2011 Census ACS). • ~25% had wages >$81,000 (higher than the median income for CA residents with MA/MS as highest degree ($72,000)). • Median wages 5 years after award for students with: • Vocational associate degrees: $66,600 • Non-vocational associate degrees: $38,500

35. Rollout • All modules in beta; will go live mid-June

36. Questions & Comments…