© Copyright 2004 by the Wyoming Department of Employment, Research & Planning

Work Activity of Community College Graduates One Year After Graduation

by:  Mark A. Harris, Ph.D., Sociologist

In this article we study the work activity of Wyoming community college graduates one year after graduation. Data include employment in Wyoming and the nine other states with which Research & Planning (R&P) has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for exchanging Wage Records data. Two-thirds of Wyoming’s May 2002 community college graduates were working in Wyoming or another MOU state one year after graduation.

A sizable number of May 2002 Wyoming community college graduates do not appear in Wyoming Unemployment Insurance (UI) Wage Records during the second quarter of 2003 (2003Q2; approximately one year after graduation). This does not necessarily mean they are not gainfully employed or pursuing additional postsecondary education (e.g., enrolled at a four-year college). Some may be working jobs in Wyoming not covered by UI (Brennan, Henderson, & Saulcy, 2004). However, non-covered employment outcomes are beyond the scope of this study. Others may be employed by firms located in another state. In this article we study the graduates who are employed in Wyoming or other states with which Research & Planning (R&P) has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for exchanging Wage Records data. Interstate Wage Records are shown by demographic, academic, and industry characteristics for 2003Q2.

Data

R&P has access to the UI Wage Records information from nine states (including all bordering states; see Map 1). May 2002 community college graduates’ social security numbers (SSNs) were matched against UI Wage Records data from Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. The combined interstate Wage Records data include SSNs, North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) industry codes for the matched employer, quarterly wages, and a state identifier. 

Community college data utilized in this study are for May 2002 graduates of Casper College, Central Wyoming College (CWC), Eastern Wyoming College (EWC), Laramie County Community College (LCCC), Northwest College, Sheridan College (includes Sheridan and Gillette campuses), and Western Wyoming Community College (WWCC). The data contain the graduates’ location of origin (e.g., Colorado, Mexico), sex, and age. Location of origin is captured by the colleges as part of initial enrollment. 

If an individual worked in more than one state during the study period, we assigned the individual to the state in which he or she had the highest earnings. Tabular data were based on that assignment. 

Findings

College

There were 1,277 May 2002 graduates from Wyoming’s seven community colleges. Of these, 70.2 percent (896) were found working one year after graduation in either Wyoming or an MOU state (see Table 1). 

The percentage of graduates working in Wyoming versus an MOU state varied substantially by college (see Table 1). Casper College had the highest percentage of graduates with a Wyoming wage record (61.3%). EWC graduates had the fewest (39.2%). Typically, colleges with the lowest percentages in Wyoming (EWC, Northwest College, and Sheridan College) are located in close proximity to a neighboring state. However, LCCC in Cheyenne, also near a state border, showed 59.8 percent of recent graduates working in Wyoming. Therefore, the size and economic diversity of the local labor market may be a factor in retaining graduates.

Table 1 and Map 2  show that 14.8 percent (189) of the 1,277 graduates worked in a border state (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, or Utah) during 2003Q2. Among the individual colleges, Northwest College (23.2%) and EWC (21.5%) had the largest percentages working in a border state.

The percent of graduates not working in Wyoming or an MOU state in 2003Q2 (381 or 29.8%) varied substantially across the seven colleges from a high of 36.7 percent from EWC to a low of 25.8 percent from CWC (see Table 1). This does not mean that graduates from EWC are necessarily less successful. Other logical destinations (e.g., transferring to a four-year college or university) are not currently tracked by R&P.

Location of Origin

Graduates originating from Wyoming were more likely than others to be working in the state one year after graduation (62.1%; see Table 2). Only 19 (10.1%) graduates who originated from outside Wyoming were working in Wyoming one year after graduation, although 89 (47.1%) were working in an MOU state. 

Age

May 2002 community college graduates were mostly in their early twenties (see Table 3). Those age 20 to 24 account for 57.1 percent of all graduates. Graduates 25 and older had a greater likelihood of remaining in Wyoming one year after graduation (63.0%). Of 20-year-olds, 22.3 percent were working in an MOU state. There were also a similar number of 21-year-olds and 22- to 24-year-olds working in an MOU state (20.2% and 19.9%, respectively). 

Gender

Substantially more women than men graduated from Wyoming community colleges in May 2002 (64.7% and 35.3%). However, male and female graduates were similarly distributed in Wyoming Wage Records (50.6% and 55.9%, respectively) and MOU state Wage Records (15.5% and 16.5%, respectively) one year after graduation (see Table 4). 

Industry

Industry classifications are provided for the 896 graduates who had jobs in Wyoming or an MOU state (see Table 5). They worked in a number of industries. The highest percentages were in Health Care & Social Assistance (260 or 29.0%), Retail Trade (100 or 11.2%), Educational Services (88 or 9.8%), and Professional & Business Services (84 or 9.4%).

There was substantial industry variation in the percentages of graduates working in Wyoming or an MOU state. Wyoming industries more likely to employ graduates included Information (88.2%); Educational Services (85.2%); or Wholesale Trade, Transportation, & Utilities (81.8%). MOU state industries more likely to employ graduates included Manufacturing (36.4%), Other Services (34.6%), and Leisure & Hospitality (31.8%). 

Discussion

Two-thirds of Wyoming’s May 2002 community college graduates were working in Wyoming or another MOU state one year after graduation. The completion of an Associate’s degree is often part of a larger continued educational objective. Many of those not found working in 2003Q2 may have gone on to further education. Given that a number of full-time students in four-year settings do not work or may work in jobs not covered by UI (Brennan et al., 2004), this number could be quite substantial. 

Younger graduates are more likely than older graduates to leave the state after graduation. One possible explanation is that older graduates are more likely to earn a degree for purposes of career advancement within an existing industry or occupation.

A higher proportion of community college graduates are women and more likely than men to be found working in Wyoming or an MOU state. Depending upon gender differences in how a degree from a community college is primarily utilized by graduates (e.g., as a terminal degree or as a first step in additional college education), men may be less likely to enter the job market upon completion of a degree from a community college. The large output of women with nursing degrees (Saulcy, 2004) may indicate that a community college degree is associated with, at least for the short-term future, the intention by women to enter the workforce. The gender distribution of community college graduates transferring to a four-year college could easily be determined with access to the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) data.

The data also support the argument that colleges near the borders of another state disproportionately supply graduates to these out-of-state labor market areas. This should not be taken as a criticism of the colleges because they are filling a regional educational market niche. The fact that many of the graduates are successful in the labor markets of surrounding states is an indication that the colleges are imbuing students with useful work skills. Additionally, graduates who originated out of state were more likely to work in an MOU state one year after graduation than those from Wyoming (47.1% compared to 10.8%). Exploiting a larger geographical area may also permit course offerings that would not be possible if limited only to students from Wyoming. A result may be diversity in educational offerings as well as a more efficient use of existing capacity and the introduction of non-residents to opportunities in Wyoming’s labor market.

Future Research

Given that a community college degree is often the start of an objective to pursue additional education, a search of wage record data can provide only a partial accounting of the successes of community college graduates one year after graduation. A more complete picture of college outcomes could be presented if transfer data supplied from the NSC could be integrated with interstate Wage Record data. Presumably, a number of students not found in Wyoming’s or MOU states’ Wage Records could be found attending the University of Wyoming or other four-year colleges. Additionally, allowing R&P to identify transfer students would provide a more accurate picture of expected wages for community college graduates who do not go on to a four-year college (e.g., wages may be deflated by transfer students working low-wage, part-time jobs). Future plans for community college graduate outcomes analysis between R & P and the colleges include the merging of Wage Record and NSC data.

References

Brennan, N., Henderson, C. R., & Saulcy, S. (2004). Where are the jobs? What do they pay?: 2001 annual covered employment and wages. Casper, WY: Wyoming Department of Employment, Research & Planning.

Saulcy, S. (2004, August). Chapter 4: Results From Survey Data. In Where are they now? Wyoming community college graduates’ labor market outcomes 2004. Retrieved October 11, 2004, from http://doe.state.wy.us/LMI/CollegeReport2004.htm 

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