Are Short-Cycle Programs Worthwhile?
across students depending on what they would choose if they did not enroll in an SCP. Complementary conclusions emerged from the value-added analysis performed for Colombia. Although program-level contributions vary across fields, they vary even more within fields due to the variation in institution- and program-level characteristics. Moreover, the analysis of job vacancies indicated that there is not only a large demand for SCPs, but also a possible geographic mismatch between the demand for and supply of SCP graduates, as the firms demanding them are more geographically concentrated than the new SCP graduates. In other words, labor markets for SCP graduates are also heterogeneous across locations. Although the wide variation in program-level outcomes and value-added contributions is concerning, it also gives policy makers the opportunity to understand what makes a program “good” or “pertinent.” The institution- and program-level characteristics that are available in administrative data sets are associated with a program’s value-added contribution. But other program characteristics—usually not measured in administrative data sets—may have an even stronger association. These characteristics include whether the program features internships, how it connects with the local labor market, how it relates to the private sector, and whether it offers a flexible class schedule. The World Bank Short-Cycle Program Survey collected data on these characteristics, which are used in chapter 4 to investigate their relationships with program outcomes and value added. Together with the evidence presented here and the evidence in chapter 3 on SCP supply, those results should provide rich and useful information to policy makers interested in understanding what makes an SCP “good,” and in expanding the supply of “good” programs.
Notes 1. Cedefop (2018). 2. Ryan (2001); Quintini and Manfredi (2009); Quintini, Martin, and Martin (2007). 3. Ryan (2001). 4. Hanushek et al. (2017). 5. Golsteyn and Stenberg (2017); Verhaest et al. (2018). 6. Arias et al. (2014); Arias, Evans, and Santos (2019). 7. Bassi et al. (2012). 8. Gonzalez-Velosa et al. (2015). 9. Bahr (2016); Liu, Belfield, and Trimble (2015); Dadgar and Trimble (2015); Dynarski, Jacob, and Kreisman (2016); Bettinger and Soliz (2016); Jepsen, Troske, and Coomes (2014); Minaya and Scott-Clayton (2017); Stevens, Kurlaender, and Grosz (2015); Xu and Trimble (2016). 10. In the United States, a full-time student can earn an associate degree in two years. This requires general education courses. A certificate usually involves two or fewer years of
87
