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| Previous Colleague: Doug Rice

Shorter Certifications on the Rise

For programs less than two years in length, more students have been opting for awards that take less than a year to complete. The NCES tracks two levels of awards lower than an associate’s degree: (1) certificates less than one year and (2) certificates more than one year but less than two years. From 2012 to 2016,[1] completions[2] for certificates between one and two years in length declined 12.6% while completions for certificates less than one year in length expanded 4.9%.

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| Previous Colleague: Doug Rice

How Colleges Can Attract Workers

In 2008, PEW Research published a study investigating the reasons people either remain in or move away from their hometown. The study found that—among characteristics measured such as gender, age, race, and family income—the largest difference between those who moved and those who stayed centered around educational attainment. Among the people surveyed, 77% of the college graduates had moved at least once, compared to only 56% of those without college degrees.

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| Previous Colleague: Doug Rice

Job Growth in Manufacturing

In addition to breweries and wineries, other food and beverage manufacturing industries also number among those with the most job growth during the last decade. Within this time frame, retail bakeries and perishable prepared food manufacturing expanded by 21,074 and 17,884 jobs, respectively. Meat processed from carcasses grew by 11,213 jobs. Other snack food manufacturing, coffee and tea manufacturing, and cheese manufacturing each expanded by between 8,000 and 9,000 jobs over the last ten years.