Alternative Education Pathways Report
2021

Alternative Education Pathways Report

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Report Overview

Making decisions about jobs and careers means choosing a path for training and education. While most high school graduates choose to attend college every year, there are other options (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021). In September 2021, we collected feedback from 2,410 adults belonging to the general public and 1,000 business leaders in the U.S. This report presents our findings related to their perceptions of multiple paths to employment training and preparation — such as technical and vocational programs, apprenticeships, bootcamps, and college — in the context of employment and career development.

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Key Findings

Education and Training Choices

  • A majority of U.S. adults, including those with college experience, agreed that alternative education pathways provide a good return on investment.
  • Roughly two-thirds (66%) of Americans with work experience believed their educational path has been valuable.
  • However, 61% of Americans with work experience said they would choose a different education and training path if they could go back and do it again.

Employee Skill Development

  • The primary source for education and training for those without college experience is their employer (45%).
  • Less than half (43%) of business leaders said that their company or organization provides on-the-job training and training programs for people new to the work. And roughly 1 in 5 or less are involved in activities such as providing internships (21%), sponsoring apprenticeships (16%), or partnering with colleges (13%) or technical schools (14%).
  • Only 40% of business leaders said that college graduates are prepared to succeed in their first job after graduation; however, 60% said a college degree is important for long-term career success.

The Future of Workforce Training and Education

  • Eighty-one percent of business leaders and 55% of the general public agreed that alternative education pathways will play a pivotal role in future workforce training.
  • Eighty-five percent of business leaders agreed that alternative education pathways could play a role in resolving current workforce gaps.
  • Eighty-five percent of business leaders thought that alternative education pathways are a viable alternative to college, and 64% said employers should remove some current college degree hiring requirements.

Media Mentions

Online Learning Consortium (OLC)United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA)DT&L Conference

Our Research Methodology

We help make sense of the latest trends through our proprietary research, data analysis, and expert insights. Our Trends Reports, Survey Reports, and Data Reports explore pressing issues, such as online learning, student demographics, and the rising cost of college.

How We Collect Data

BestColleges collects data through online surveys. Some data is collected by our outreach team using platforms such as Qualtrics. We also partner with survey providers, like GLG Research and YouGov LLC, to reach broader audiences of college students, business leaders, and adults in the U.S. Partners use screening tools like RelevantID and manually review data for consistency and accuracy.

How We Find Survey Participants

Our outreach team uses BestColleges' contact mailing lists to encourage participation in relevant surveys. Our survey partners use a census-based quota sampling approach to provide a sample that represents the U.S. population through their expert and panel networks. Additional quotas are also implemented to ensure samples include gender and racial diversity.

Are Survey Participants Compensated?

Participants responding to our outreach team's survey requests are not compensated. However, some of our survey partners and their panel and expert networks do compensate participants in different ways.

Our Knowledge and Authority

Our surveys are designed by an in-house team with expertise in academic and market research, data analysis, and editing. Surveys conducted through our partners are additionally reviewed by their quantitative research experts. Since 2016, BestColleges Research has provided insights to higher education stakeholders through a variety of publications and conference presentations.

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