A ‘Great Misalignment’ Between Credentials and Jobs

A new report from the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce found a “great misalignment” between projected job demand in many local labor markets and the mix of credentials available to workers seeking jobs requiring more than a high school diploma but less than a bachelor’s degree. The report, released on Wednesday, focuses on “middle-skills credentials,” which include sub-baccalaureate certificates and associate degrees, in 565 local labor markets across the country. It noted that, as of the 2020–2021 academic year, there were nearly 4,800 providers of these kinds of credentials, including community colleges, nonprofit and for-profit colleges, private work training organizations, and technical and cosmetology schools.