Summary of Key Findings

This study reveals several trends related to the delivery of short-term training programs in Washington, who is enrolling, and how they fare in the labor market.

• Men and women enroll in short-term training at comparable rates, but they generally enroll in different programs. Men represent more than 80 percent of truck and bus driver, skilled trades, and information technology program participants, whereas women are overrepresented in education and health care training. Thus, short-term program participation mirrors, and perhaps reinforces, the occupational gender segregation seen in the labor market.
• Black people are overrepresented in short-term training programs. Whereas Black people account for 4.4 percent of the Washington state population, they represent 8.6 percent of students who enroll in short-term training. White students, on the other hand, are underrepresented in short-term training compared to their share of the state population. The share of Hispanic/Latinx, Asian, Native American, and multiracial short-term training participants was within 1.5 percentage points of each group’s share of Washington residents.
• Short-term training programs have higher completion rates compared to longer ones. Across all short-term training programs, the average completion rate is 74.5 percent, which is notably higher than longer programs less than a year in length (68.4 percent), programs between one and two years (66.3 percent), and programs longer than two years (65.2 percent).
• Short-term training programs associated with higher earnings enroll participants with higher levels of education. For instance, nearly a quarter of participants in computer and information systems security programs, which have the highest-paid graduates, possess a bachelor’s degree or higher. Given past studies that demonstrate a wage premium for college graduates, the higher earnings of some short-term training program graduates could be explained, in part, by the educational attainment levels of participants.
• The typical short-term training program graduate earns more than the state minimum wage but not enough to support a family. The average median hourly earnings for a short-term training program graduate is $17.84 one year after program completion. While this exceeds Washington’s minimum wage, recently raised to $13.50/hour, individuals with dependents earn less than the state’s living wage. In fact, the typical short-term training program graduate earns less annually than a high school graduate. The median annual wage for a high school graduate in Washington is $37,000, while the average median annual earnings for all short-term training program graduates is $33,696.