Goodwill created a new high school for dropouts—it led to better jobs and higher wages

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Goodwill created a new high school for dropouts—it led to better jobs and higher wages

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When

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realized most of the clients in its job-training program lacked a high school diploma, it set out to address the issue.

In 2010, with the help of per-pupil funding from the state, the nonprofit opened The Excel Center, a tuition-free high school tailored for adults. The charter school offered flexible schedules, free on-site child care, transportation assistance and a life coach. Thirteen years later, research by my team at the

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shows that The Excel Center is a success.

Indiana graduates of the program, which has now expanded to 10 other states and the District of Columbia, were able to find better jobs and earn substantially more over their lifetimes than their peers who did not graduate from the program.

At the Lab for Economic Opportunities—or LEO—

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worked with colleagues

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and

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to measure the economic return of graduating from

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. We found that graduates of The Excel Center experience a

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five years after applying—or roughly

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—than similarly situated adults who applied but did not enroll. The LEO team did not receive any funding from The Excel Center or Goodwill in its research, although Goodwill provided assistance with data.

More steady employment

According to our research, graduates of The Excel Center didn’t just earn more, but the jobs they found were more stable. Excel graduates experienced a 22% increase in continuous employment within the same industry over five years than their peers in the comparison group. Graduates of the program were 19% less likely to work in the hospitality industry—among the

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in the country—and more likely to work jobs such as pharmacy technician, dental assistant or in HVAC maintenance.

In addition to a diploma, students earned industry-recognized credentials, such as those in phlebotomy and child development, and certification as nursing assistants and pharmacy technicians. These credentials

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.

Some students used the certificates as a launching point for additional study at the local community college. At the time we conducted our research, Excel graduates in Indiana were more likely to have earned college credits: Roughly 30% of Excel graduates earned college credit, compared with 11.5% of the group that didn’t enroll.

To reach these conclusions, we looked at the data of more than 9,000 Excel Center applicants from 2013–15. We focused on their earnings over the five years before and after they applied to the program. Our analysis compared the experience of Excel students—both graduates and nongraduates—with other ****** residents of Indiana from similar backgrounds who had expressed interest in going to The Excel Center but never enrolled.

Why it matters

The Excel program is not just good for the students who graduate; it offers the states who help fund the program a return on their investment. Because graduates earn more, they pay more in taxes, allowing states to recoup

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over the graduates’ working careers. Each additional dollar of government funding

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for the typical Excel Center student, measured as the present value of their lifetime increase in after-tax earnings.

In contrast, federally funded programs such as

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and

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primarily help adults without credentials study and pass a high school equivalency exam, such as

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test. But research suggests a GED diploma has

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on earnings, especially for women.

More than

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in the U.S. lack a high school credential such as a diploma or a GED certificate. They are not only

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but also

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than their peers who have graduated from high school.

Plans to expand

Goodwill is leveraging the LEO study to expand the impact of its programs. In addition to the

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the group currently operates throughout central and southern Indiana, it has partnered with Goodwill regions across the country to bring ****** high schools to

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,

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,

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,

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,

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,

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,

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,

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and

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.

LEO’s data was cited directly when Arizona, which had been one of 18 states without a high school option for adults, decided to join the Excel roster. In February 2020, state lawmakers—prompted by

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—

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to establish a continuing high school program in the state.

Provided by
The Conversation

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Goodwill created a new high school for dropouts—it led to better jobs and higher wages (2024, September 23)
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