Career Academies Improve Future Earnings for Young Men

Career Academies — a widely adopted secondary school reform that combines academics and career-development opportunities — were first developed some 35 years ago. Many school districts are now using the approach to restructure large high schools into small learning communities and create pathways between high school and further education and the workplace. Since 1993, MDRC has been conducting a uniquely rigorous evaluation of the Career Academy approach that uses a random assignment research design to follow approximately 1,700 students in nine high schools across the United States. This research has shown that young men who participate in Academy programs have higher earnings than their non-Academy peers four years after their expected graduation from high school. In addition, these earnings gains were accomplished without impeding access to postsecondary education. Young men from Career Academies were just as likely to enroll in postsecondary education programs as students in the control group.

The earnings for young men in Career Academies increased by an average of $212 per month compared to the control group, totaling more than $10,000 in additional earnings over four years — which is 18 percent higher than the earnings for the control group. To put this into perspective, other research tells us that young people who complete one or two years of postsecondary education earn about $150 more per month than those who complete only a high school diploma. Therefore, the impact of Career Academies on earnings for young men was larger than the earnings premium associated with one or two years of postsecondary education. Career Academies did not produce a significant impact, positive or negative, on earnings for young women.

Use the link below to view a seven-minute video summarizing the Career Academy findings.

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