TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Acton, Riley
AU  - Morales, Camila
AU  - Cortes, Kalena E.
AU  - Turner, Julia A.
AU  - Miller, Lois
        TI  - Community College Bachelor’s Degrees: How CCB Graduates’ Earnings Compare to AAs and BAs
        PY  - 2026/Feb/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 18400
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18400
        AB  - We provide the first descriptive analysis of the economic value of Community College Baccalaureate (CCB) degrees by examining graduates’ early-career earnings, the costs of completing these programs, and the alignment between field of study and subsequent employment. Using administrative data and controlling for institution and field, we find that CCB graduates earn $4,000 to $9,000 more annually than Associate’s (AA) degree holders one year after graduation but experience average earnings penalties of roughly $2,000 relative to traditional Bachelor’s (BA) recipients. These averages mask substantial heterogeneity: penalties are largest in Computer and Information Technology and Engineering Technology, whereas CCB graduates in Nursing, other Healthcare fields, Business, and Criminal Justice exhibit minimal or no penalties. To contextualize these returns, we analyze tuition and fee structures across CCB-granting institutions and identify two dominant pricing models—constant and escalating. Total CCB program costs fall between those of AA and BA degrees, with escalating structures increasing upper-division prices by about 40 percent.
        KW  - community college baccalaureate
KW  - college accessibility
KW  - college choices
KW  - college attainment
KW  - associate’s degree
KW  - bachelor’s degree
KW  - community colleges
KW  - two-year colleges
KW  - four-year colleges
KW  - public postsecondary institutions
KW  - college tuition and fee structures
KW  - field of study
KW  - field-to-industry match
        ER  -