71 Appendix 7: Value per credit and the Mincer function Appendices Appendix 7: Value per credit and the Mincer function Two key components in the analysis are 1) the value of the students’ educational achievements, and 2) the change in that value over the students’ working careers. Both of these components are described in detail in this appendix. Value per credit Typically, the educational achievements of students are marked by the credentials they earn. However, not all students who attended SUNY WCC’s Business program in the 2021-22 analysis year obtained a degree or certificate. Some returned the following year to complete their education goals, while others took a few courses and entered the workforce without graduating. As such, the only way to measure the value of the students’ achievement is through their credit hour equivalents, or CHEs. This approach allows us to see the benefits to all students enrolled in the program, not just those who earned a degree. To calculate the value per CHE, we first determine how many CHEs are required to complete each education level. For example, assuming that there are 30 CHEs in an academic year, a student generally completes 120 CHEs in order to move from a high school diploma to a bachelor’s degree, another 60 CHEs to move from a bachelor’s degree to a master’s degree, and so on. This progression of CHEs generates an education ladder beginning at the less than high school level and ending with the completion of a doctoral degree, with each level of education representing a separate stage in the progression. The second step is to assign a unique value to the CHEs in the education ladder based on the wage differentials.48 For example, the difference in county earnings between a high school diploma and an associate degree is $9,600. We spread this $9,600 wage differential across the 60 CHEs that occur between a high school diploma and an associate degree, applying a ceremonial “boost” to the last CHE in the stage to mark the achievement of the degree.49 We repeat this process for each education level in the ladder. Next, we map the CHE production of the FY 2021-22 student population to the education ladder. In total, students completed 8,863 CHEs during the analysis year. 48 The value per CHE is different between the economic impact analysis and the investment analysis. The economic impact analysis uses the region as its background and, therefore, uses regional earnings to calculate value per CHE, while the investment analysis uses the state as its backdrop and, therefore, uses state earnings. The methodology outlined in this appendix will use regional earnings; however, the same methodology is followed for the investment analysis when state earnings are used. 49 Economic theory holds that workers that acquire education credentials send a signal to employers about their ability level. This phenomenon is commonly known as the sheepskin effect or signaling effect. The ceremonial boosts applied to the achievement of degrees in the Lightcast impact model are derived from Jaeger and Page (1996).
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