Evaluation of COOP Careers
Overview
Obtaining a postsecondary credential or completing technical skills training can significantly increase people’s opportunities for upward mobility. Yet many college graduates, particularly first-generation college students (students whose parents did not attend college) and those from low-income families, find themselves underemployed: in jobs that do not require a degree or that do not pay salaries commensurate with having a bachelor’s degree. According to recent research, about 52 percent of graduates with bachelor’s degrees end up underemployed a year after getting their diplomas, and these graduates are 3.5 times as likely to stay underemployed a decade later. The situation is worse for first-generation college graduates and those from low-income families, who are more likely to attend less selective institutions and who often face systemic barriers that exacerbate underemployment. Graduates from low-income families are more likely to be underemployed than their peers from higher-income families. Black and Hispanic graduates and those from low-income families are also disproportionately represented in lower-paying and less stable jobs.
The COOP Careers program helps mitigate underemployment and its potential long-term economic effects by supporting college graduates who are first-generation students or who come from low-income families in their transition to the workforce. The program offers coaching, technical skills development, networking, and employer engagement opportunities. It aims to ensure that participants receive personalized support to transition into well-paying jobs that promote economic mobility and reduce the underemployment disparity.
MDRC is conducting a randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of COOP Careers on a variety of student outcomes, including employment and earnings. The evaluation will also include an implementation study, which will provide insights into COOP students’ experiences before and after enrolling in the program, and which will assess how the program is implemented and identify any challenges or barriers to its implementation.
Additional Project Details
Agenda, Scope, and Goals
The study will consist of an implementation analysis and an impact analysis. MDRC will assess the effectiveness of the COOP program in propelling unemployed or underemployed college graduates toward upward economic mobility.
Design, Sites, and Data Sources
MDRC is conducting a randomized controlled trial assessing the impact of COOP on various outcomes. Eligible students will be assigned at random to have access to COOP or not to have access to it. MDRC will then collect administrative records to measure COOP’s effects on employment and earnings over a two-year period—the difference between students who do and do not have access to COOP. Additionally, MDRC will conduct interviews to document study participants' perceptions of the program and its services, their job search experiences, and where they may be experiencing success or challenges. COOP staff members and administrators will also be interviewed for their perspectives on successes and challenges. A survey will be administered to study participants in both research groups one year after the group with access to COOP completes training, allowing MDRC to capture information on other metrics of interest, such as financial well-being. The survey will also ask about the education and training activities of the control group, which will make it possible to measure how much the experiences of the group with access to COOP contrasted with the experiences of the group without access. The results of the survey will be linked with student outcome data, allowing MDRC to analyze how students’ experiences line up with the program’s effects.
The study will enroll at least 1,500 people who apply to COOP Careers. Study enrollment will occur at program sites in Illinois (Chicago), New York (New York City), and California (Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area).
