A new report suggests that American workers are highly motivated to pursue affordable educational opportunities, a finding that aligns with association credentialing and certification efforts.

The 2024 Workforce Education Motivations Report, released last week by the HR and training firm InStride, is based on a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. workers conducted in March and April 2024. A majority of respondents (72 percent) said they would prefer pursuing an online degree with tuition paid by an employer versus in-person education, paid by themselves. 

According to the report, the trends suggest that workers are eager to further their education but skeptical of its value. “With tuition rising twice as fast as inflation over the past 40 years, Americans are seeking ways to further their careers without being burdened by a lifetime of student debt,” the report says.

The enthusiasm for continuing education is particularly strong among younger workers who are looking to speed their path to promotion. According to the report, 84 percent of respondents under 45 want to use employer education benefits, and 44 percent say a promotion is a main motivator. “Keeping skills up to date” was the second most common reason, cited by 27 percent of respondents.

64 percent of U.S. workers said they were more likely to apply for a job at a company with education benefits.

The interest in employer-supported education has increased since the pandemic: Since a prior InStride survey in 2019, the percentage of respondents saying they were “significantly influenced” to work for an employer due to education benefits grew from 25 to 38 percent. In the new survey, 64 percent said they were more likely to apply for a job at a company with education benefits; 55 percent say such programs have some or significant influence on their staying in their current job.

“Employers that invest in fully funded education programs attract promising new talent, amplify their workforce’s skills, support internal mobility and drive higher retention rates,” said Craig Maloney, CEO of InStride in a press release for the report. 

The most popular industry for those educational efforts is in financial services, where 89 percent of respondents say it’s highly likely they’ll need to go to school or upskill to keep up their skills. But the report found numerous other industries with significant interest, including healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and distribution/transport.

Though the report found that employees found value in pursuing degrees from nationally recognized colleges and universities, it found that workers are open to other educational paths. That aligns with ASAE research, which has noted that associations are the country’s primary source of post-collegiate training and education. In 2018, it cofounded the Professional Certification Coalition to defend certification and credentialing programs from statehouse legislation targeting them; last year it launched Tomorrow’s Workforce Coalition, which supports legislation making association credentialing programs eligible for funding from 529 savings plans. 

As an information brief from the coalition noted, “America’s workforce is comprised mostly of middle-skill jobs that require more than a high school education but not a bachelor’s degree, according to the National Skills Coalition. A differentiator amid the 21st century workforce is postsecondary credentialing—for workers with or without  a two- or four-year degree.” The bill has been introduced as the Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow’s Workforce Act but awaits a vote.

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