Education and Training Classification System Update—Final System
The Employment Projections program in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) develops and publishes occupational employment projections and related career information, including the education and training classifications, for hundreds of detailed occupations. A new system was finalized in 2011 and is now available for use with the 2010-20 employment projections. It replaces the earlier 11-category education or training system.
The BLS develops and publishes education or training information for detailed occupations. Since the release of the 1994-2005 projections in 1995, BLS used a system that assigned one of eleven education or training categories to occupations; each assignment described the "most significant source" of education or training. Results from this system were published in tables and in a searchable database on the Employment Projections web site.
This system has proved confusing, as it combined different dimensions of education, training, and work experience in a related occupation into one classification system. For example, in some occupations both postsecondary education and long-term on-the-job training are important, but in the 11-category system these are two distinct and mutually exclusive categories. Other examples are occupations where both education and work experience in a related occupation are important. Also, the system did not include any category for education below the postsecondary level. In the new system, these problems are eliminated. The education categories include high school and less than high school, and all occupations are assigned an education category, a training category, and a related work experience category.
In developing the new system, BLS sought input from data users. The BLS issued Federal Register notices on November 18, 2008 [PDF] and September 29, 2010 [PDF] requesting comments on the proposed education and training classification system and also posted notices regarding our further work and an experimental dataset on the BLS website. BLS received helpful comments and we made some changes to the final system based on the feedback.
The new BLS system provides individual assignments to each occupation for three dimensions: education, work experience in a related occupation, and on-the-job training. The objective of the new system is to present a more complete picture of the education and training needed for entry into a given occupation and to become competent at performing the occupation.
BLS assigns the following categories to each occupation:
- Entry level education—represents the typical education level needed to enter an occupation. There are eight possible assignments for this category.
- Doctoral or professional degree
- Master's degree
- Bachelor's degree
- Associate's degree
- Postsecondary non-degree award
- Some college, no degree
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Less than high school
- Work experience in a related occupation—indicates if work experience in a related occupation is commonly considered necessary by employers for entry into the occupation, or is a commonly accepted substitute for formal types of training. Assignments for this category will be more than 5 years, 1-5 years, less than 1 year, or none.
- Typical on-the-job training—indicates the typical on-the-job training needed to attain competency in the occupation. Assignments for this category include internship/residency; apprenticeship; long-term, moderate-term, or short-term on-the-job training; or none.
Detailed definitions [PDF] for the categories are available.
The Employment Projections program will be using the following system codes to represent the new education and training assignments. States and other users should plan accordingly.
Education Category
Education Code |
Education Title |
1 |
Doctoral or professional degree |
2 |
Master's degree |
3 |
Bachelor's degree |
4 |
Associate's degree |
5 |
Postsecondary non-degree award |
6 |
Some college, no degree |
7 |
High school diploma or equivalent |
8 |
Less than high school |
Work Experience in a Related Occupation Category
Work Experience Code |
Work Experience Title |
1 |
More than 5 years |
2 |
1 to 5 years |
3 |
Less than 1 year |
4 |
None |
On-the-Job Training Category
Training Code |
Training Title |
1 |
Internship/residency |
2 |
Apprenticeship |
3 |
Long-term on-the-job training |
4 |
Moderate-term on-the-job training |
5 |
Short-term on-the-job training |
6 |
None |
For additional information on the education and training system, contact us:
- Via e-mail.
- Via telephone at 202-691-5700.
- Via mail to: Office of Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Suite 2135, 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Washington DC 20212-0001.
Last Modified Date: February 1, 2012
