What this does
The Compare Up To 5 Non-Degree Pathways page lets you choose up to five ways into work that do not need a bachelor's degree: jobs you can start right away, jobs where the employer trains you, certificate and associate programs at local colleges, and, in Texas, state licences. You tick them and press Compare Selected. The results page sets them side by side on pay, direct cost, months until you can start work, months until the cost is paid back, and whether the training itself is paid.
It helps a student who wants to start earning soon, a parent comparing a short program with a longer one, and a counselor showing several routes into the same field.
Before you start
- Pick a state in Showing data for. Without one, the page shows Pick a state to see non-degree comparisons. Wages, colleges and programs are that state's.
- Know what the list covers. The pathways come from federal data: occupations that need no formal education, occupations learned on the job, and certificate and associate programs at colleges in your state. Texas adds state licences from Texas licensing data. The list does not include apprenticeships, bootcamps or the military.
- Search by job or by school. The search matches the pathway name, the career it leads to and the provider, so "welding", "phlebotomy" or a college name all work.
Step by step
- Open Compare and click the Compare Non-Degree Paths card. The page shows Loading — this may take a moment on first load…, then a count line and the list under Select Pathways, A to Z. With 300 or more matches the line reads Showing first 300 pathways — search to narrow the list.
- Type in Search pathway (the box says Type a pathway or career title). The list narrows as you type and the count line reads "N pathways found matching "…"". If nothing matches: No non-degree pathways found matching your search.
- If you like, narrow by Entry tier. The list reloads with only that tier. See the controls table for what each tier holds.
- Tick the box on the right of a pathway. Its name appears under Selected Pathways, and the bottom bar appears: 1 pathway selected. Compare from here when you're ready.
- Add more pathways, up to five. Your ticks are kept while you search or change the tier. A sixth is refused with You can compare at most 5 pathways. Uncheck one before selecting another.
- To drop a pathway, untick its box in the list.
- Press Compare Selected beside the list heading or in the bottom bar. With nothing ticked: Please select at least one pathway from the list above. Otherwise the results page opens as Non-Degree Pathway Comparison.
Nothing is ticked for you on this page, even when you arrive from a career. Search for the career's name to find its routes.
Every control explained
| Control | Where | What it changes | Default | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Showing data for | Above the page heading | The state whose pathways, colleges and wages are listed. Reloads the page. | Your last chosen state | Reloading clears ticks you have not compared. |
| Search pathway | Filter card, left | Narrows the list to pathways whose name, career or provider matches your words. | Empty | A college's name finds all of its listed certificate and associate programs. |
| Entry tier | Filter card, right | Lists only one tier, named as on Non-Degree Pathways: Tier 0 · Zero Barrier holds "Zero Barrier" (start right away) and "Brief On-the-Job Training" routes; Tier 1 · Certificate / Credential holds "Certificate / Diploma" programs (and, in Texas, "Certificate / Credential" licences); Tier 2 · Associate Degree holds "Associate Degree" programs; Tier 5 · License / Credential holds Texas "License / Credential" routes (commercial driver's licences among them) and any city public-safety academies. The menu lists only the tiers your state has pathways in, so Tier 5 appears for Texas only. There is no tier 3 or 4. | All | The tier name printed on each card can be narrower than the menu name, for example "Brief On-the-Job Training" under Tier 0. |
| Pathway list with check boxes | Under Select Pathways | Each card shows the pathway name in bold and a grey line: its tier name and its provider (a college, a licensing board, "Immediate entry" or "Employer-trained") or, if none, the career. Ticking adds it; unticking removes it. | Nothing ticked | Certificate and associate pathways are named "program certificate at college" or "program associate degree at college"; direct routes end in "— Immediate Entry" or "— On-the-Job Training". |
| Count line | Top of the list | "N pathways found." or Showing first 300 pathways — search to narrow the list. | — | Search to reach entries past the first 300. |
| Compare Selected (beside the heading) | Right of Select Pathways | Opens the results page for your ticked pathways. | — | Needs at least one tick. |
| Selected Pathways | Card below the list | Names of your ticked pathways. Read-only. | No pathways selected yet. Check items above, then click Compare Selected. | Untick in the list to remove one. |
| Bottom bar and its Compare Selected | Fixed to the bottom of the screen after the first tick | Shows "N pathway(s) selected. Compare from here when you're ready." The button works like the top one. | Hidden until the first tick | Saves scrolling back up a long list. |
Reading the results
On the picker, each card tells you what kind of route it is:
| Tier name on the card | What it is | Cost and time used in the comparison | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zero Barrier | An occupation you can start with no formal education, such as many retail, food-service, cleaning and farm jobs. | No cost; starts at once. | O*NET education and training data; a short fixed list of entry-level jobs |
| Brief On-the-Job Training | An occupation the employer trains you for on the job. | No cost; about one month to entry. | O*NET education and training data |
| Certificate / Diploma | A certificate program at a college in your state that leads to the career. | Yearly in-state tuition plus books, for the program's typical length (about six to eighteen months). | NCES IPEDS programs, College Scorecard costs |
| Associate Degree | A two-year associate program, listed only for careers where an associate degree is the usual way in. | Two years of in-state tuition plus books; 24 months to entry. | NCES IPEDS programs, College Scorecard costs |
| License / Credential and Certificate / Credential (Texas only) | A Texas state licence or credential, such as a commercial driver's licence, with its regulating body as provider. | The midpoint of the typical cost range including school; time from the required training hours. | Texas licensing fee and training-hour data |
After Compare Selected, the results page shows:
- At a Glance: Fastest Cost Recovery, Highest Median Salary, Highest Entry Salary and Lowest Direct Cost.
- Charts: Salary Comparison, 20-Year Salary Trajectory, Cost & Break-Even (direct cost against months to pay it back) and Path Efficiency (months to entry).
- Full Comparison table: Pathway, Median Salary, Entry Salary, Direct Cost, Break-Even, Time To Entry and Paid Training. Months show as "N mo", or Immediate for zero.
There is no university list and no ROI calculator link for pathways. Pay is the career's wage in your state from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2024), entry pay being the 25th-percentile wage; Texas licence routes use the Texas median wage recorded with the licence. Reading comparison results explains every number. See also how the figures are produced.
Worked example
A high-school senior in Texas wants to work in health care within a year and is weighing a few short routes.
- The student picks Texas in Showing data for, opens Compare and clicks Compare Non-Degree Paths.
- The student types "phlebotomy" in Search pathway. The list shows certificate programs at several Texas colleges, each card reading "Certificate / Diploma · college name". The student ticks two colleges' programs.
- The student types "nursing assistant", finds a certificate and ticks it, then types "pharmacy" and ticks a pharmacy technician route. Selected Pathways lists four names and the bottom bar says four pathways are selected.
- The student presses Compare Selected. The results page, Non-Degree Pathway Comparison, shows each route's entry and median pay in dollars per year, its direct cost in dollars, its time to entry and break-even in months, and Yes or No under Paid Training. The At a Glance card names the route with the fastest cost recovery and the one with the lowest direct cost.
- The two phlebotomy programs lead to the same career, so their pay is the same; they differ in cost and break-even, which come from each college's tuition.
Common questions
- Why doesn't the Entry tier menu list every tier?
- It lists only the tiers your state has pathways in. There is no Tier 3 or Tier 4, and Tier 5 (licenses and academies) comes from Texas tables, so other states see Tier 0, Tier 1 and Tier 2.
- Why are there no licences or academies in my state?
- Licence and academy data is Texas-only for now. In other states the list holds direct-entry and on-the-job routes and the certificate and associate programs at the state's colleges.
- Why do two programs for the same job show the same pay?
- Pay belongs to the career, not the school: both are the state's wage for that occupation. What differs between colleges is the cost, so the break-even differs too.
- Why does a pathway show "—" for pay or break-even?
- No wage was found for that career in the data. Without an entry wage, the months to pay back the cost cannot be worked out.
- Where are apprenticeships, bootcamps and the military?
- They are not in the data. The page covers only the route types listed in the table above.
What this does NOT do
- It is not a job board or a list of open classes. It does not enrol you in anything.
- It is not advice; it does not say which route is right for you.
- Costs, pay and break-even months are estimates from historical data, not guarantees.
- It stores nothing about you. Sign-in is only for saving reports.
- It does not cover bootcamps or the military. Apprenticeships appear only in Texas, among its licence routes, and outside Texas there are no licence routes.
- It does not tick a pathway for you when you arrive from a career page.
Related
- Compare: picking a mode
- Reading comparison results
- Compare careers — set Feeder degree type to Non-Degree to compare whole careers by their non-degree routes.
- Compare degrees
- Non-Degree Pathways and A career's non-degree routes
- Live pages: Compare Non-Degree Paths, Compare, Non-Degree.