Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Vocational Education: Policy and Practice

Publication Date: August 2004

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Education; Social conditions

Type:

Abstract:

The two pending welfare reform reauthorization bills passed by the House and reported from the Senate Finance Committee would revise the participation rules for counting vocational education toward the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) work participation standard, though in very different ways. Current law emphasizes work over education and permits full-time "vocational educational training" to be counted toward meeting federal TANF standards for only 12 months in a recipient's lifetime. The House-passed bill would scale back full-time participation in this activity to four months. The Senate Finance Committee bill retains the current law 12-month limit, but provides options to states that could result in additional months of vocational education being counted. Both bills would expand states' ability to count part-time vocational education for recipients who also work.

Vocational education programs generally provide training for a specific occupation; programs of study vary greatly in their content and duration. Vocational associates degree programs convey a college degree and generally require about 60 credits or two years of full-time study, but shorter certificate programs are available. Vocational education is very common among postsecondary education students. In school year 1999-2000, 55% of students attending two-year or proprietary schools were in vocational education.

The debate over revising TANF rules for vocational education continues a longrunning debate over the role of education in welfare-to-work programs. In the general population, higher levels of educational attainment translate into higher earnings. Welfare recipients tend to have lower levels of educational attainment than the general population. Yet the research on welfare-to-work programs finds that education-focused programs do not outperform programs that emphasize rapid attachment to jobs in raising employment and earnings of cash assistance recipients. This research, however, is not specific to programs that focus specifically on vocational education. Many welfare recipients do not have the prerequisites for postsecondary vocational education (i.e., they lack a high school degree). Moreover, many recipients who have such prerequisites participate in vocational education on their own (without a program mandate), which dilutes the measured impact of education-focused programs.

The current debate takes place in a different context than welfare debates prior to TANF. TANF's fixed funding provides states a strong incentive to reduce caseloads -- even if Congress permitted more vocational education to count toward participation standards, states would still have the incentive to place recipients in activities that would speed their entry into jobs and exit from the welfare rolls. Further, the debate can be broadened to include part-time education and training for working recipients and other low-income parents. The majority of postsecondary students can be classified as "nontraditional" -- with characteristics like TANF recipients (older, having dependents and often working). A key question is whether "targeted" programs of vocational or postsecondary education or programs that emphasize part-time education combined with work will be effective in achieving