Across two rounds of grants from 2010 and 2021, the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program aimed to provide education and training to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other adults with low incomes for occupations in the healthcare field that pay well and are expected to either experience labor shortages or be in high demand. From a participant’s perspective, the goal of the HPOG Program was to increase their employment opportunities through training for healthcare professions.

An analysis of program data shows that most HPOG trainings were short-term or entry-level, and for low wage jobs. Moreover, emerging evidence from HPOG suggests that these trainings have not substantially impacted participants’ earnings compared to a control group that did not have access to HPOG trainings.

Emerging evidence also suggests that longer-term trainings for mid- or higher-level jobs would substantially increase earnings. However, challenges related to academic preparation and funding living expenses during training make it difficult for many HPOG participants to enroll in longer training for jobs that would earn them higher wages.

This brief uses data from the HPOG 2.0 Program to examine the intermediate strategy of completing several shorter entry-level trainings, and the implications of doing so on participant wages. Specifically, it explores whether participants who completed multiple entry-level trainings or certifications earned higher wages than those who completed none or just one entry-level training or obtained only one entry-level credential.

Key Findings

• In HPOG 2.0, far more participants completed one or more entry-level healthcare trainings than completed the mid- or high-level healthcare trainings that often lead to higher paying jobs.
• Participants who completed multiple entry-level trainings were far more likely to obtain multiple credentials than participants who completed one entry-level training.
• By a large margin, Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and Home Health Aide (HHA) credentials were the most common among entry-level training completers in HPOG 2.0.
• Among entry-level completers in HPOG 2.0, the top-seven most common combinations of credentials involved participants obtaining a CNA credential and at least one other entry-level credential.
• We find no evidence that participants with multiple entry-level credentials earn more than those with one entry-level credential or no credentials.
• Findings suggest that those completing multiple entry-level trainings may earn only slightly more ($0.23 per hour) than those completing one entry-level training.