Can Certificate Programs Solve the Skills and Spatial Mismatch Problem? Job Portability and Residential Mobility in a Coding and Apprenticeship Program

Nondegree certificate programs that are free, short, and located in urban areas may pose implications for the skills and spatial match between urban job-seekers and employers. Leveraging a large-scale survey of applicants to a unique technology certificate and apprenticeship program, we apply machine-learning generated propensity score weights, finding that apprenticeship completers were more likely to see a significant reduction in the distance between their homes and jobs when compared to similar non-admitted applicants. Additionally, through descriptive analyses, we see that a greater proportion of apprenticeship completers changed both their residential and employment locations. Finally, our geospatial depictions further highlighted these residential and employment relocations often clustered in areas marked by distinct racial, economic, and employment characteristics. Our findings suggest that these types of education programs may solve the spatial mismatch problem for individuals but have limited implications for residential attainment.