As workforce demands evolve and budgets tighten, one question is rising to the top for HR leaders and executives: Which delivers better ROI: degree or non-degree programs?

For decades, degrees were the guaranteed entry ticket to a career that offered clear pathways to higher pay and leadership roles. But today, with the proliferation of micro-credentials, certifications, and online learning, the ROI equation has changed.

Employers are now weighing the cost, speed, and relevance of non-degree programs against the long-term value of formal education benefits. To help evaluate the business impact of both options for upskilling investments, we’ll explore when it’s best to offer degree vs. non-degree programs with insights from EdAssist clients and national research.

What’s the ROI of education benefits?

For HR leaders, the ROI of education benefits goes far beyond the cost of tuition assistance or student loan repayment. It shows up in measurable workforce outcomes such as:

• Lower turnover rates that reduce the expense and disruption of constant rehiring.
• Stronger internal mobility pipelines that allow you to promote from within.
• Increased employee engagement levels that result in higher productivity and morale.

Education benefits also serve as a powerful differentiator in talent acquisition, signaling to candidates that your organization invests in their careers. By aligning degree and non-degree programs with workforce planning goals, HR leaders can successfully transform education benefits from a perk into a strategic lever for retention, employee development, and long-term talent sustainability.

Understanding the rise of non-degree programs

If your education benefits include tuition reimbursement, traditionally this benefit has applied towards attaining degrees and higher education. But there has been significant discussion recently around the ROI of investing in traditional degrees, especially as both student loans and tuition costs continue to increase.

This concern is understandable:

• One report found that the cost of tuition at public four-year institutions increased 36.7% from 2010 to 2023, and has increased more than 75% every decade from the 1970s to the 2000s.
• The EdAssist Education Index by Bright Horizons found that 53% of employees said knowing that they would incur student loan debt has prevented them from pursuing additional education.
• 80% of workers with student loans expressed that the loans have been a large financial burden. 
• A study from Pew Research found that around 50% of participants said it was less important to have a four-year degree today to get a well-paying job than it was 20 years ago. 

Additionally, 58% of surveyed employers felt that young new graduates aren’t ready to enter the workforce. Specific upskilling and reskilling needs are becoming more urgent and prominent.

What we’re seeing across EdAssist clients

So, what’s the best investment for education benefits? Should you only offer traditional degrees as part of your education benefits program? Or are nimble, targeted, and affordable non-degree a better option for your organization?

Let’s let the numbers talk. Among EdAssist clients from 2022 to 2024:

• We’ve seen a 36% increase in non-degree participation.
• We saw a 17% lift in degree participation, but degree spend has been on average 1.8X higher spend per head than non-degree learning.

Based on this data, don’t eliminate degrees from your education benefits. They’re still very much worth it. However, non-degree programs are rising quickly. Understanding the true value of each learning option is essential to building a future-ready workforce.

Degree vs Non-Degree decision framework for employers

Not sure where to start? Here’s a practical framework to help HR leaders and business decision-makers evaluate which education programs deliver the strongest ROI for your organization:

1. Use Degrees for Long-Term Leadership and Specialized Roles

Degrees are ideal when you’re building a leadership pipeline or succession plan. These roles require deep expertise, professional licensure, or advanced credentials (e.g., nursing, engineering, finance). Offering degrees ensures you’re investing in high-potential employees for long-term growth. This is applicable whether you have an in-house tuition assistance program or partner with a provider, like EdAssist.

For greater ROI on offering degree programs, you can get strategic with what you offer in your education benefits program. For example, offering no-cost degrees to attract and retain talent in critical or hard-to-fill roles. For example, a healthcare organization may offer no-cost nursing degrees to address a shortage of RNs and build a sustainable talent pipeline.

2. Use Non-Degree Programs for Fast Upskilling and Budget-Conscious Development

Non-degree programs are best when you need to quickly close skill gaps in areas like tech, operations, or compliance. This is a great option when you want to support career mobility without requiring full degree completion. You may be working with limited budgets but still want to offer meaningful development, or certain roles require specific certifications (e.g., Six Sigma, PMP, cybersecurity).

Non-degree programs can help companies embed agile upskilling to solve immediate needs through faster and more affordable paths to achieve specific training or education. For example, a logistics company may offer supply chain management certificates to frontline supervisors to prepare them for internal promotions.

3. Align Education Strategy with Business Priorities

Every organization has unique needs. Ask:

• What are our most critical roles today and in the next 3–5 years?
• Where are we seeing talent shortages or high turnover?
• Which skills are needed to support innovation, growth, or compliance?
• What’s our budget and timeline for workforce development?

Use this insight to determine the right mix of degree and non-degree offerings. For some organizations, offering a combination of both can deliver the strongest ROI by balancing long-term investment with short-term agility.

Build a strategic education benefits program with EdAssist

EdAssist specializes in partnering with our clients to achieve strategic workforce development. Whether you start with degree or non-degree programs, the benefit of partnering with EdAssist is that you get access to a robust education network of 200+ colleges, universities, and non-degree programs.

This network allows you to offer the best education partners for your organization and employees while maximizing tuition dollars with reduced-cost options. EdAssist’s program also includes personalized coaching to direct your employees based on their goals, streamlining this process for HR and management.

Schedule a call to discover how we can help you select the best degree or non-degree options for your education benefits program.