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Postsecondary nondegree award

Typical entry-level education · BLS

Postsecondary nondegree award is one of the eight typical entry-level education levels BLS assigns to occupations — the credential most workers have when they enter the job. This level covers 51 occupations employing about 9,470,170 workers, with a median wage of $58,410. It describes the typical path, not a requirement — many people enter by other routes.

What occupations at this level pay

Median annual wage across occupations at this entry-level education, from BLS OEWS (national, cross-industry, May 2024). The middle range shows the 25th–75th percentile of occupation medians — it describes the level, not a guarantee for any one person or job.

Median occupation wage $58,410
Middle range (p25–p75) $45,865 – $66,050
Occupations with wage data 51 of 51

AI exposure at this education level

Two published studies estimate how exposed each occupation is to today's AI. The OpenAI "GPTs are GPTs" study rates the share of an occupation's tasks a large language model (with tools) could speed up by half or more; averaged across occupations that typically need this credential it is 20% — 19th percentile of the eight education levels. The independent Felten/Raj/Seamans AI Occupational Exposure index averages -0.41 here.

Computed across the 51 of 51 occupations at this level that carry a published exposure score.

Across the eight levels, AI exposure rises with education — degree-requiring knowledge work is most exposed, manual and credential-light work least. Exposure measures where AI could assist tasks, not a prediction that these jobs will be automated; high exposure most often means augmentation.

Highest-paying occupations at this level

Occupations whose typical entry-level education is postsecondary nondegree award, with the highest median wage. Wage describes the occupation, not an individual.

Occupation Median pay
Commercial Pilots $122,670
Ship Engineers $101,320
Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay $100,940
First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers $92,430
Captains, Mates, and Pilots of Water Vessels $85,540
Electrical and Electronics Installers and Repairers, Transportation Equipment $82,730
Avionics Technicians $81,390
Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians $78,680
Fire Inspectors and Investigators $78,060
Insurance Appraisers, Auto Damage $76,650
Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment $71,300
Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners $67,310
Sound Engineering Technicians $66,430
Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Programmers $65,670
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Workers, All Other $64,030
Tool and Die Makers $63,180
Surgical Technologists $62,830
Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers $62,630
Wind Turbine Service Technicians $62,580
Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses $62,340
Commercial Divers $61,130
Lighting Technicians $60,560
Surgical Assistants $60,290
Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers $59,810
Firefighters $59,530

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 3, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Postsecondary nondegree award." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/education/postsecondary-nondegree-award

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Postsecondary nondegree award. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/education/postsecondary-nondegree-award

BibTeX
@misc{singulariki-postsecondary-nondegree-award,
  title  = {Postsecondary nondegree award},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/education/postsecondary-nondegree-award}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.