A Duration Analysis of CONALEP (Mexico's National Technical Professional School)

Mexico's National Technical Professional School (Colegio Nacional de Educación Profesional Técnica, CONALEP) is the largest technical education system in the country. CONALEP serves low-income students at the upper-secondary school level in Mexico. Using graduate tracer surveys from CONALEP, the author analyzes the impact of modular courses and reform programs implemented by CONALEP in 1991-92 on CONALEP graduates' labor market outcomes. Results indicate that graduates from the pre-reform program had to search longer for a job compared with those of the post-reform program. Graduates from the post-reform program have 45 percent higher probability of finding a job than those from the pre-reform program. However, the pre-reform program cohorts earned higher hourly wages than those from the post-reform program.