DOL on Specific Vocational Preparation

MEMORANDUM FOR:
Norma Selvera
Acting Administrator
for Region VI

FROM:
Barbara A. Farmer
Administrator for
Regional Management

This is response to your request for additional guidance regarding the specific vocational preparation that can be credited towards a master's or doctorate. We are also providing guidance as to the SVP that should be credited toward an associate degree since the Regional Certifying Officer has indicated that such guidance is desirable.

Associate Degree

In crediting the amount of specific vocational preparation (SVP) that can be credited for an associate degree a distinction has to be made between a general associate degree and those associate degrees that prepare an individual for a specific job. None of the time required to earn a general associate degree should be counted as SVP. The course work covered in earning such a degree is similar to that covered during the first two years of the average 4-year college curriculum and cannot be counted in arriving at the SVP to be assigned to an employer's job offer. In this connection, it should be noted that the latest edition of the Revised Handbook for Analyzing Jobs, provide on page 8-10 that the average 4-year college curriculum should be counted as 2 years of SVP.

On the other hand, an associate degree provided by junior and community colleges which prepare an individual for a specific job can be counted fully in arriving at the appropriate SVP level. Such programs are, for example, commonly offered to prepare individuals to work as engineering technicians; e.g. civil engineering technicians, electrical and electronic technicians, industrial engineering technicians, mechanical engineering technicians. In such situations where the 2-year program generally consists of extensive technical training it would be appropriate to count an associates degree as 2-years of SVP.

Master's and Doctorate's

The years of specific vocational preparation to be credited for a Master's or a Doctorate should be based on the time it would generally take a person to earn the degree in question from a graduate school in the United States, if a person matriculated towards the degree on a full-time basis. This, of course, may vary somewhat with the academic discipline involved in the labor certification application.

As a "rule of thumb", the DFLC has determined it would be appropriate, based on a survey of educational associations and institutions, to count 2 and 3 years of SVP for a master's and PhD, respectively, or a total of 5 years for both.

Questions regarding the guidance provided herein may be directed to Denis Gruskin at 202/219-4369

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