Prior research indicates that future workers will not possess enough training to contribute to a robust U.S. labor market, especially in "middle-skill" roles that require some postsecondary education but not a 4-year degree. At the same time, the last 30 years have borne witness to an increased likelihood that middle-skill individuals pursue nontraditional, non-credit-bearing, skill-based training (such as for computer operations), with little accompanying evidence on the utility of these less portable options. To address this research void, we analyzed 20 years of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, using an individual fixed-effects regression strategy to estimate the returns to non-credit-bearing credential and licensure pathways compared with credit-bearing credential and associate degree programs. This strategy provided estimates on the returns to training that are unrelated to individual-level, time-invariant factors, such as differences in ability and motivation which remain constant over time. Our findings show that credit-bearing credentials yield an approximately equal likelihood of employment as non-credit-bearing credentials, but significantly improved earnings of about 17%, which typically equates to about $5,500 per year. [Funding for this research was provided by Education Credit Management Corporation Foundation.]