Microcredentials, Skills Badging, LER's, and Credit for Prior Learning Resources

A four-year degree isn’t the only path to success. Info for students, employers, & more on pathways to great careers.

The State University of New York is expanding its microcredentials program.

New research from Coursera reveals that industry micro-credentials tailored to specific jobs, like Professional Certificates, are gaining popularity among students and employers around the world.

Reliable estimates of adult literacy and numeracy skills in all 50 states and 3,141 counties, and the District of Columbia using PIAAC survey data in conjunction with American Community Survey data.

The number of undergraduate degree earners fell last year for the first time since 2012. Is it a bump in the road or a harbinger of a changing higher ed landscape?

Over 500 employers were surveyed on their understanding of microcredentials and what incentivizes them to work with higher ed institutions.

From curriculum to technology concerns, consider these essentials for creating alternative education opportunities at your institution.

Colleges could consider replacing or complementing the college minor with industry certification programs, Matthew J. Mayhew, Emily Creamer and Susannah Townsend write.

Micro-credentials have recently become a huge research interest, as they play an important role in the social, economic, and higher education sectors. Mindful of growing critique in some circles and recent publications, this paper offers an informed analysis of the potential of micro-credentials to foster post-COVID-19 pandemic recovery across a spectrum of dimensions, including supporting innovation in higher education institutions (HEIs). It reports a systematic literature review analysis of scientific articles published between 2015 and January 2022 on micro-credential research in the field of higher education. Results of a bibliometric and qualitative content analysis from 32 scientific articles provided insights into the potential of micro-credentials to foster post-pandemic recovery through social, economic, and higher education innovations. The findings suggest that the potential can be unfolded through multiple dimensions, like offering more possibilities for individuals to up-skill, re-skill and enter the labor market (economic context), enhancing lifelong learning by developing flexible personal learning pathways (social context), extending services in assessment and recognition of non-formal and informal learning, and introducing stackable credits and previous qualifications (higher education context). Even though the paper analyses scientific articles from the pre-pandemic and pandemic period, this study aim to systematize the results of other researchers and t...

This article provides university leaders an introduction to the emerging micro-credentials field, including a snapshot of the global landscape. Despite the accelerated interest in micro-credentials, this article also raises a fundamental strategic question for leaders at the outset: Are micro-credentials right for our university? Part I discusses the basic elements of mcro-credentials, definitions, types of micro-credentials, and affordances and barriers and various providers of micro-credentials. Part II presents a snapshot of what is happening on the global playing field and the challenges inherent in trying to standardise micro-credentials globally. The final section of the article provides some general observations by the authors, lessons from practice, and brief example of how institutions may implement a strategic reset using micro-credentials. The authors close by emphasising micro-credentials are not a panacea for resolving institutional challenges and they are unlikely to become a major revenue enhancement. They may provide strategic value in their integration with other major institutional initiatives.

2500 microcredentials from providers like Coursera, edX, FutureLearn, and Udacity.

The Non-Degree Credentials Research Network (NCRN) is a project funded through a grant from Lumina Foundation and managed by researchers at the George Washington Institute of Public Policy (GWIPP). The NCRN is a multi-disciplinary community of scholars, practitioners and policymakers that focuses on the little-understood role of certificates, certifications and other