Is a National Tipping Point Study Needed to Improve Our Credentialing System?

Participant Profile

CREDENTIAL AS YOU GO PARTICIPANT

Colorado State University, Fort Collins

WEBSITE

TYPE

Public University

LOCATION

Fort Collins, Colorado

COHORT

2022

Implementation stage & efforts to date

Full implementation stage

  • CSU currently offers 27 undergraduate certificates from 4 Colleges
    • Undergraduate certificates consist of 9 –15 credits, of which 9 credits must be at the upper-division level (300 – 500 level)
    • Students must apply for and complete the certificate requirements while enrolled in their baccalaureate degree
    • Undergraduate certificates by title are noted on the student’s transcript at the time of degree conferral
    • The certificate title is not noted on the diploma
    • The Nancy Richardson Design Center (RDC) offers the 9-credit undergraduate certificate in Design Thinking
    • Since implementation in 2019, residential students from over 60 different majors and concentration and all eight colleges have enrolled in certificate courses

Goals for participation

  • Assess the current definition and requirements for a certificate at CSU with an eye to making these credentials accessible to non-degree-seeking students (e.g., reducing the number of prerequisites and upper-division credits required)
  • Expand access to design thinking certificates
    • Develop a fully online version of the Certificate in Design Thinking aimed toward improving access, including for dual enrollment high school students and non-degree seeking adult learners
    • Collect qualitative and quantitative data comparing student experiences in the face-to-face and online certificate courses and programs
  • Examine policies and systems to identify opportunities and barriers certificate enrollment, including retroactive credentialing
  • Implement an Associates in General Studies (AGS) degree, which will retroactively be applied to eligible former students who did not complete their bachelor’s degree and who opt in
  • Examine benefits of micro-credentials for non-degree-seeking students as well as for current students to enhance their career readiness and post-graduate success

Associated Case Studies

Certificate in Design Thinking - Online

Certificate in Design Thinking- Standalone Certificate

Improving Education and Employment Outcomes