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

Add Your Heading Text Here

Providing Access to All Learners

Playbook Sections

Additional Resources

Practices: Retro Award As You Go

DEI and the Incremental Credentialing Framework

Practices: Retro Award As You Go

Retro Award As You Go credentials recognize learning that has already been acquired but not yet officially recognized with a credential. These credentials often target adult learners who have completed some college coursework but do not hold a degree or certificate. They may also recognize learning milestones reached before completing a degree, such as general education requirements. Retro Award As You Go credentials can provide a way for learners to earn credentials for what they already know and can do, and they offer pathways toward degree completion and/or workplace advancement. Additionally, these credentials link general education studies with many different fields and industries and formally recognize prior learning.

Historically excluded or overlooked populations are disproportionately represented among students who have earned sufficient credit for a credential, but have not been awarded one. Recognizing this missed opportunity for students—and for their families, potential employers, and communities—so-called “reverse transfer” ensures students are awarded the degrees they have earned. According to the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), the reverse transfer process allows students who have completed degree requirements at a four-year institution to combine credits from their four-year institution with those they previously earned at a community college to be awarded an associate degree. The primary goal of reverse transfer is to ensure that students are given the degrees they have earned by transferring credits earned at a four-year institution back to the two-year institution where they started. A recent Texas study revealed that Latina/Latino students, those from low-income backgrounds, and adult learners who receive a reclaimed associate degree through reverse transfer benefit from statewide reverse transfer policies and are more likely to earn a bachelor’s degree than are peers who are not awarded a degree before transferring.

Related work/initiatives:

Halley Sutton – Increase completion rates, degree equity with reverse credit transfer

Share Section

Improving Education and Employment Outcomes