Specialize As You Go credentials are designed to prepare individuals for specializations in the workplace and academic disciplines. While they may or may not be connected to other credentials, individuals seek them to add advanced learning to more traditional degrees or certificates, often to improve their employment prospects. Specialize As You Go credentials give learners additional areas for employability and/or advancement, help them connect their prior learning with specializations, and allow them to return and develop additional skills, often more quickly than in a full degree program.
Credential As You Go has acquired three phases of funding to date. Lumina Foundation funded Phase I, resulting in the Incremental Credential Framework for testing. The Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education funds Phase II (Grant R305T210063), which focuses on rapid prototyping of and research on incremental credentials with a national campaign. An anonymous private donor fund at the Program on Skills, Credentials & Workforce Policy at George Washington University funds the development of the prototype Learn and Work Ecosystem Library. Walmart funds Phase III, which focuses on systems change for expansion and sustainability of incremental credentials. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of Lumina Foundation, Institute of Education Sciences, the U.S. Department of Education, Walmart, or George Washington University.
