The University at Buffalo has been offering credit-bearing and noncredit microcredentials since 2018. In establishing our initiative, we wanted to assure strong alignment with the university’s institutional values, and therefore, put a significant amount of priority on the academic quality of microcredentials. The initiative was framed around three overarching aspirations that continue to guide our commitment to microcredentials:
To support the credibility of these new credentials, and efficiency in implementing them, we opted to integrate the microcredentials predominantly within our existing structures and enterprise-wide systems. This involved incorporating microcredentials into established curriculum governance processes, and enterprise-wide systems, including the student information system, to track enrollment and completion of degree-seeking and non-matriculated students.
UB currently offers 49 graduate-level microcredentials—25 are credit-bearing and 24 are noncredit. These programs are offered through 10 of our 12 schools. There are also microcredentials offered through several non-decanal units, including Student Life and the Libraries. Our microcredential offerings continue to grow; on average we offer about 10 new microcredentials each academic year.
The bulk of enrollment is among students already pursuing degree programs, and we continually see high enrollment in microcredentials among these already existing students. Our central office, the office of Microcredentials, collects data from students through pre- and post-surveys to better understand their interest in, and motivations for, pursuing microcredentials.
We are also seeing a number of interesting trends in faculty development of microcredentials. Examples:
Additionally, faculty regularly leverage microcredentials as a tool for certifying Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) competencies. Among the 49 microcredentials currently available to graduate students, 10 are specifically designed to cultivate intercultural and global competencies, and a critical understanding of DEI principles. These are often specific to disciplines, including STEM fields like engineering (e.g., Diversity and Inclusion for Engineers), and health sciences (e.g., Recognizing Inequities in Biomedical Research). These programs offer students additional opportunities to deepen their understanding of critical issues pertaining to diversity and inclusion, and to foster their commitment to equity and social justice.
UB is continuing to develop new microcredentials while concurrently assessing existing offerings and processes to ensure ongoing improvement. We work closely with faculty and staff across campus to identify areas where microcredentials can further bolster professional competencies. Notably, we've recognized a demand for increased professional development opportunities for graduate students and have developed specific microcredentials to address this need. Our growing portfolio of professional development microcredentials for graduate students include both discipline-specific programs, such as a leadership and mentoring program for pharmacy students, as well as more general microcredentials that serve graduate students across all disciplines. The Three-Minute Thesis microcredential, for example, is open to any graduate student interested in learning how to effectively communicate their research to broad audiences and gain skills in developing presentations and public speaking.
In terms of operational improvements, UB is actively in the process of creating a toolkit of assessment instruments to better understand ROI, in terms of both institutional effectiveness and the perceived value of microcredentials for students. This project includes a focus on longitudinal measurements, aiming to gauge the enduring value of microcredentials for both students and the institution over time. This collaborative effort involves working closely with the Graduate School of Education, where the development of survey instruments and pertinent data points are underway.
UB has received funding from the SUNY system to support the development of several new microcredentials, marked by robust collaborations with industry partners. One of these microcredentials targets institutional research (IR) officers, fostering collaboration across higher education institutions in New York. This program is designed to offer professional training in IR-related skills and will be available in formats suitable for both graduate students and working professionals.
Another initiative involves a strategic partnership with Tech Buffalo, a local nonprofit committed to building a sustainable, inclusive, and accessible technology community in Western New York (WNY) by enhancing the region’s ability to attract, nurture, and retain technology talent. Together, we are developing a microcredential that will offer highly transferrable tech skills to students while also introducing them to vast array of tech-related opportunities across the WNY region.
| Key Successes | Key Challenges |
| Enrollments: When we first began offering microcredentials we did not anticipate the amount of interest among graduate and professional students. As it ends up, graduate and professional students are making up the bulk of enrollment in microcredentials at UB. This was initially a bit of a surprise, but we see it as a real success in that, by offering microcredentials we are able to provide assessment for, and recognition of, learning that would typically not be provided in any formal way. These new opportunities can make an important impact on the success of our graduate and professional students as they embark on their careers. | Partnerships: It has been an ongoing challenge to facilitate meaningful partnerships with industry and employers, which is a general challenge in the realm of curriculum development. In developing microcredentials we have collaborated with several units across campus to forge connections with external stakeholders and assure the relevancy of our programs. Although there’s room for improvement in assisting faculty in addressing workforce development concerns in micro-credential design, we are making progress in this area. The quality of proposals for new microcredentials continues to increase including those with meaningful industry-partnerships. |
| Faculty interest: We are encouraged by our faculty members’ continued interest in developing microcredentials, and the range of faculty across disciplinary expertise who have participated in the initiative. The UB model is almost entirely faculty driven, in terms of conceptualizing and designing microcredentials and also in terms of the review and approval processes.
Microcredentials have been a catalyst for significant curricular innovation and in many ways, function as a kind of sandbox for curricular experimentation. Because they can be developed and revised quickly, microcredentials are a low stakes approach to innovating the curriculum and experimenting with new models. The inclusion of microcredentials in grant proposals has been another positive indication of faculty engagement with microcredentials. Several faculty members have integrated microcredentials into grant proposals, where the microcredential forms the basis of the grant (e.g., scaling experiential learning through incremental credentials) as well incorporating microcredentials into projects where the grant elevates and certifies the training experiences of graduate students involved in the research funded by the grant. |
Stackability: We have not yet seen real scalable success with using micro-credentials as pathways into degree programs through the stackable credential model. Non-matriculated students who enroll in our microcredentials have generally not been interested in segueing into a degree program. But we do have faculty incorporating stackable credentials into master’s degrees, which has led to curricular improvement. For degree-seeking students, these smaller credentials function effectively as meaningful milestones on the journey towards a larger academic goal, but this has not necessarily led to new pathways into degree programs. It is worth noting that, as a caveat, we have observed a recurring pattern where students are actively earning multiple microcredentials. This suggests that students like the customizability that microcredentials offer, and opens up possibilities for further exploration and refinement of our approach to stackability. |
| Digital Affordances of Microcredentials: Our credit-bearing microcredentials are noted on the academic transcript and all UB microcredentials, both credit and non-credit, are awarded in the form of a digital badge, and the digital nature of these credentials has provided several benefits. We’ve seen higher than average rates of both claiming the badges and sharing them. Besides data provided through the digital badge platform, which has informed our understanding of user engagement with our digital badges, another clear benefit has been the ability to embed rich metadata. For example, the tags field enables us to highlight the specific skills acquired in each program and demonstrate relevancy to in-demand skills. Also, each one of our digital badges is embedded with evidence, which is an artifact of learning that showcases the earner’s knowledge, skills or abilities and really individualizes their achievement. Recognizing the advantages of this approach, and acknowledging the evolving landscape of credentialing, has led us to see value in rethinking the transcript and the possibility of moving more towards a Comprehensive Learner Record. Our micro-credentialing initiative has been an opportunity for us to understand how new credential models can provide value for our university and especially our students. | Measuring ROI: One of our university's primary challenges with microcredentials, which we are making strides toward understanding, is effectively measuring and conveying their value. Key questions revolve around determining the return on investment for students. Does engagement with a microcredential enhance career readiness, leading to improved career outcomes? Alternatively, is it possible that students who pursue UB microcredentials are inherently more motivated and experience better career outcomes for reasons unrelated to the microcredentials?
Assessing the impact of microcredentials on student learning, the effectiveness of teaching, and potential contributions to curricular innovation also presents a challenge. While early indicators suggest positive outcomes, there is a lack of substantial evidence to definitively answer these questions. Furthermore, an essential consideration is the market value of microcredentials for employers. Determining whether employers perceive tangible value in microcredentials remains a crucial aspect of addressing this challenge. |
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.
