FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 11, 2023
ANN ARBOR — Credential As You Go today announced its 2023 Cohort of organizations to join the incremental credentialing initiative, already supporting a number of institutions across three states: Colorado, North Carolina, and New York. This new expansion and adoption work is supported by a grant from Walmart.
Twenty-eight applicants were selected from the Credential as You Go RFP Expansion and Adoption Initiative announced in September 2022. The 2023 Cohort includes seven private four-year colleges and universities, eight community colleges, nine public universities, two public systems of higher education, and two certifying organizations. Two minority-serving institutions (MSI) or Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), and several institutions serving primarily an adult learner population are included in the 2023 Cohort: American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), Bay Path University, Bryan University, Central Christian College of Kansas, Cleveland State University, Colorado School of Mines, The College of Westchester, Credit for Prior Learning Assessment Network (C-PLAN), Minnesota State Colleges & Universities, D’Youville University, Elon University (2 projects), Florida Gulf Coast University, Harford Community College, Houston Community College, Huntington Junior College, Kennesaw State University, Louisiana State University (LSU) Online & Continuing Education, Miami University Regionals, Minneapolis College, Montgomery County Community College, SUNY Onondaga Community College, Purdue University Global, SUNY Westchester Community College, Unity College, University of Hawaii System, University of Missouri – St. Louis, University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, and Western Colorado Community College.
The Credential As You Go initiative focuses on informing and facilitating the development of an incremental credentialing system, recognizing the value in many types of quality credentials, including degrees, certificates, industry certifications, licenses, badges, and microcredentials. These credentials – and others – document an individual’s learning, and are awarded by many types of providers, including community and technical colleges, four-year colleges and universities, third-party organizations, employers, and the military and state licensing boards. The initiative has many components, all needed to create a nationally recognized, incremental credentialing system. These include a national campaign to build understanding and support, research to build the evidence for the new system, technical assistance and tools and resources, commitment to equity and inclusion, policy changes, and connections with many related initiatives that are also working to improve the nation’s learn-and-work ecosystem.
Credential As You Go kicked off in the fall of 2021, and in 2022 initiated work within three state systems of higher education in Colorado, North Carolina, and New York. With the addition of these new partners, Credential As You Go will more than double the number of participating institutions and organizations.
“We see the potential to expand incremental credentialing through these new partnerships and the number of organizations interested in getting involved,” said Shannon Rowan, senior manager, opportunity at Walmart. “This tells us that innovation is happening across academic institutions and education systems. We look forward to seeing how Credential As You Go’s resources and tools support this work.”
“We are excited to include this new cohort to expand the work already underway, leading to a transformation of the credentialing system in this country,” emphasized project co-lead, Nan Travers, Director of the Center for Leadership in Credentialing Learning at SUNY Empire State College.
“Our new partners understand the promise of incremental credentialing,” added project co-lead Melissa Goldberg, director of Competencies and Credentials at Corporation for a Skilled Workforce. “Although they are all at various stages of incremental credentialing – some at the design stages and others at early or full stages of implementation– they’re listening to today’s learners and workers and coming up with credentialing plans that will help to close the current gap between education and employment.”
“These new partners reflect the diversity of communities across the country that are stepping up to develop incremental credential pathways for learners,” underscored project co-lead Holly Zanville from the Program on Skills, Credentials & Workforce Policy at George Washington University.
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About Credential As You Go
Credential As You Go is committed to a nationally adopted incremental credentialing ecosystem that improves education and employment outcomes for all learners. Credential As You Go is an initiative and partnership between SUNY Empire State University; the Program on Skills, Credentials & Workforce Policy at George Washington University; and Corporation for a Skilled Workforce.
Media Contact
Lucia Weathers
Lucia@WeathersStrategyGroup.com
317-732-1911
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.
