Dive Brief:
- A new initiative from the Lumina Foundation will bring together leaders in higher ed, business, and labor in order to clarify the muddled credentialing system.
- Inside Higher Ed reports that the effort aims to create a common language across disparate credentialing systems rather than a new grading apparatus to measure the quality of programs.
- A preliminary version of the framework serves as a rubric with competencies to compare skill acquisition across degree programs, certificates, and other industry credentials, according to the article.
Dive Insight:
Higher education has become increasingly saturated with varying kinds of degree and certificate programs, from traditional classroom programs to online credentials. The diversity of opportunity for adult learners has opened up elements of higher education to groups of people who needed more flexibility than traditional programs have afforded in the past. But the goal for many of the students seeking alternative programs is career advancement. And employers are still at a loss when it comes to evaluating a wide variety of nontraditional degrees and credentials.
The Lumina Foundation effort has great potential to provide clarity to this system and, after its yearslong development phase, could transform the marketability of alternative programs.