The Edge: Microcredentials explained

A pair of primers offers guidelines for awarding them and evaluating them in hiring. ADVERTISEMENT [The Edge Logo]( Did someone forward you this newsletter? [Sign up free]( to receive your own copy. You can now read The Chronicle on [Apple News]( [Flipboard]( and [Google News](. I’m Goldie Blumenstyk, a senior writer at The Chronicle covering innovation in and around higher ed. This week — still a bit jet-lagged after some much-needed vacation — I feature new advice on microcredentials, reflect on readers’ responses on how to reframe “career prep,” and share some takeaways on rural students from my colleague Graham Vyse. ADVERTISEMENT SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHRONICLE Enjoying the newsletter? [Subscribe today]( for unlimited access to essential news, analysis, and advice. ‘Microcredentials 101’ for college leaders Hats off to the Center for the Future of Higher Education and Talent Strategy at Northeastern University for its [new primer on microcredentials]( written specifically for higher-ed leaders. In a concise 15 pages, the authors highlight the reasons such credentials are gaining steam in the post-Covid educational market. The report describes — without getting too geeky — some of the technical considerations of digital formats for badges and suggests useful guidelines for institutions to consider when developing microcredentials. I especially appreciated the second item on that checklist: “Identify what is distinctive about your institution.” The primer also recommends that institutions actually gauge the value of the microcredentials they offer, a step I suspect many have not yet been brave enough to take. That calls for tracking how often learners claim their awarded microcredential and share it to a professional networking site like LinkedIn, and for collecting feedback on why they did or didn’t. Another suggestion from the primer: track the number of microcredential learners who go on to enroll in a degree program. That last point is worth emphasizing. As one author of the primer, Sean Gallagher, wrote to me, the thinking is that microcredentials need not be an alternative to college, but rather as a way to introduce or augment existing academic programs, as some colleges in the [Credential as You Go movement]( already do. Higher-ed leaders might also want to check out [the companion primer for human-resources or talent officials]( which provides advice for evaluating the microcredentials that job applicants might present. Employers should ask, the report suggests, whether microcredentials have been validated or endorsed by a trusted third party; whether they include an experiential or work-based component; and/or whether they map to in-demand skills in a given industry. As I see it, if that’s what employers will be looking for from microcredentials, that’s probably what colleges ought to be putting into them. A better framing for ‘career prep’ After writing in April about [a call for colleges to more fully embrace career preparation]( I asked if reframing the term might make it more resonant. More than a dozen of you responded, some sharing websites and slide decks you’ve developed on that question. It was heartening for me to know that others share my notion that it’s not just semantics, but that a more holistic framing could signal graduates’ community- and civic-readiness alongside the job kind. Two comments stood out to me. First, a practical one: “To do this successfully,” wrote Alan Lesgold, a professor emeritus of education, psychology, and intelligent systems at the University of Pittsburgh, institutions “need to be more data driven than they are now.” He recommended that colleges develop a set of outcome measures for their community-, civic-, and career-readiness goals which “define their brand and guide their programming.” And, he added, colleges will also have to invest in a major effort to “convince graduates that part of paying it forward is to respond to surveys aimed at determining what worked for them.” And here’s a more philosophical comment, from a student-success counselor at King’s College, in Pennsylvania: “We’re quite fond of a saying of our first president that ‘King’s teaches its students not only how to make a living, but how to live,’” wrote Jonathan Kadjeski. “Why not include both kinds of language, both rhetorical worlds together, in partnership?” he added. “If done with a genuine purpose, it’s far from mere semantics.” Including rural students To support Americans living in rural education deserts, government and higher-education leaders must work to expand transportation options, child-care programs, scholarship opportunities, high-quality online learning, and internet access, experts said during [a recent Chronicle virtual forum](. (The transportation theme in particular followed coverage in [The Edge]( back in February on how institutions could tap into a trillion dollars in government spending on transit and other infrastructure projects.) Here are two main takeaways from the forum, which was moderated by Eric Kelderman, a senior reporter, and underwritten by the Ascendium Education Group as part of our [series on student success](. ‘Rurality’ is a form of diversity. Students from rural areas may face condescension and even ridicule on their campuses, said Andrew Koricich, the executive director of the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges and an associate professor of higher education at Appalachian State University. “Rural students have their accents made fun of — and not just by peers,” he said. Colleges should be more conscious about treating “rurality” as a form of diversity, he argued, by creating programs to foster community and peer support, and by surveying students about what they’re experiencing and hoping for in their education. “Part of it is just finding them,” he said, “so they feel seen.” A case-management approach to advising can also help, said Alyssa Ratledge, who focuses on postsecondary-education issues at the research organization MDRC. “Particularly on rural-serving campuses,” she said, “people want face time.” Regional programs can be a lifeline but often favor traditional-age students. Dual-enrollment and “promise” programs — like one in rural {NAME} County in Michigan that offers $5,000 annual scholarships to high-school graduates — can encourage students to give college a try, said Laura Beamer, the lead researcher on higher-education finance at the Jain Family Institute. At the same time, many promise programs need to do a better job of including adult learners, Koricich said. Also, Ratledge added, these efforts are “really only tackling the access question and are not prepared to tackle the completion question” unless they’re connected to additional campus supports. —Graham Vyse Catch up at JFF Horizons next week? I’ll be attending Jobs for the Future’s annual Horizons summit next week, in New Orleans. I’m looking forward to some great presentations and conversations on the intersection of postsecondary education and the work force — and, given the location, probably some decent food, too. I’m especially eager to hear the latest developments from Educational Quality Outcomes Standards, an organization [whose evolution I’ve been following]( for eight years. JFF acquired the nonprofit EQOS in 2022, and in April it [received a $2.9-million grant]( from the GitLab Foundation to develop tools that could help workers, learners, and employers make sense of an increasingly fragmented education and training marketplace. Will you be at Horizons? Got something interesting cooking on your campus or in your organization? Let’s be sure to connect, perhaps even over a chicory coffee or beignet. Got a tip you’d like to share or a question you’d like me to answer? Let me know, at goldie@chronicle.com. If you have been forwarded this newsletter and would like to see past issues, [find them here](. To receive your own copy, free, register [here](. If you want to follow me on Twitter (yeah, for now at least, I’m still there), [@GoldieStandard]( is my handle. NEWSLETTER [Sign Up for the Teaching Newsletter]( Find insights to improve teaching and learning across your campus. Delivered on Thursdays. 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