A powerful mix of shifting workforce needs, evolving learner preferences, and college affordability is reshaping how and where people seek education and skills training. For professional credentialing providers and higher education institutions, this shift offers both an opportunity and a directive: to offer alternative pathways that adapt to individual career goals and meet the needs of today’s labor market.
How Enrollment and Job Market Demands Are Reshaping Education Choices
The past decade has brought sweeping changes in educational perceptions. In 2023, only 42% of Americans believed a traditional four-year degree was valuable, marking an 11-point drop since 2013. What’s more, just over half of all recent grads felt their degrees equipped them with job-relevant skills and 32% thought those degrees showcase their skills. Suffice it to say, confidence in the traditional higher-ed system is trending down.
It’s not all doom and gloom though. These shifts have led to a rapid expansion in alternative pathways toward career readiness and workforce development. Today, there are over a million academic and professional credentials in the United States alone. That’s triple the number available in 2018. And first-time certificate earners are growing at an average annual rate of 12%. Such offerings—designed for targeted skill-building and practical application—have become increasingly attractive to those who want a streamlined entry to the workforce or who seek frequent re-skilling or up-skilling opportunities.
Adapting to the New Learning Economy
We’re now part of a “new learning economy” where students and professionals prioritize credentials that:
- Align with the standards of one’s chosen field
- Are quick to earn and display
- Can be continually expanded as career goals evolve
For many, this kind of learning and training model offers a more direct route to career readiness and professional growth than traditional academic credentials alone, potentially increasing the value of education.
And make no mistake: People really are gravitating toward this model. A recent survey found that three-quarters of college students selected a degree program based in part on whether relevant microcredentials were offered, while 66% indicated that having a credential count toward a degree was their primary motivation. This preference mirrors what we’ve seen among employers too—with 76% favoring job candidates who’ve earned professional certificates et 95% recognizing employee benefits in their accrual.
How Employers, Higher Education Institutions, and Professional Credentialing Bodies Are Adapting
The good news? This pivot toward lifelong learning is progressing quickly among professional credentialing providers, employers, and third-party learning platforms. Credential programs are now offered by around 60,000 US organizations, and partnerships between employers and platforms like LinkedIn Learning rose from 44% in 2022 to 52% in 2023.
The not-so-good news? Higher education institutions are lagging in response. Only 9% have well-established microcredential programs, and partnerships between employers and traditional institutions dropped nine percentage points in 2023 from the previous year. The message is clear: Higher education isn’t keeping pace with the labor market’s growing preference for skills-based hiring.
Strategies for Higher Ed and Credentialing Providers to Align with Workforce Needs
So, what are some big-picture strategies that organizations can keep in mind when considering today’s academic-to-professional pipeline?
Create a Frictionless Learning Experience
There are currently about 40 million people in the US alone who’ve earned some college credit but didn’t continue for a full degree. For those individuals, higher-ed institutions could make it easy to apply previous credits toward new credentials or degrees. This could mean helping prospective students transfer credits or offering guidance on how prior learning could fit into current program structures. The gist? Make reentry into the learning pipeline as frictionless as possible.
Prioritize Experiential Learning Opportunities
Apprentice programs have grown by 64% since 2012, and US employers now see an average ROI of $1.47 for every $1 they spend on such a program.
So why not give the people what they want? Educational institutions and employers should consider integrating more work-study programs that blend hands-on learning, academic knowledge, and the opportunity to earn a professional credential. This could include internships, fellowships, apprenticeships, and even pre-apprenticeships starting in high school.
Here’s how this might play out: A high-school student enrolls in a pre-apprentice program for certified nursing assistants (CNA), learning basic patient care and health care protocols. After graduation, they enroll in an associate or bachelor’s degree program in nursing—on their way to becoming a licensed registered nurse. Wanting to specialize, they pursue a fellowship in the oncology field and gain advanced, field-specific experience under clinician supervision. In the end, their journey layered progressive learning and hands-on training, leading to specialized expertise and career growth.
Offer a Variety of Credentials
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to learning and testing anymore. Higher education institutions and credentialing providers should consider the different needs and preferences of their prospective pools by providing a range of credentialing options. Some of those could include:
- Microcredentialing: This practice grants certificates or credentials to individuals who have completed a short learning course on a specific subject or skillset and passed a competency-based assessment.
- Just-in-time learning and testing: This method combines education and assessment, with modules being completed precisely when someone needs them—say, an IT technician who receives multifactor authentication training just before deploying a new security protocol.
- Stapling: In this emerging practice, professional certifications can be attached or “stapled” to a traditional degree program, allowing higher-ed students to earn credentials through their institution.
- Stacking: The accumulation of multiple credentials over time, stacking allows individuals to build a comprehensive portfolio that reflects a broad range of competencies and specialized knowledge within a particular field.
- Continuing education: This practice involves ongoing learning and skill development through activities such as courses, workshops, and seminars. It’s long been required of many licensure professions, but it’s gaining traction among other, non-licensure professions as well.
Flexible credential practices like these encourage students and professionals to continue developing job-ready skills, which—ultimately—makes our labor and economic markets more resilient to future changes.
The New World of Career Readiness and Workforce Development
There’s been much ado about the skills gap in today’s increasingly technical and specialized world. Academic and professional organizations can help bridge this gap by embracing practical, flexible credentialing models—and building an ecosystem where educational journeys align more closely with workforce needs. In doing so, educators, evaluators, and employers can meet more people where they’re at.
To learn more about these trends and opportunities, check out “6 Key Themes Shaping the Future of Higher Education” et “5 Most-Pressing Questions Facing Credentialing Today.”