Training & education

Embedding credentials within bachelor’s degrees

It’s an idea that’s so obvious that it’s a wonder no one has ever thought of it before: embedding credentials within bachelor’s degrees so college graduates can step directly into specialized occupations immediately after receiving their diplomas. And yet the idea has only recently been gaining traction.

Last month, an affiliate of the American National Standards Institute called Workcred published a new “framework” for developing certification-degree pathways. It did so in partnership with the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities, and the University Professional and Continuing Education Association.

The framework identifies “examples, opportunities, benefits and challenges” that would be associated with making industry certification part of a bachelor’s degree program.

The framework was the outcome of a series of “convenings” among universities and certification bodies across the U.S. in which participants discussed opportunities in this integrated approach, as well as how to overcome barriers. They specifically explored opportunities in the fields of health care, cybersecurity, manufacturing, and the liberal arts.

Embedding or aligning certifications and bachelor’s degrees is seen as offering numerous benefits for students, certification bodies, universities, and employers.

Such degrees would give students both the broadbased education and the industry-specific skills that employers look for in new hires. “Having an industryvalued credential as well as a degree can increase job opportunities and lead to better pay for students,” said Julie Uranis of the University Professional and Continuing Education Association.

Credential-degree pathways would benefit certifying bodies because such plans would spread awareness of certification and help articulate how certification relates to certain careers, according to Karen Elzey, Workcred’s associate executive director.

“Further,” Elzey said, “colleges and universities can improve their responsiveness to the needs in their regions, recruiting new students by developing more opportunities to count certifications for academic credit towards a bachelor’s degree, and differentiating their programs from other higher education programs.”

Shari Garmise, executive director of the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities, goes further, saying that embedded credentials could help right past social wrongs. Labor-market credentials “improve labor market outcomes by certifying skill attainment which may help eliminate implicit bias in the hiring process,” she said.

Embedding professional and vocational credentials within bachelor’s degree programs is an idea to which education professionals appear receptive.

Writing last month in The Edge, a weekly newsletter of The Chronicle of Higher Education, senior writer Goldie Blumenstyk said embedding credentials “seemed like a no-brainer to me a year ago” and that “I still think that.” She offered kudos to Felician University for integrating IT and software courses from the DevOps Institute and to Ohio University for adding engineering courses that lead to certification in manufacturing.

Last June, Wired magazine published an article by Jon Marcus about students who are “stacking” credentials en route to a degree. Although some students have been slow to understand the value of what some call “microcredentials,” the idea has gained momentum in part because of the pandemic, Marcus wrote.

“A third of people who have lost their jobs in the pandemic, or worry that they will, say they will need more education to get new ones,” he quoted the nonprofit Strada Education Network as saying. Stackable microcredentials are a way to obtain marketable knowledge quickly.

Earlier last year, an article in IndustryWeek pointed out the gap between the manufacturing jobs and the pool of skilled talent needed to fill them. The authors’ suggestion: “Let’s embed high-quality, industry-recognized certifications into college degree programs.” They too cited the example of Ohio University, where students pursuing a bachelor of science in engineering technology and management may sit for the exam to become certified manufacturing specialists.

The framework laid out by Workcred and its partners offers a template for establishing a certification-degree path. First, one must obtain “leadership buy-in” and “create a common language.” Then, it’s necessary to “align competencies” and determine “appropriate fit.” The final steps are to “allocate resources” and “identify how credentials will be communicated.”

Offering an entry for students formerly underrepresented in various occupations, providing job seekers with much-needed credentials during rough economic times, creating a pipeline of qualified employees for industries struggling to emerge from recession — indeed, what’s not to like about the idea? — Kevin Jones EA

— Illustration Designed by iconicbestiary / Freepik

Embedding or aligning certifications and bachelor’s degrees is seen as offering numerous benefits for students, certification bodies, universities, and employers