2025 State of Credentialing Report - Accredible

Our latest State of Credentialing research shows just how urgent this need has become:

91% of employers actively look for digital credentials when reviewing candidates.

86% say they would be more likely to interview someone with a digital credential proving a key skill.

63% have hired a candidate, at least in part, because of a digital credential.

Yet only 46% regularly see digital credentials in applications.

https://www.accredible.com/reports/2025-state-of-credentialing-report

Microcredentials Chip Away at Semiconductor Workforce Gap - Gwendolyn Rak, IEEE Spectrum

To fill the gap, some universities—including UC Santa Barbara—are also offering microcredential programs separate from traditional degree programs. In these bite-size courses, which can be as short as a week or two, future engineers and technicians can gain critical hands-on experience in clean-room fundamentals or an introduction to topics like lithography or etching. Deploying short, standardized, and skill-based courses across the country could be an essential part of building a sustainable U.S. semiconductor workforce.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/microcredentials-semiconductor-workforce-development

Micro-credentialing redefines how graduates break into new careers - IT Online

With rapid shifts in the job market becoming commonplace, graduate professionals have to be more resilient than ever to ensure they stay ahead of trends and keep their careers on an upward trajectory.  This has given rise to the phenomenon of micro-credentialing, which allows swift, affordable upskilling, an education expert says. “Micro-credentialing is revolutionising how individuals break into new careers, offering flexible, targeted learning to acquire in-demand skills. Unlike traditional degrees, these shorter, focused courses or certifications allow professionals to upskill quickly in areas that are in high demand,” says Dingaan Moropane, deputy dean: academics at The IIE’s Rosebank College. For career changers, micro-credentials bridge the gap between current expertise and new opportunities, enabling rapid entry into emerging and high-growth fields without having to take a 3-year break to pursue fulltime studies. And as industries evolve, the micro-credentialing model empowers employees to stay competitive and to pivot with confidence, he explains.

https://it-online.co.za/2025/10/13/micro-credentialing-redefines-how-graduates-break-into-new-careers/

Iowa State University launches innovative micro-credential courses - Skyler Stamps, Siouxland Proud

Iowa State University is offering a new, shortened version of learning. It’s roughly a year into the program and popularity is growing on campus. The university is offering micro-credential courses that are geared toward obtaining short learning experiences that focus on career skills as well as soft, transferable skills for both students and career professionals. The program was officially launched October 2024, but has only been growing. It currently offers around 80 courses and nearly 600 people have already completed a course in the past year. Right now, it is geared more toward Iowa State undergraduate and graduate students. The university does currently offer some micro-credentials for people already in the workforce who want to add more experience or get expanded opportunities. These credentials are also for people looking for a career change and need new experiences. 

https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/education/iowa-state-university-launches-innovative-micro-credential-courses/amp/

Florida National University Rolls Out Virtual Work-Based Learning Opportunities - Rhea Kelly, Campus Technology

Florida National University is partnering with online learning marketplace platform Riipen to provide its business students with work-based learning opportunities that connect classroom learning to career skills. The Riipen platform enables college students to take on real-world projects from employers, via a virtual model that provides more flexibility than traditional internships. Faculty can embed employer-created projects into courses and activities, giving students an opportunity to work on projects that are aligned with their learning objectives while developing their professional networks and boosting their economic mobility, the company explained in a news announcement.

https://campustechnology.com/articles/2025/10/09/florida-national-university-rolls-out-virtual-work-based-learning-opportunities.aspx?admgarea=news

AI-driven labor market pressures call for curriculum overhaul in communication education - DevDiscourse

The study recommends that universities integrate micro-credentials and studio-based training modules into communication programs. These modules would cover technical areas such as automation workflows, campaign dashboard analytics, sustainable AI practices, and adaptive use of generative AI tools. By embedding these practical components alongside traditional coursework in media ethics, politics, and governance, universities could equip students to meet the dual demands of responsible and effective AI adoption.

https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/technology/3653986-ai-driven-labor-market-pressures-call-for-curriculum-overhaul-in-communication-education

New professional certificate launches as Brock named Centre of Excellence in Logistics Learning - the Brock News

Working alongside a national leader in supply chain and logistics education, Brock University has launched a suite of new learning opportunities to help professionals thrive in the field. Through its partnership with the Canadian Institute of Traffic and Transportation (CITT), Brock has been recognized as a Centre of Excellence in Logistics Learning and is introducing a Professional Certificate in Logistics and Supply Chain Management. The program will include several micro-credentials that lead to advanced standing toward the CITT-Certified Logistics Professional (CCLP) designation. The programming, run by Brock Professional and Continuing Studies, will help professionals develop the skills needed to become supply chain analysts, operations managers for international and domestic trade, and inventory controllers in manufacturing, retail and transportation.

https://brocku.ca/brock-news/2025/10/new-professional-certificate-launches-as-brock-named-centre-of-excellence-in-logistics-learning/

Micro-credentials give ISU students an edge in a skills-based workforce - Mallory Prescott, Iowa State Daily

In an increasingly skills-driven job market, Iowa State University is leading the way with an innovative approach to helping students showcase what they know and can do, micro-credentials. Micro-credentials are short, focused learning experiences that allow students to build and demonstrate specific skills valued by employers. Unlike traditional academic courses, which can take a semester or more to complete, micro-credentials are more flexible and targeted, often completed in days or weeks. According to Tanya Austin, Professional Learning and Micro Credentials program specialists, the initiative is part of a broader effort to align learning experiences with real-world demands. 

https://iowastatedaily.com/323611/news/micro-credentials-give-isu-students-an-edge-in-a-skills-based-workforce/

Congress exempted beauty schools from rules about how much graduates should earn - Meredith Kolodner, Hechinger Report

Under the “big beautiful bill” passed in July, two- and four-year colleges must ensure that, after four years, graduates on average make at least as much as someone in their state who has only a high school diploma. The colleges must inform students if they fail that test, and if it happens for two out of three years, the college will be ineligible to receive federal loan funds. Some for-profit certificate schools lobbied hard for an exemption. The American Association of Career Schools, which represents proprietary cosmetology schools, spent $120,000 lobbying the Education Department and Congress, including on the “big beautiful bill,” in the first six months of this year. 

https://hechingerreport.org/congress-wants-colleges-to-make-sure-graduates-can-earn-a-living-but-some-schools-got-a-carveout/

HIGE invites faculty to apply for the Global Classrooms Collaborative - John Sweeney, Western Michigan

The Haenicke Institute for Global Education is accepting applications for faculty to join the Global Classrooms Collaborative Spring 2026. Selected participants will engage in a facilitated learning community throughout the semester, following a structured process to design a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) course. Support includes assistance with international partner matching, course design and intercultural pedagogy. Faculty will receive grant funding, distributed in two parts, half during the spring collaborative and the remainder following course implementation and submission of a final report.

https://wmich.edu/international/globalclassrooms

Our Approach to News Literacy - News Literacy Project

Our Framework for Teaching News Literacy is a guide for educators that includes core standards, essential questions, learning objectives and activities. Teachers can use it to build new courses or to bring news literacy into classes they already teach. This framework is based on the “Understanding by Design” (UbD)® model, a popular teaching method created by Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins. UbD helps students build big-picture thinking skills and apply what they learn to real life. It also brings together the best ways to plan lessons, teach effectively and measure what students are learning. Our grade band expectations can be used to support a districtwide approach to teaching news literacy.

https://newslit.org/our-approach-to-news-literacy/

Finding the North Star For Adult Learning: How UTI Is Redefining Upskilling for the Modern Workforce - Ron Stefanski, Market Scale

In a world where rapid technological change is redefining how we live, work, and learn, the demand for skilled labor and lifelong learning has never been higher. From electric vehicle repair to advanced diagnostics in healthcare, the U.S. faces a widening talent gap in the skilled trades and allied health industries. According to the National Skills Coalition, nearly 52% of all jobs require skills training beyond high school but not a four-year degree—yet only a fraction of the workforce is equipped to fill them. As traditional education models struggle to keep pace, a new movement in adult learning and workforce training is reshaping how individuals prepare for the future of work.

https://marketscale.com/industries/podcast-network/disrupted/finding-the-north-star-for-adult-learning/

Apprenticeship program at SRU providing solution for teacher shortage - Slippery Rock University

As a leader in teacher preparation in Pennsylvania, Slippery Rock University is launching a first-of-its-kind teacher apprenticeship program to address the state’s critical teacher shortage. Funded by a transformative $600,000 state grant, SRU’s new two-year apprenticeship program will pave the way for professionals working at five local school districts with personal support and $15,000 in tuition to help them earn full teacher certification and a master’s degree. Starting in Fall 2025, this program is tailored for individuals with bachelor’s degrees who are working as long-term substitutes, emergency-certified teachers or paraprofessionals to provide a fast-track to success as teachers in hard-to-fill positions that require certifications in:

Grades 7-12 science,

Grades 7-12 mathematics, and

Kindergarten to grade 12 special education.

https://news.sru.edu/innovative-apprenticeship-program-at-sru-providing-solution-for-teacher-shortage/

Is Experience Via Apprenticeship Degrees A New College Degree Pathway? - Forbes

A college degree typically does not include work experience linked to the students’ academic major, creating an experience gap. Apprenticeship programs allow individuals to earn a living by working, learn from mentors in the workplace and classroom, and receive an employer credential while taking on little to no student debt. This earn-and-learn experience-based apprenticeship model is a way to solve the experience gap problem, making apprenticeships a new degree pathway. The United Kingdom developed such an apprenticeship degree program, which leads to a debt-free bachelor's or master's degree from a university.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brunomanno/2025/04/02/is-experience-via-apprenticeship-degrees-a-new-college-degree-pathway/

USI Romain College of Business launches international internship program with Trustmoore

The University of Southern Indiana’s Romain College of Business has established a new international internship program in partnership with Trustmoore, a global capital markets company with offices around the world. The internship will take place at the company’s Luxembourg offices. During a meeting in 2024, members of the International Alumni Advisory Council along with Blunt and Heidi Gregori-Gahan, Associate Provost for International Programs Emerita, brainstormed ways in which international alumni can help current USI students in the areas of mentoring and career development. USI alumnus Mauricio Paniagua, a 2012 graduate in international studies and Spanish language, proposed the possibility of establishing a partnership with USI and his employer Trustmoore Luxembourg, where he serves as Senior Legal Account Manager in the Fund Services Department. Paniagua, who also serves as chair of the USI International Alumni Advisory Council, recognized that the program would be a great opportunity for USI students interested in an international career, and he began to work with his colleagues on what a university partnership would entail. 

https://www.usi.edu/news/releases/2025/09/usi-romain-college-of-business-launches-international-internship-program-with-trustmoore

Wright State partners with Coursera to expand career readiness opportunities - Bob Mihalek, Wright State

Wright State University students, faculty and staff can now gain free access to industry-recognized certificates and career-aligned courses from industry leaders such as Google, Meta and IBM. Through a new partnership with Coursera’s Career Academy, students can explore career paths, develop high-demand skills with expert instruction and earn micro-credentials and professional certificates that prove job readiness to employers. “Coursera gives students the power to shape their own career journey by combining their Wright State education with industry-recognized credentials,” said Kim Gillam, Ed.D., director of career education and success. “This flexibility allows students to graduate with the skills, knowledge and confidence that employers seek.”

https://webapp2.wright.edu/web1/newsroom/2025/10/02/wright-state-partners-with-coursera-to-expand-career-readiness-opportunities/

Online learning empowers career outcomes, as 1 in 2 UK workers secure a salary increase from skills development - Stuart Gentle, OnRec

This ongoing workforce evolution is driving a new era of learning for learners worldwide, and shifting their priorities.

87% of UK learners achieved a positive career outcome from online learning, with one in five (21%) reporting a higher job level

Almost half (49%) of UK learners experienced a salary increase as an outcome after taking an online course

Data analysis ranked top technical skill needed by UK workers, although 8 in 10 are also learning soft skills

https://www.onrec.com/news/news-archive/online-learning-empowers-career-outcomes-as-1-in-2-uk-workers-secure-a-salary

Four Ways To Improve The Selection Of Leaders -Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Forbes

Few decisions have greater consequences for an organization than the appointment of its leaders. The right leaders can elevate culture, accelerate innovation, and deliver sustainable results. The wrong ones destroy value, diminish trust, and push talented employees out the door. If you’ve ever worked under an incompetent boss, you don’t need the data to tell you how damaging bad leadership can be. But the data is unequivocal: poor leadership selection costs companies billions in disengagement, attrition, and underperformance. It is no exaggeration to say that leadership selection determines the fate of organizations and, by extension, societies. Whether in the corporate world, politics, or sport, getting it wrong is expensive. Getting it right is transformative.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomaspremuzic/2025/09/29/four-ways-to-improve-the-selection-of-leaders/

MIT OpenCourseWare is “a living testament to the nobility of open, unbounded learning” - Lauren Rebecca Thacker, MIT

Part of MIT Open Learning, OpenCourseWare offers free, online, open educational resources from more than 2,500 courses that span the MIT undergraduate and graduate curriculum. Fawzy was looking for advanced resources to supplement his research in quantum mechanics and theoretical physics, and he was immediately struck by the quality, accessibility, and breadth of MIT’s resources. “OpenCourseWare was transformative in deepening my understanding of advanced physics,” Fawzy says. “I found the structured lectures and assignments in quantum physics particularly valuable. They enhanced both my theoretical insight and practical problem-solving skills — skills I later applied in research on atomic systems influenced by magnetic fields and plasma environments.”  

https://news.mit.edu/2025/mit-opencourseware-living-testament-nobility-open-unbounded-learning-1001

Santander and Coursera look to boost employability with free online training for 50,000 people

Banco Santander has teamed up with global online learning platform Coursera to provide 50,000 adults in 13 countries with free access to the Curso Santander | Skills for Work course. The aim of this initiative is to boost people’s employability through lifelong learning in such key skills as artificial intelligence, leadership, and languages. Beneficiaries will get free access for a year to a selection of over 80 courses designed by universities and experts that home in on the most in-demand skills in today's market. Leadership, innovation and data-driven decision-making, marketing, artificial intelligence and languages will be some of the main topics that these courses — which will also include practical exercises — cover.

https://www.santander.com/en/press-room/press-releases/2025/10/santander-and-coursera-look-to-boost-employability-with-free-online-training-for-50000-people

Apprenticeship students outperformed those taking a traditional chemistry degree at the University of Bradford - Harriet Brewerton, Chemistry World

A larger proportion of chemistry students on the University of Bradford’s part-time laboratory scientist degree apprenticeship passed their module exams on the first attempt than those on its full-time BSc course – despite both groups receiving nearly identical teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic. While both courses at the university have since closed due to financial pressures and low student numbers, the researchers behind the analysis say their data illustrates how vocational routes can support strong academic outcomes for chemical scientists. In 2018 the UK university opened its laboratory scientist (chemistry) degree apprenticeship programme where course content is delivered online to students employed in relevant roles in companies across the UK.

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/apprenticeship-students-outperformed-those-taking-a-traditional-chemistry-degree-at-the-university-of-bradford/4022060.article

Business leaders hail degree apprenticeship that will ‘turbocharge careers’ - Russell Parton, University of Exeter

Delivered by the University of Exeter and AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians), the programme is unique in offering both academic and professional accounting and finance qualifications.Apprentices work towards the AAT Level 4 Diploma in Professional Accounting in the first year of the programme, making them immediately ready for a range of finance and accounting roles. After three years the apprentices receive a BSc in Applied Finance from Exeter, and completion of the programme provides maximum exam exemptions when progressing to complete full chartered accountancy qualifications. Apprentices work in full-time jobs while they study, so by the time they complete all their formal qualifications they also have three years’ work experience under their belts.

https://news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-environment-science-and-economy/university-of-exeter-business-school/business-leaders-hail-degree-apprenticeship-that-will-turbocharge-careers/

Learn by doing: Apprenticeships offer job opportunities and close skills gaps - University Business

Work-based learning traces its origins to the millennia-old apprenticeship model, which was significantly shaped by the rise of industrialization in the 20th century. While vocational education has gone through many progressions, modern educators are embracing apprenticeships as a way to combine paid on-the-job training with classroom instruction. Boasting flexible programming and deep community connections, two-year institutions are uniquely positioned as a hub for both apprentices and employers, say administrators interviewed by Community College Daily. “Apprenticeships are a growing area that provide great job opportunities while representing emerging best practices needed to address skills gaps,” says Christopher Reber, president of Hudson County Community College in New Jersey. “They’re an integration of hands-on learning with more traditional education, all made possible through partnerships.”

https://universitybusiness.com/learn-by-doing/

Yale students recount Ukraine summer internships organized by nonprofit - Orion Kim & Kristina Petrova, Yale Daily News

Tetiana Kotelnykova GRD ’25 lived through two major conflicts. The first came when she was displaced in 2014 by Russia’s war in Donetsk, Ukraine, and the second during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine while she was completing her studies in Kyiv. Over the summer, the program ImpactUA — organized by Kotelnykova’s group, Brave Generation — sent two current Yale students and one recent graduate to work as interns in Ukraine. “I had noticed that many American students struggled to grasp what daily life looks like under the conditions of war, and that Ukrainians were often disheartened by how American politics framed or overshadowed their struggle,” Kotelnykova wrote to the News. “I wanted to show American students that the war is not distant or abstract — it affects real people, every day.” 

https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/09/24/yale-students-recount-ukraine-summer-internships-organized-by-nonprofit/

Computer Science Students Gain Research Skills During Paid Internship in France - Madeline Bodin, UMass Lowell

UVSQ students have been interning in science labs at UMass Lowell since 2022. Elkoudi and Carvalho were the first UMass Lowell students to intern at UVSQ, which is located in a southwestern suburb of Paris. “It was an amazing experience,” Elkoudi says. Their journey is part of a larger effort to provide opportunities for students in the Kennedy College of Sciences (KCS) to experience international learning in preparation for today’s global workplaces. Computer science major Wendy Carvalho says the experience she got at her summer internship at France’s University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines will help strengthen her application for graduate school. “Today, your colleagues are not in the next cubicle, but thousands of miles away,” says Foozieh Mir, KCS’s coordinator of undergraduate and international programs. “This experience prepares students for global partnerships.”

https://www.uml.edu/news/stories/2025/computer-science-students-intern-in-france.aspx

New AI tool matches students with high-impact internships - Brittany Sylvestri, University of Florida

Finding the right internship can be an important step for students, but it’s not always clear which opportunities will lead to the strongest growth. To help solve that problem, University of Florida researchers have developed an AI-powered tool that helps students identify internships most likely to accelerate their technical and professional development.  Unlike traditional recommendation engines, Pro-CaRE not only predicts which opportunities will lead to stronger outcomes, it also explains why each suggestion is a good fit. In testing data collected from the students, Pro-CaRE’s predictions proved highly accurate, accounting for more than 72% of the differences in learning gains among participants. While the pilot is being tested in engineering, the tool could be adopted for other disciplines.

https://news.ufl.edu/2025/09/new-ai-tool/

Empowering Learners With Personalized Microcredentials, Stackable Badges - Hope Alvarez, Syracuse University

The University is enhancing its commitment to lifelong learning with digital badges, a tool that recognizes and authenticates the completion of microcredentials. The badges aim to support learners in their professional and personal development by showcasing achievements in short, focused learning experiences. Digital badges will be awarded for various microcredential programs offered by the  College of Professional Studies. Learners can earn digital badges in industries regarding business and management, cannabis, health care, IT, project management and much more. These badges signify specific competencies, skillsets and levels of achievement that can be shared across digital platforms, making them easily visible to potential employers.

https://news.syr.edu/blog/2025/07/03/college-of-professional-studies-empowers-learners-with-personalized-microcredentials-stackable-badges/

Microcredentials Chip Away at Semiconductor Workforce Gap To scale up the workforce, start small with short courses - Gwendolyn Rak, IEEE Spectrum

In 2024, McKinsey & Co. estimated a talent gap between 59,000 and 146,000 engineers and technicians before the end of the decade. As the United States invests in reshoring chip manufacturing, the industry faces a dilemma: How can the semiconductor workforce scale to meet the coming demand? To fill the gap, some universities—including UC Santa Barbara—are also offering microcredential programs separate from traditional degree programs. In these bite-size courses, which can be as short as a week or two, future engineers and technicians can gain critical hands-on experience in clean-room fundamentals or an introduction to topics like lithography or etching. Deploying short, standardized, and skill-based courses across the country could be an essential part of building a sustainable U.S. semiconductor workforce.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/microcredentials-semiconductor-workforce-development

First Year Seminar incorporates AI, Adobe Suite tools to drive student success - SDSU

Technology, especially the advent of artificial intelligence, is rapidly changing the way people learn, work and communicate, and San Diego State University wants every student to be ready for this new reality. This fall, and for the first time, students in the First Year Seminar (FYS) curriculum are learning about AI toward earning the SDSU AAAI Micro-Credential Program and using Adobe Express, an intuitive tool for creating webpages, videos and graphics.  The more than 4,000 students across more than 228 course sections are relying on the tools for a semester-long keystone project, all designed to train them in the appropriate and responsible use of AI.

https://www.sdsu.edu/news/2025/09/first-year-seminar-incorporates-ai

Presbyterian College offering free Coursera micro-credentials and certifications to faculty, staff, students, and alumni - Presbyterian College

The initiative gives faculty, staff, students, and alumni free access to Coursera’s Career Academy, which offers industry-recognized micro-credentials and certifications in fields such as data analytics, cybersecurity, social media marketing, UX design, and application development. Each program includes interactive lessons and hands-on projects designed by leading companies to prepare participants with skills that can be applied immediately in the workplace.

https://www.presby.edu/coursera/

How Micro-Credentials Are Shaping The Future Of AI-Driven Learners Forbes Technology Council - Venkatadri Marella, Forbes

As AI is implemented in industries ranging from finance to healthcare to manufacturing, one thing is for sure: the future belongs to those who can learn continuously and prove their skills in a hurry. That's why micro-credentials—bite-sized, stackable credentials for single skills—are stepping into the spotlight as a powerful driver of future learners in the age of AI.

https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2025/09/24/how-micro-credentials-are-shaping-the-future-of-ai-driven-learners/