Are microcredentials the future of education? How short-term programs are changing higher ed - Juliet Schulman-Hall, Mass Live

Microcredentialing programs enable people to complete industry-certified certificates and credentials to enter the workforce or gain additional skills for a promotion. They can be used later as credits for an associate’s degree and are often more affordable than obtaining a degree. “You can get up to speed without having to have that commitment to a full two-year degree where you’re getting a lot thrown at you, and it has the upside of you can also get a better job right after you get that certification,” Brendan Hughes, a spokesperson for Bunker Hill Community College, said.

https://www.masslive.com/news/2025/08/are-microcredentials-the-future-of-education-how-short-term-programs-are-changing-higher-ed.html

Blended learning in vocational education: benefits, challenges, and student engagement - Su Song &Yiu Chi Lai, Cogent Education

This systematic review aims to explore blended learning in vocational education (VE), where the benefits, challenges, and influence on student engagement will provide information on some recommendations that can be adopted to better design and implement. The need for this review arises from the global emphasis on technology-driven and flexible vocational training, given the rapid changes in learner needs and industry demands. The existing literature needs a comprehensive view of the way learning influences engagement in VE contexts.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2331186X.2025.2548348

Two University of Florida Greenhouse Training Online courses start in September - Emily Mills, University of Florida

Success with your Latino Workforce is taught by Claudio Pasian, professor emeritus in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science at The Ohio State University, where he taught for 25 years. This course will prepare non-Latino supervisors or coworkers of Latino employees to improve communication and efficiency in the workplace with a mixed culture workforce. This year's course includes increased Spanish language training, including an AI chatbot to help translating Spanish horticulture terms. This intermediate course is only offered in English.

https://www.greenhousemag.com/news/university-florida-greenhouse-training-online-workforce-plant-disease-diagnostics/

The Typical College Student Is Not Who You Think - Alan Blinder and Steven Rich, NY Times

As a fight over the future of elite higher education consumes university leaders and politicians, most college students live in a very different world with very different challenges. Community colleges, along with regional public universities, are the workhorses of higher education in the United States, which has roughly 4,000 degree-granting schools. Some nine million students are enrolled at community colleges, accounting for 43 percent of America’s undergraduates. Many of these students — nearly three in four — are enrolled on a part-time basis, squeezing in a handful of classes for slow, sometimes unsteady progress toward a degree. They are often drawn to community colleges because of lower tuition costs, schedule flexibility, smaller classes and proximity to home.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/25/us/us-typical-college-student.html?unlocked_article_code=1.hE8.mNJz.bxYyHR9rD7Mn&smid=url-share

Preventing Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Misconduct at Yale Online Training - Yale University

Preventing Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Misconduct at Yale: Building a Climate of Respect is an updated required course that outlines Yale’s policies and resources related to discrimination, harassment, and sexual misconduct. This course helps Yale comply with state and federal law, regulations, and regulatory practices. It includes information about Yale’s policies, support resources, reporting requirements, bystander intervention, and the process for requesting accommodations related to disability, pregnancy, and religion. 

https://oiea.yale.edu/preventing-discrimination-harassment-and-sexual-miscnduct-at-yale-online

UCLA Urban Planning Rises to No. 1 - UCLA Lusking School of Public Affairs

The UCLA Department of Urban Planning is at the intersection of unique academic, regional, geographic and professional resources that create a learning environment unlike any other. Los Angeles, one of the most culturally diverse and exciting urban settings in the world, serves as a unique laboratory for faculty and students to study and solve urban issues and problems. The world-class faculty in the department — nationally and internationally recognized scholars and leaders in community development, environmental planning, housing, land development, regional and international development, transportation, and urban design — prepare master’s and doctoral degree students to address the social, economic and spatial relationships that shape society.

https://luskin.ucla.edu/urban-planning

UD PCS’ Instructional Design Certificate Program Begins Sept. 8 - Lisa Walenceus, University of Delaware

The University of Delaware’s Division of Professional and Continuing Studies (UD PCS) offers a fully online, three-course Instructional Design Certificate that equips learners with hands-on skills in e-learning development, curriculum design and multimedia tools, culminating in a personal professional portfolio to showcase skills and support career advancement. The noncredit program begins with Foundations of Instructional Design, an eight-week introductory course starting Sept. 8.

https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2025/august/ud-pcs-instructional-design-certificate-program-begins-sept-8/

PennWest offers flexible and affordable career-boosting options for professionals - PennWest University

PennWest offers an array of certificates and graduate programs, geared toward working professionals striving to reinforce their careers in myriad fields of study at its three western Pennsylvania locations and at its online global campus. “We want to meet people at any stage of their life’s journey wherever they might need education,” James Fisher, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs at PennWest University says. About one-third of its graduate students are seeking a degree or certificate to enhance their qualifications in education, including anything from becoming a principal to being eligible to teach deaf students.

https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2025/08/25/pennwest-flexible-affordable-career-boost.html

Cleary University's New Program Offers 50% Tuition Grant to Businesses - Amanda Forrester, WHMI

Cleary University is now offering a new program through a partnership with multiple corporations and businesses. The new Company Education Opportunity program will offer a 50% tuition grant toward a “career-focused degree or certificate program at the university” for employees and their families of certain businesses.

Among the programs included are:

- Business Management

- Accounting and Finance

- Digital Marketing

- Healthcare Management

and more.

https://www.whmi.com/news/article/cleary-universitys-new-program-offers-50-percent-tuition-grant-to-businesses

BU Makes LinkedIn’s First “Top Colleges” List for Preparing Students for Career Success - Boston University Today

For its rankings, LinkedIn looked at almost 1,000 regionally accredited four-year undergrad programs “with the goal of identifying the undergraduate programs that best set their alumni up for long-term career success,” according to the platform. Among the top fields with BU alumni, the rankings identified technology and internet companies, higher education, and advertising. The recognition comes as BU is putting more resources into its University-wide, career-focused programs and tools available to students, including through its Center for Career Development.

https://www.bu.edu/cds-faculty/2025/08/12/bu-top-colleges-list-career-success/

New Benefit: Get reimbursed for certificate and other professional development programs - Vanderbilt University

Beginning July 23, eligible full-time staff and faculty who have completed three consecutive months of service can take advantage of two new education benefit programs designed to help you grow professionally and personally. “We’re excited to launch these new education benefit programs as part of our commitment to expanding access and opportunity for all employees,” said Sydney Savion, vice chancellor for people, culture, and belonging. “By investing in growth—both personal and professional—we’re not just supporting individual futures, we’re unlocking the collective potential of our entire university community.” 

https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2025/07/23/vanderbilt-announces-two-new-education-assistance-programs/

Apprenticeships for high schoolers are touted as the next big thing. One state leads the way - Kavitha Cardoza, Hechinger Report

Elkhart County is at the forefront of a movement slowly spreading across Indiana and the nation to make apprenticeships a common offering in high school. In 2019, as part of a plan to boost the region’s economic prospects, county leaders launched an effort to place high schoolers in apprenticeships that combine work-based training with classroom instruction. About 80 students from the county’s seven school districts participated this academic year, in fields such as health care, law, manufacturing, education and engineering. In April, as part of a broader push to revamp high school education and add more work-based learning, the state set a goal of 50,000 high school apprentices by 2034.  

https://hechingerreport.org/apprenticeships-for-high-schoolers-are-touted-as-the-next-big-thing-one-state-leads-the-way/

ATU offering a wide range of micro-credentials from short, accredited courses - Pau Deering, Independent (Ireland)

Atlantic Technological University (ATU) is now offering a wide range of micro-credentials – short, accredited courses designed for flexible learning – to help those wishing to upskill, reskill or return to education. More than 30 of these courses are eligible for up to 80% funding through the Human Capital Initiative (HCI) Pillar 3 Micro-Credentials Learner Fee Subsidy. Courses are available across ATU’s campuses in Galway, Mayo, Sligo, and Donegal, with many hosted online. Micro-credentials – also known as Special Purpose Awards, Minor Awards, or Supplementary Awards – allow learners to upskill or reskill quickly and efficiently. These bite-sized qualifications are tailored to individual professional needs and are aligned with current industry and societal demands.

https://www.independent.ie/regionals/sligo/news/atu-offering-a-wide-range-of-micro-credentials-from-short-accredited-courses/a821573699.html

Internships and Beyond: Strengthening Career Value Across Diverse Models of Work-Based Learning -Nichole Torpey-Saboe, Kevin Grubb, Akua Amankwah-Ayeh; Strada

Colleges and universities recognize that students are looking to them as a launching pad for their future. Eighty percent of freshmen say that “getting a better job” is a very important reason for attending, and 74 percent say “gaining training for a specific career” is very important in their decision to go to college. To better meet the needs and goals of their students, colleges and universities increasingly are focused on strategies that help their students connect their education to career opportunities. One of the most promising strategies for making this connection is giving students the opportunity to participate in off-campus learning experiences that are aligned with their field of study. Unfortunately, these kinds of work-based learning experiences remain too scarce, so only a limited number of students reap the benefits. 

https://www.strada.org/reports/internships-and-beyond

NWACC launches pilot micro-credential program for fast-track training - Kyle Kellams, Ozarks at Large

Let's start the show on the campus of Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville. The last week before on-campus classes is relatively quiet, but this summer, NWACC is preparing for a pilot micro-credential program launch. As the name implies, micro-credentials are smaller than the usual two-year degrees offered at the school. Mary Nithya Xavier is micro-credential coordinator at NWACC. “It places the learner toward a path toward employment, so it's credentials that lead toward employment.” Micro-credentials are designed to require less than a year to acquire, cost less than a degree, and offer a virtual or on-campus learning experience. The pilot year will offer micro-credentials in three distinct categories: project management, biotechnology, and social and behavioral sciences.

https://www.kuaf.com/show/ozarks-at-large/2025-08-14/nwacc-launches-pilot-micro-credential-program-for-fast-track-training

Level up your career with new OSAP-eligible micro-credentials - Humber Polytechnic

Those looking to upskill and grow their careers can tap into Humber Polytechnic's micro-credential offerings, with more than a dozen that became eligible for Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) funding earlier this year. Humber offers many micro-credentials, and an additional 15 have been added as eligible for OSAP funding. This change in OSAP eligibility makes these career paths more accessible, as OSAP funding can help cover the costs of tuition, equipment, living expenses, and even childcare if needed.  "With OSAP now available for these micro-credentials, we're breaking down barriers to professional growth," said Frank Cappadocia, dean, Continuous Professional Learning. "Whether you're looking to pivot careers, deepen your expertise in emerging fields such as AI, or simply sharpen your skills, Humber's short, flexible, and industry-informed micro-credentials make it possible to upskill without putting your life on hold. This is about giving people real tools for real progress quickly and affordably."

https://educationnewscanada.com/article/education/level/colleges/2/1154084/level-up-your-career-with-new-osap-eligible-micro-credentials.html

Small steps at NWACC with micro-credentials — Las Faygas returns - Roby Brock, Ozarks at Large

On today's show, we learn about time-sensitive ways to learn new skills at NorthWest Arkansas Community College. Also, we hear more information regarding a major acquisition for a Fayetteville-based startup. Plus, Ozarks at Large interns take a quiz.

https://www.kuaf.com/show/ozarks-at-large/2025-08-14/small-steps-at-nwacc-with-micro-credentials-the-c-a-r-e-initiative

Allegheny College Microcredentials Program Launches for 2025-26 Academic Year - Malaysian Reserve

 Allegheny College, one of the nation’s most historic and innovative four-year colleges, today announced its microcredential program featuring a multidisciplinary slate of categories following a successful pilot phase. With the College’s focus on preparing graduates for strong outcomes with in-demand skills for meaningful careers of the future, these 28 microcredentials integrate liberal arts learning, emerging technologies and professional strengths to meet growing needs in workforce development. 

https://themalaysianreserve.com/2025/08/12/allegheny-college-microcredentials-program-launches-for-2025-26-academic-year/#google_vignette

Indiana U to Launch GenAI 101 Course for Students, Staff - Ashley Mowreader, Inside Higher Ed

A new, self-paced course at Indiana University teaches students, faculty and staff generative AI skills and expertise. As generative artificial intelligence skills have become more in demand among employers, colleges and universities have expanded opportunities for students to engage with the tools. Indiana University is no exception. It’s developed a free, online course for campus community members to gain a basic understanding of generative AI and how the tools could fit into their daily lives and work. GenAI 101 is available to anyone with a campus login and comes with a certificate of in-demand skills for people who complete it.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/student-success/academic-life/2025/08/13/college-creates-101-course-gen-ai-students-faculty

Sustainability - University of Cincinnati

The micro-credential is an interdisciplinary sustainability credential open to any graduate student at UC. The micro-credential provides a pathway for students to take sustainability courses across the curriculum at the graduate level. This also will offer a credential for students in all disciplines or colleges interested in sustainability careers, which are growing in all industries. This also will help students be prepared to solve society’s complex “wicked problems” and sustainability challenges with interdisciplinary approaches. The micro-credential consists of 3-credit hour existing courses.

https://www.artsci.uc.edu/programs-degrees/micro-credential/sustainability.html

Educating for character at Wake Forest: Leadership and character certificate program - Wake Forest University

In this month’s Learning and Development blog, we are featuring one of our partners in professional development on campus, The Program for Leadership and Character, and details of their new certificate program. What does it mean to cultivate a culture of character at a university? At Wake Forest, where we are committed to developing leaders of character, the answer goes beyond what happens in the classroom. It reaches into the daily work of staff and faculty: the systems we design, the conversations we foster, the decisions we make, and the values we live out each day.

https://inside.wfu.edu/2025/08/educating-for-character-at-wake-forest-leadership-and-character-certificate-program/