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The nonprofit Credential Engine has identified 967,734 unique credentials on offer in the U.S. as part of an ongoing effort to catalog degrees, certificates, badges, licenses and apprenticeships.
More than half of the nearly one million credentials are offered by nonacademic institutions, according to data collected by the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness and published by Credential Engine in a report Wednesday.
The report tallies 359,713 degrees and certificates offered by higher education institutions as well as 9,390 certificates, microcredentials and online degrees offered by massive open online course, or MOOC, providers. Nonacademic providers offered 549,712 badges, certificates, licenses and apprenticeships. At the secondary school level, the report identified 48,919 diplomas.
To date, hundreds of individual entities and dozens of states have contributed to the open-source Credential Registry, created in 2017 by Credential Engine as part of the organization's effort to increase transparency about available training and educational opportunities across the country.
“Employers and workers are scrambling after the economy faced unexpected and painful roadblocks amid a global pandemic,” said Scott Cheney, CEO of Credential Engine, in a news release. “They shouldn’t have to guess which skills and credentials meet their needs -- particularly with the proliferation of new options in this new normal. Painting a clear picture of the credential landscape is a critical first step in helping illuminate effective pathways back to economic security.”
