Elon University a partner in innovative credential data platform
With support from Elon University, the nonprofit Credential Engine has publicly launched its tools and services during an event Thursday in Washington, D.C. Credential Engine is dedicated to the mission of promoting transparency and credential literacy in the marketplace to reveal the world of credentials and inform the public.
Credential Engine has now officially released a first-of-its-kind centralized credential data platform, the Credential Registry, as well as a common credentialing language to create credential comparability both in the Credential Registry and online. The organization has already released a free prototype search app—Credential Finder—to search for information about credentials.
Elon partnered with Credential Engine to help develop a common language about credentials, with Elon already uploading descriptions of all 97 of its offered degrees and other credentials as an early adopter. Elon University Registrar Rodney Parks views Credential Engine as “a one-stop shop for credentials” after its launch and broader adoption.
“Finally, students will be able to discern how earning a specific institutional credential relates to transitioning to the workforce. Credential transparency is essential to helping future students find the right academic program,” Parks said.
A recent article by Inside Higher Ed examined the potential for Credential Engine, and highlighted Elon’s early participation in the effort.
By releasing these tools to the public, Credential Engine aims to gather credentialing information from all types of sources—from badges, apprenticeships, certificates and licenses to degrees, micro-masters, and doctoral degrees — to improve credential transparency. Credential Engine has also released an Application Programming Interface (API) tool that will allow organizations to continuously upload up-to-date information to the registry at-scale.
In the next year, Credential Engine anticipates that it will begin gathering credentialing data at scale, work with vendors to develop new applications for data, and start international outreach efforts to begin mapping the global landscape of credentials. To date, more than 1,500 credentials submitted to the Credential Registry from more than 170 organizations, including Elon. Work is already underway towards a goal of capturing 50,000 credentials by the end of 2018 and 100,000 by the close of 2019.
Elon University looks forward to staying engaged with these efforts.
This article originally appeared in the E-Net News, and can be found here.