Welcome to the Credential Engine resource page for the 2024 National Council for Workforce Education. Below are links to resources that will help explain Credential Engine, our technologies, the Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL), and the Credential Registry.
About Credential Engine
Credential Engine is a non-profit on a mission to map the credential landscape with consistent information and fuel the creation of resources that empower individuals to find the best pathways.
- Overview video:Â Credential Transparency Illuminates Paths to a Better FutureÂ
- Credential Engine website
- Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL)
- Getting Started with Credential Engine
Tap Into Data on Industry-Recognized Credentials
Any credential provider can publish to the Credential Registry to make information about their credential (such as duration, cost, competencies, etc.) available as linked open data for anyone to use. Partners can also build collections of credentials that show what has been approved (such as a state list of industry-recognized credentials or programs offered by eligible training providers) or credentials that meet your criteria for funding or quality.
- Credential Finder: Free application to view information in the Credential Registry
- Creating a Collection in the Registry
- Example of Collections:Â
- Arkansas Eligible Training Provider List includes approved training programs that Local Workforce Innovation Boards have identified that these programs qualify for WIOA-funded training.
- Texas Education Agency 2022-2025 Industry-Based Certifications (IBC) List for Public School Accountability identified certifications that prepare students for success in the workforce, military, or postsecondary education.
- Accelerating Opportunities Kasas (A-OK) changes the way adult basic education is delivered by putting adult students on track to earn a postsecondary credential, seize the opportunity to earn family-sustaining wages, and break the intergenerational cycle of poverty. This program list includes short-term certificate programs aligned with labor market needs, leading to industry-recognized credentials and immediate jobs.
- Texas Early Childhood Credentials is a collection designed to assist those seeking careers in early childhood development, education, and administration professions. The collection includes programs currently included on the Texas Workforce Commission’s Statewide Eligible Training Provider List. These pathway credentials include certifications, post-secondary degrees, and certificates of completion designed to grow and support our current and future childcare workers and educators.
- Call to Action: Publishing Certifications and Other Industry Credentials
Other Important Information to Support Learner Pathways
Credential Engine is partnering with the American Council on Education (ACE) to bring transparency to credit for prior learning. Learn about this project and help communicate the value of this work.Â
- ACE and Credential Engine Integrate the ACE National Guide with the Credential Registry
- ACE National Guide
- ACE National Guide in the Credential Registry
- Call to Action: Connect and Publish ACE Credit Transfer Values Your Organization Accepts
Credential Engine has added a Credential Registry Pathway Builder tool with our publishing system tool kit. The Pathway Builder offers a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface that allows you to visually construct your pathway.
To support the identification and publishing of key data to aid the navigation of equitable pathways, transfer, and the recognition of learning, Credential Engine convened a broad coalition of equity-focused thought leaders, called the Equity Advisory Council. The data about credentials, providers, programs, quality, outcomes, pathways and support services that must be made available as linked, open, transparent data in order to support equity, and to help students, workers, and others make their most informed decisions.
Learning and Employment Records (LERs) provide interoperable, portable credentials that document people’s skills, educational experiences, and work histories. LERs document learning and experience wherever they occur, including in the workplace, through education and training, community activities, or military contexts. CTDL makes LERs meaningful and valuable.
Get in Touch
Our team of experts is ready to help you embark your credential transparency journey. Whether you have questions about our technologies, services, or don’t know how to get started, we’re here to assist.