New Funding Opportunities Focus on Opportunities for Success, Jobs Skills, and Pathways

Over the next two years, Credential Engine will focus on expanding education and employment information available as linked open data in the Credential Registry to empower all stakeholders with clear, consistent information and to fuel the development of tools and services that use this information to help people make better decisions. 

To support the work outlined below, Credential Engine was pleased to receive a two-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to work with a select group of partners to make opportunities for success, job skills and pathways available as linked-open data. Approximately $150,000 in funding will be available annually to support state and regional cohorts in publishing to the Credential Registry. 

Our work with partners will specifically focus on:

• Opportunities for Success: Data about credentials, providers, programs, quality, outcomes, pathways, and support services that promote equitable outcomes and help students, workers, and others make their most informed decisions. We will work with partners to publish Tier 1 data identified by the Equity Advisory Council Report and Recommendations. These data create a strong foundation to aid in adopting an equity-minded culture to better serve students. 
• Job Skills: Data about competencies and skills enhances the visibility of learning opportunities and their alignment with industry needs. This helps learners make informed choices about their education and career pathways and provides a faster hiring process for employers. Linking learning and working more efficiently creates a well-aligned workforce that can attract investment and encourage economic growth. We will help partners improve the connection between the learning and work ecosystem by publishing data about jobs and skills requirements and describing how they align with competencies gained through education and training.
• Pathways: Clear pathways should connect learners’ educational achievements to relevant work opportunities, point to meaningful and fulfilling careers, and enable lifelong learning. Pathways represent progressions towards specific destinations. We will help partners who have existing learning and career pathways make this information available as linked open data and navigable in tools that help learners achieve their goals.   

We will also focus on helping new and existing partners to expand publishing on these topics: 

• Credentials of Value: Learners want to understand which pathways and programs help them build the skills employers need and earn associated credentials that lead to in-demand, high-wage jobs. We will help partners who are prioritizing career pathways to high-quality, demand-driven postsecondary credentials to make information more accessible and useful by describing credentials of value and publishing their quality frameworks.
• Transfer Information: People need to combine education and training from multiple sources in order to continuously re-skill and upskill in rapidly changing careers. When information about credit for prior learning is available as linked-open data it empowers people to derive immediate value from their learning achievements. We will help partners publish information to signal both the transfer value they accept and the transfer value they provide. We also encourage states and higher education systems to signal acceptance of credit recommendations from the ACE National Guide, which has been integrated with the Credential Registry.
• Outcomes for Eligible Training Providers and other Credential Collections: The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) requires states to identify programs offered by Eligible Training Providers (ETP) to assist participants in choosing employment and training activities. We will help partners transform ETP data gathered for WIOA reporting, or other state-defined credential collections, into actionable information for learners and workers. 

To learn more about the funding opportunities focused on Opportunities for Success Jobs Skills, and Pathways, click here.

View the 2024 Request for Proposals: Expanding Data as CTDL in the Credential Registry to Support Learners, Workers, Employers, and Others – Partnerships for Credential Transparency here. 

For more information about this funding opportunity or to partner with Credential Engine, please contact info@credentialengine.org