This report details our count of postsecondary and secondary credentials in the U.S.

Notice: In 2022, Credential Engine updated this report. View it here

Executive Summary

Learners, educators and policymakers understand that high school completion and education beyond high school are critical to thrive in the workforce. However, until recently an inventory of the number or type of secondary and post-secondary credential opportunities in the United States did not exist. This is the third annual report from Credential Engine that attempts to count all these credentials. The report identifies 967,734 unique credentials in the U.S.

There are 967,734 unique credentials in the U.S. in 16 detailed credential categories across four types of credential providers:

  • Postsecondary educational institutions – 359,713 degrees and certificates
  • Massive open online course (MOOC) providers – 9,390 course completion certificates, micro-credentials, and online degrees from foreign universities
  • Non-academic providers– 549,712 badges, course completion certificates, licenses, certifications, and apprenticeships
  • Secondary schools – 48,919 diplomas from public and private secondary schools

As in prior years, this report demonstrates the nation’s need to dramatically improve transparency in the credential marketplace to promote economic growth and individual mobility. We need to know more about how credentialing practices overlap, including how certificates offered by institutions of higher education stack to further certificates and degrees, and how badges are utilized to represent these and other credentials. We need more information about what various credentials entail in order to properly categorize and understand them—from the competencies they aim to convey to the time they require to complete to their relative value in the marketplace.

New in this report is a state-by-state breakdown of credentials offered by state-based entities in five categories: diplomas, certificates, degrees, apprenticeships, and licenses.

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Tags: Credential Ecosystem, Credential Engine, Credential Transparency
Report

Equity Advisory Council Report and Recommendations

Credential Engine’s work is centered around data transparency. Transparent, linked, open data has been identified as a particularly valuable tool for revealing inequities, understanding their root causes, and then informing and driving systemic change in a number of areas, including postsecondary education and training. Credential Engine understands that in a society rife with inequities, a commitment to open data use alone is not sufficient. To support the intentional identification and publishing of key data to aid the field in assessing equitable pathways, transfer, and the recognition of learning, Credential Engine convened a broad coalition of equity-focused thought leaders, called the Equity Advisory Council (EAC). The Council, along with HCM Strategists, and Credential Engine staff worked diligently to create a report of recommendations.

Other Resources

Credential Transparency Self-Assessment

This self-assessment tool provides an overview of the specific steps laid out in the “Making Sense of Credentials: A State Roadmap and Action Guide for Transparency” report that state leaders can take to help integrate a common data infrastructure into their statewide education systems and to build a public, open marketplace for information about credentials for learners, workers, employers, and others to make informed decisions about credentials and pathways.

Blog

The Fast Train from Chaos

Board member, Kathleen deLaski, shares her thoughts on the chaos caused by the "unbundling" of higher education and examines the findings of the 2022 Counting Credentials report.

Report

Equity Advisory Council Report and Recommendations

Credential Engine’s work is centered around data transparency. Transparent, linked, open data has been identified as a particularly valuable tool for revealing inequities, understanding their root causes, and then informing and driving systemic change in a number of areas, including postsecondary education and training. Credential Engine understands that in a society rife with inequities, a commitment to open data use alone is not sufficient. To support the intentional identification and publishing of key data to aid the field in assessing equitable pathways, transfer, and the recognition of learning, Credential Engine convened a broad coalition of equity-focused thought leaders, called the Equity Advisory Council (EAC). The Council, along with HCM Strategists, and Credential Engine staff worked diligently to create a report of recommendations.

Other Resources

Credential Transparency Self-Assessment

This self-assessment tool provides an overview of the specific steps laid out in the “Making Sense of Credentials: A State Roadmap and Action Guide for Transparency” report that state leaders can take to help integrate a common data infrastructure into their statewide education systems and to build a public, open marketplace for information about credentials for learners, workers, employers, and others to make informed decisions about credentials and pathways.

Blog

The Fast Train from Chaos

Board member, Kathleen deLaski, shares her thoughts on the chaos caused by the "unbundling" of higher education and examines the findings of the 2022 Counting Credentials report.

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