Credential Engine’s 2022 Counting Credentials report counts over 1 million credentials offered in the United States, and there are many millions more globally. Unfortunately, many of these credentials are undervalued and do not unlock opportunities because people do not understand what they mean. Therefore it’s important for credential information to be published to the Credential Registry so that the meaning and value of each credential is clear. Publishing credentials using the Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL) contextualizes them with other meaningful data in the Credential Registry, such as skills, courses, occupations, and pathways.
Issuing credentials to people without providing clear, transparent information about what they mean, contributes to confusion in the credential landscape. Digital credentials issued to people should include alignments to data in the Registry so that people and systems can use that data to interpret the value of the credentials and support more informed decisions about learning and career pathways.
Examples of digital credentials that are designed to include alignments to the Registry are Open Badges, W3C Verifiable Credentials, and Velocity Network credentials. Use these simple steps to enrich digital credentials by linking to CTDL data in the Registry. See Credential Engine’s Learning and Employment Records Action Guide for more in-depth information