Millions of people in the U.S. seek and complete education and training programs with the expectation that they will gain the skills needed to qualify for career pathways. The Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL) plays a vital role in making career pathway information transparent and interoperable, ensuring that education, training, and workforce data can be linked and understood across different systems. To make informed choices, people need clear visibility into how these learning opportunities align with occupations, job opportunities, and required skills.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) O*NET occupations and competency frameworks, along with the DOL Industry Competency Models, provide a nationally recognized foundation for understanding workforce needs. Developed and continuously maintained in collaboration with employers and industry experts, these resources define the knowledge, skills, abilities, tasks, and work activities associated with specific occupations and work roles, as well as cross-functional and foundational competencies mapped to multiple occupations.
To make these resources even more accessible and interoperable, O*NET competencies and the DOL Industry Competency Models, as well as occupations, are output by DOL as CTDL-linked open data and published in the Credential Registry. These data enable credentials, courses, learning programs, assessments, job opportunities, and more to be explicitly linked to O*NET occupations and competencies, providing greater transparency for learners, workers, educators, and employers.
Traditionally, connections between education and occupations have been broad, such as alignments between the U.S. Department of Education’s Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) and the DOL’s Standard Occupational Classifications (SOC). These alignments are included in CTDL within the Credential Registry. However, CTDL enables more precise alignments between educational competencies and job skills. As work roles evolve rapidly, individuals must be able to clearly identify and communicate the specific skills they have in relation to what employers seek. With over 1,200 terms, CTDL provides a robust structure for defining precise connections between credentials, courses, programs, assessments, competencies, occupations, and job skills, ensuring that education and workforce data remain adaptable and relevant.
Aligning occupations, learning programs, and job skills through linked open data provides significant benefits across education and workforce systems.Â
- Digital credentials can include competency achievements that signal job readiness.Â
- Education and training providers can clearly demonstrate how their programs align with job requirements.Â
- State agencies can assess the effectiveness of education and training programs for workforce reskilling.Â
- Career services and pathway tools can better connect individuals with skills-based training and job opportunities.
Credential Engine will continue to collaborate with the U.S. Department of Labor to expand the availability of O*NET data in CTDL. This ongoing effort supports the development of dynamic tools and AI applications that bridge the gaps between education and employment. By advancing these connections, we can create a more transparent and effective ecosystem that benefits learners, workers, educators, and employers.