A study by the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce found Black students are “underrepresented in college majors associated with the fastest-growing, highest-paying occupations” like technology—a topic recently explored by JFF— while being overrepresented in lower-paying majors like social work. Microcredentials can help close this gap, with a range of programs providing workers with rapid, targeted, and affordable upskilling opportunities throughout their education and careers.
These programs stand out from the pricier microcredentials catering to college-degree holders seeking promotion. Instead, they offer adult learners from underrepresented backgrounds stepping stones or even alternatives to a degree.
Getting Transparent About Value
With governments, employers, and consumers projected to spend more than $7 trillion per year on education and training by 2025, microcredentials stand to serve as a crucial piece of our workforce puzzle in the years to come. Major companies are already bringing microcredentials to the masses. Earlier this month, for instance, Google announced it would provide U.S. businesses and their workers with access to $100,000 worth of online courses in data analytics, design, and other technology skills.
With such rapid growth, however, the microcredential marketplace is quickly becoming a confusing maze. There is a bewildering array of public, private, in-person, online, nonprofit, and for-profit options. Learners have little insight into how to identify which programs are a good fit for them and their career goals, let alone ways to vet and filter out bad actors. Individuals seeking high-quality, reliable programs are at a loss as to how to find those best suited to meet their upskilling needs, and employers are left unsure how to consider and weigh these credentials when seeking promising job candidates. It also means short-term programs are being shut out of federal financial aid, limiting who can access the credentials and further perpetuating long-standing inequities.
Fortunately, new infrastructure is being built that will help employers, educators, and learners to make sense of the complex landscape of short-term credentials. The nonprofit Education Quality Outcomes Standards (EQOS), which JFF recently acquired, has established a universal framework to help those navigating the increasingly crowded education and training marketplace. The standards—which focus on metrics like job placement and earnings—are designed to assist learners, education providers, private investors, and governments in identifying which programs are of high quality and lead to equitable economic advancement
As organizations like EQOS deepen our comprehension of the true potential of microcredentials, we have little excuse not to explore and embrace the remarkable possibilities of these short-term training programs. In recent years everything we know about learning and work has started to change. Our understanding of credentials must now evolve, too.
Rusty Greiff is JFF’s chief strategy and growth officer. As a member of the executive office and the executive team, he helps devise and lead organizational strategies and growth initiatives, including new products, lines of business, and innovation platforms focused on the workforce, education, tech, and corporate sectors.
A veteran education technology entrepreneur, innovation and growth executive, and social impact investor, Rusty has more than 25 years of experience leading and scaling higher education and public, private, startup, impact fund, and nonprofit initiatives focused on the future of work and learning innovation.
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