David Blake is the Co-Founder & Executive Chairman of Degreed and managing partner of The Future of Work Studios.
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In the United States, only about 45% of college students graduate with a full degree in four years. That leaves 55% who intended to get a degree but, at the end of a typical college term, do not have one.
The number of people holding a partial degree that grants them little in the eyes of employers is overwhelming. What’s more, by and large, we aren’t effectively enabling learners in our organizations. Every day, the skills gap grows wider and deeper. How can we reverse this trend?
The good news: Within reach is the change I believe can accelerate us into a lifelong learning model. It starts by credentialing every semester of college.
By shifting to credentialing every semester, there are five primary benefits we could achieve:
1. For students who drop out of college without a diploma, allowing partial credentials to carry material weight in professional opportunities would have a transformative effect.
2. We could help solve the problems associated with transfer credits. The current transfer system causes a student, on average, to lose 43% of their credits when they transfer. A more frequent credentialing system could help ensure education is recognized regardless of the source.
3. The higher education system could be reborn as a lifelong model, where people can access education three months at a time instead of just two, four or six years at a time.
4. Students could create a more personalized education pathway, particularly as educational choices are becoming more and more diverse. A student might attend a trade school for two semesters, then enroll at a community college for two semesters and then finish their degree at a four-year university — without having to repeat any coursework.
5. Employers could allow their workers to access these three-month chunks to retrain and upskill, or as part of learning leaves.
Key stakeholders have important roles to play in this transformation, and their coordinated action would yield results. Key stakeholders and their responsibilities include:
• Universities: Develop and implement semester credential policies. Help to communicate opportunities for semester credentials to students, and help students capitalize on them.
• Accreditation organizations: Develop programs that utilize semester credentials and recognize them for accreditation.
• The Department Of Education: Coordinate the standardization and recognition of semester credentials. Help to broadcast the change and push for acceptance at both state and federal levels.
• Governors: Help provide incentives for educational institutions to push for semester credentials and for employers to recognize semester credentials as valid units of education.
• Employers: Recognize semester credentials as acceptable proof of competency. Realize it's not enough to simply say a bachelor's degree is a requirement, but be a bit more specific about what education is required.
Of course, any system must accept trade-offs. The imbalances of the current system aren’t serving students and it's my belief that the inefficiencies exacerbate the skills gap. Considerations for making a semester credentialing system work include:
• Standardization and governance: There must be some type of standardization of what a semester credential means across various educational institutions, as well as coordination among the accreditors to recognize those credentials. There likely needs to be some type of governing entity that helps to identify, communicate and maintain the standards across the various stakeholders.
• Possible lost revenue for universities: By losing the leverage of requiring completion of a full multiyear program, and by making it easier for students to switch programs/leave/delay education, universities may see this as a threat to their financial viability.
• Market acceptance: Today, top universities and programs are used as signals for a student's qualification for certain roles or positions. In order for the semester credentials to have value, they need to be widely recognized and accepted to carry value.
A simple question many are likely to ask is: What would a university seek to learn from the pilot? Some progressive universities such as Southern New Hampshire already grant shorter-term credentials in one or more of their current programs as an overlay in addition to their standard programs. This approach carries minimal or no risk because it doesn't disrupt current programs or carry additional costs.
The Carnegie Unit assumes traditional students earn a bachelor's degree composed of 120 credits. Over four years, two semesters per year, this comes out to 15 credits per semester. Twelve to 15 quarterly credits could be bundled together into quarterly credentials.
If universities began to credential in three-month segments, a lifelong learning model could arrive within just a few years. While better models may exist, the speed of this approach accelerates change in a positive direction. Of course, the details of the idea must be developed further and the communication refined.
I don't set out on this path because it is easy. Widespread acceptance of this system will be hard to achieve, but worth it. We must account for universities, employers and workers. Entrenched and incumbent structures may feel threatened. But they can be part of the reform. Universities can learn how to create the framework to mix and match these units into minors, majors, associate's and full bachelor's degrees, as well as how to welcome transfer students.
Picture it: Universities start credentialing students for every semester of education they complete. Employers align so that workers can access continued learning in those three-month segments. Before long, we have a lifelong model of education. This changes everything.
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