Stackable Credentials: How an online program lets you stack your learning and get the job you want!
This is part two of a weekly "Higher Education Highlight Series" intended to explore the programs, practices, and universities that are redesigning our nation's higher education system.
If someone pursues a bachelor's degree and drops out after 2-3 years, what happens?
Answer: They do not receive a credential of any kind, they get referred to as "dropouts" (a pejorative term), and they still have to pay back their student loans without the option of ever having them eliminated. What kind of sick system would deny the validation of learning unless "ALL" the learning is complete? Unfortunately, that is the case for almost every college and university in the country.
But there is a better way: BYU-Pathway Worldwide!
BYU-Pathway Worldwide presents an alternative model. BYU-Pathway Worldwide focuses on credentialling learners as they move through their program -- not just at the end. They have the chance to "stack" their learning and pursue a mix of 30 certificates on their way to a bachelor's degree.
So, how does it work?
Students choose from one of five job-focused bachelor's degree pathways:
Applied Business Management
Applied Technology
Applied Health (new)
Marriage & Family Studies
Professional Studies
They then craft the components of their degree with a "certificate first" strategy. They can choose from a subset of 30 certificate programs that will stack into their degree, each designed to be particularly relevant within the job market (computer programming, social media marketing, community health methods, occupational safety and health, etc). These certificates take about a year to complete and give a learner the ability to communicate what they have learned to employers, even before they have left the university.
After completing two of these certificates and a subset of general education and elective courses, students are awarded an associates degree. After another certificate and a few more general education and elective courses, they finally receive their bachelor's degree.
In total, students receive 3 job-ready certificates, an associates degree in their field, and a high-quality bachelor's degree. If life happens and they are forced to leave the university at any point, they are still able to communicate the learning that happened while enrolled and receive some form of market validation for their work.
Watch this video to learn a bit more:
Imagine, a student has a family tragedy after their first year that requires them to begin working. If they went to a traditional university, they would have nothing to show for their time. Yet, at BYU-Pathway Worldwide, they would have a job-ready certificate in the field of their choosing already complete. They could use this in the market to bargain for a better job than they would have as a "dropout" and can retain their dignity as they work during a tumultuous time in their life.
These kinds of stories make stackable pathways so appealing. We know that only about 40% of people who start college will get a degree within 6 years. In fact, there are over 36 million people in the US who have some college, but no degree to show for it! What if, instead of the status quo, these individuals were able to showcase the learning that took place while they were in school and had it validated in the market as well. BYU-Pathway Worldwide has created a sustainable model for these learners to move forward in their chosen fields, even if they did not make it all the way through a bachelor's degree.
This model is scalable, feasible, and practical and serves as one of the best innovations in credentialing since the emergence of the associates degree in 1898. Today, BYU-Pathway Worldwide now has over 45,000 students enrolled and has no signs of slowing down.
If institutions of higher education are truly concerned with the validation of learning, and not just the hoarding of their antiquated credentials, they must begin developing ways for learners to stack their learning and articulate their skills. BYU-Pathway Worldwide has proven that launching stackable credentials is possible and can be sustained as a financially viable institutional innovation.
Next Post: Scaling Student Success through Collaboration: The rise of the University Innovation Alliance
If you have an idea that you think should be highlighted, please fill out this form: Higher Ed Highlight Series Recommendations.
About the Author:
Lukas Wenrick spends his days working to develop innovative solutions to the most complex issues universities face. He does so to ensure that the most marginalized students may pursue an alternative trajectory than the one laid out by their zip code. He believes that universities and other educational enterprises have the duty to expand educational opportunity to as many individuals as possible and that excellence should be judged by the students that an institution includes, rather than those that it excludes.
Lukas holds a Master's of Education in Higher Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science Education from Wright State University. His experiences at both an open-access public university and an elite private institution inform the work he does every day. Currently, Lukas serves as a Program Manager within the Office of Applied Innovation at Arizona State University where he works to leverage the ASU enterprise to resolve educational and social inequities in the world.
If you'd like to know more about Lukas you can find him on the following sites:
Comments