Resources | Lumina Foundation

Credentials

What We See and What Remains Unseen

May 5, 2021

Given the rapid growth in short-term programs, and policymakers’ fast-growing interest to invest federal higher education dollars into very-short-term credentials, we explore what the research does—and does not— show us about such credentials’ utility in the labor market. With concerns about equity, our review of the literature guides us towards caution, as a strong push…

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Credentials

Innovative Strategies to Close Postsecondary Attainment Gaps

Reclaiming Earned Degrees Through Reverse Transfer

Feb. 23, 2021

Across the country, students are unwittingly leaving postsecondary credentials on the table without institutions awarding the associate degrees they have earned. Many of these students are from populations that have been historically excluded from or overlooked in higher education, including Black, Latino, Indigenous students, and students from low-income backgrounds. This report from the Institute for…

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Credentials

Counting U.S. Postsecondary and Secondary Credentials

Advances Since First Credential Count Estimate

Feb. 19, 2021

The credential landscape is vast—and it continues to grow. A recent report from Credential Engine shows 967,734 unique credentials in the United States. As in previous reports, the research demonstrates a need to dramatically improve transparency in the credential marketplace to promote economic growth and individual mobility.

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Credentials

Counting U.S. Postsecondary and Secondary Credentials

Credential Count Approaches 1 Million

Feb. 11, 2021

The credential landscape is vast—and it continues to grow. A new report from Credential Engine shows 967,734 unique credentials in the United States. As in previous reports, the new research demonstrates the need to dramatically improve transparency in the credential marketplace to promote economic growth and individual mobility.

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Credentials

Invest in Career-Readiness Training for College Students

The status quo pushes the American dream further out of reach for many Americans.

Feb. 2, 2021

Only 25 percent of the country’s 1.2 million first-generation or low-income college students are predicted to earn their degree and land a strong job or attend graduate school, according to this report from the American Enterprise Institute. The status quo exacerbates inequality and pushes the American dream further out of reach for many Americans. The…

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Credentials

Credential Transparency & P-20W Data Systems

Aligning Education and Employment Information to Meet State Goals

Jan. 25, 2021

Over the next decade, employers will need to fill millions of jobs that require higher-order thinking skills, specialized knowledge, and education or training beyond high school. This report from Credential Engine explores how states can align education and employment information to meet their talent goals.

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Credentials

Badge Count 2020

Detailed findings on the remarkable growth in the use of Open Badges—the world's leading format for digital badges.

Dec. 28, 2020

A new report from IMS Global and Credential Engine details the growth of Open Badges, which are verifiable, shareable, and contain information about achievements and what recipients did to earn the badge. According to the report, there are 475,000 total badges around the world that individuals can earn, 381,561 of which are available from issuers in the U.S. To date, there…

Credentials

Mapping the College Transfer Process

Barriers to Student Success and Opportunities for Improvement

Dec. 11, 2020

Working with the City University of New York, MDRC’s Center for Applied Behavioral Science maps factors that impede students transferring from community colleges. This blueprint shows the stages of that transfer process, with information about challenges at each stage and interventions informed by behavioral science to help overcome them.

Credentials

The Role of Education in Taming Authoritarian Attitudes

With a Foreword by John J. Degioia, President of Georgetown University

Sept. 16, 2020

The classic tension between free will and determinism can be found in the contemporary college or university within disciplines ranging from sociology to neuroscience to political science. The enduring and challenging questions faculty, researchers, and students all wrestle with include: How much freedom do we really have? Do we decide and act with an understanding…

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Credentials

Lumina’s Strategic Plan

Lumina strategies to accelerate and scale the redesign of systems to take us to 2025 and beyond

Sept. 15, 2020

Society’s need for talent and the drive to expand the proportion of Americans with quality education and training after high school to meet this need have never been more urgent. The confluence of a pandemic, severe unemployment and racial injustice has exposed the daunting challenges ahead. Yet overcoming such challenges is what has made our…

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