Policy Challenges and Opportunities for Postsecondary Alternative Credentials

View Sample PDF

Author(s): Ryan J. Specht-Boardman (University of Wisconsin Extended Campus, USA)
Copyright: 2022
Pages: 22
Source title: New Models of Higher Education: Unbundled, Rebundled, Customized, and DIY
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Aaron M. Brower (University of Wisconsin Extended Campus, USA & University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA)and Ryan J. Specht-Boardman (University of Wisconsin Extended Campus, USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-3809-1.ch003

Keywords: Education / Higher Education / Information Science Reference

Purchase

View Policy Challenges and Opportunities for Postsecondary Alternative Credentials on the publisher's website for pricing and purchasing information.

Abstract

There are certain policy barriers that are preventing alternative credentials from fully maturing in the national discourse in the way that academic degrees have. This chapter will review three primary areas of policy concern: quality assurance and accountability, financial policy, and standards of documentation and interoperability. This chapter calls for the establishment of universal quality and accountability policy and mechanisms, opening more financing opportunities so that workers may have increased access to lifelong skills development, developing a unified way to document learning experiences across institutions, and forging a common currency that allows for interoperability of learners' credentials. Policy improvements for alternative credentials will help serve to further legitimize them in the public eye, improve their educational outcomes, and perhaps most importantly, enable a more coherent vision for alternative credentials as a central pillar of a national educational attainment strategy.

The IRMA Community

Research IRM

Policy Challenges and Opportunities for Postsecondary Alternative Credentials

Purchase

Abstract

Related Content

IRMA Sponsors