Credential Engine

How do we make sense of the 1.85 million credentials available across the U.S.? In the December edition of The Credential Connection, we unpack the latest Counting Credentials 2025 findings and explain why credential transparency is essential to ensuring all learning truly counts. ✅ Subscribe today and don’t miss an issue!

1.85 million. That’s how many unique credentials are available in the United States. Released today from Credential Engine, Counting Credentials 2025 is the only comprehensive research report documenting every type of credential, including diplomas, badges, certificates, certifications, occupational licenses, and degrees of all types and levels. The report also finds a diverse and growing market, with $2.34 trillion in annual investment across learners, institutions, and employers. This visibility matters. Understanding the scale of our credential ecosystem is the first step toward making learning and skills transparent, navigable, and connected for everyone. ➡️ Read Counting Credentials 2025: https://lnkd.in/e4FTmgR4 ➡️ And explore our companion report, Counting Credentials, In Context 2025: https://lnkd.in/ehRYnpgz Our gratitude to the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness, WestEd, and our Advisory Group members for their support in producing this report. Thank you, Walmart, Strada Education Foundation, and Instructure, for sponsoring this report. Press release: https://lnkd.in/e5WFH57D

The most comprehensive count of U.S. credentials drops on December 9th. Next week, we will release Counting Credentials 2025 — the only national count documenting every type of credential available, from degrees to certificates to badges and more. Want to be among the first to see the report? Subscribe here to receive the findings right in your inbox on release day: https://lnkd.in/eFi9Vbwb

Deborah Everhart’s article, “Learning and Employment Record Ecosystems Start with Transparency,” highlights a timely opportunity: The U.S. Department of Education’s $50M FIPSE investment in short-term programs calls on higher education institutions and state agencies to build talent marketplaces that connect a Credential Registry with Learning and Employment Records (LERs) and skills-based job descriptions. Credential Engine provides the essential layer of structured, open, interoperable data, helping institutions and states publish credential and skills information consistently so it is machine-readable, discoverable, and aligned with federal priorities. We are ready to support organizations applying for the FIPSE grant to ensure their proposals include the right infrastructure. FIPSE funding is more than an investment in programs. It is an opportunity to turn credential and skills information into actionable career pathways and help build the skills-based workforce of the future. If you are applying for FIPSE funding, we encourage you to include Credential Engine in your proposal. For support, contact info@credentialengine.org Read more: https://lnkd.in/e5R7bQeN

📢 The November issue of Credential Connection is here! This month, we explore how learning looks different for everyone and how we make those differences count in meaningful, measurable ways. 👉 Read the latest issue today!

Join Credential Engine and our partners in Ohio on November 19th to learn how credential transparency and AI can bridge education and work! This session will showcase how open data standards, like the CTDL, can unlock new insights into skills, pathways, and workforce demands. Attendees will learn how these innovations drive measurable ROI for learners, institutions, and employers while building a more connected and future-ready talent ecosystem. Register today! https://lnkd.in/eKTQzAtq Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eytCn-uh

📢 Funding Opportunity: $50 Million Available to Advance Talent Marketplaces and Credential Registries The U.S. Department of Education is offering up to $50 million through the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) – Special Projects to support innovative, high-quality short-term programs. This grant offers states the opportunity to strengthen data collection and reporting for short-term programs and to enhance partnerships with employers to ensure industry alignment. One of the absolute priorities focuses on Talent Marketplaces and the development of Credential Registries. Through our open tools, such as the Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL) and the Credential Registry, Credential Engine can help applicants design scalable, interoperable systems that strengthen data transparency, reporting, and alignment across the education and workforce sectors. We encourage institutions of higher education (IHEs), state higher education agencies, and other public or private nonprofit organizations to incorporate credential transparency into their proposals — and to connect with us to explore how our technologies can support this important work. 🗓️ Applications are due December 3rd, 2025. 🔗 Notice: https://lnkd.in/eKCQhVTZ ➡️ Learn More: https://lnkd.in/ecg55Y_w Contact us today at info@credentialengine.org!

📢 Happening today! Join us for the premiere of Blackfoot Living Principles, a micro-documentary about how the Blackfeet Nation is integrating their cultural identity as valued job skills. This webinar will provide a viewing and a discussion with Lona Running Wolf and Wendy Bremner from 4 Poles Education Consulting Group, Deborah Everhart from Credential Engine, and Jenny Harms and Elizabeth Dove from Accelerate Montana to learn more about this work and what's next. Watch the trailer: https://lnkd.in/ehnqjBxq Register today! https://lnkd.in/ghyKWRAW

We’re excited to share that Credential Engine has been selected for a grant from the GitLab Foundation via their Learning for Action Fund! This funding will enable us to deepen our work around credential and skill data transparency, while building our capacity to track impact and refine our programs using real-time insights. We’re honored to join a cohort of changemakers committed to creating real pathways to economic mobility, and we look forward to building on this partnership to amplify our impact across the credential ecosystem. Learn more about this important work here: https://lnkd.in/eUsr5Spy

⏰ Happening today! Join us for our latest Solution Spotlight Webinar — How Arkansas LAUNCH Connects Skills and Competencies to Careers with CTDL. Discover how Arkansas LAUNCH, a free, skills-based platform, uses CTDL data to help learners and job seekers advance through employment, education, and enlistment by focusing on individual skills and competencies, not just job titles or degrees. Hear directly from Arkansas leaders on how they’re leveraging CTDL data to power this innovative tool and expand opportunities for learners and workers. 📅 October 29th, 1 PM ET 🔗 Register here: https://lnkd.in/eKTVqTgU ☑️ Presenters: ▪️Erin McCarley, Skills Data Coordinator, Office of State Technology ▪️Robert McGough, Chief Data Officer, AR Data Learn more: https://lnkd.in/e7DaG22s Check out previous Solution Spotlight webinars: https://lnkd.in/ew6Sgz2C