Sometimes small, shorter education stepping-stones are the best way to move up and forward on a career path. But it’s hard for people starting or changing careers to explore degree alternatives and evaluate whether they are the right fit for who they are and their career path.

Examples of good, short-term alternatives to degrees:

• Postsecondary non-degree awards: certificates, apprenticeships, technical skills combined with on-the-job training programs,

• Credentials: Certification from an industry association, certain licenses like a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), and

• Postgraduate, advanced programs: often pairing minimum job experience or a graduate degree with advanced study.

While many employers continue to use bachelor’s degrees as a litmus test for skills and competence, there is growing awareness that this behavior excludes otherwise qualified applicants and supercharges long-standing equity and access roadblocks. Nontraditional students, adults over 50 and veterans are the most likely to get credentials instead of a degree.

But the tide is finally turning, not against the value of a bachelor’s degree, but in favor of valuing less than one year to 2-year, education stepping-stones.

It’s overdue to view choosing a degree or certificate/credential through a long-term lens, as an AND, not EITHER/OR decision.

Employers increasingly value alternative credentials

According to May 2022 reports by the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM), 80-90% of executives, supervisors and HR professionals believe,

• Workers with alternative credentials bring value to the workplace,

• Alternative credentials are valuable for employee development, and

• Employees that earn them gain more credibility.

As career development professionals, it is critical we’re more prepared to help people evaluate all their alternatives, including those other than an associate, bachelor’s or graduate degree. But we all face big challenges.

Challenges

First, employers do not value many credentials that are popular or advertised. Anyone can offer them and often there is little alignment between employer needs and education systems. For example, according to the nonprofit ExcelinEd and Burning Glass, only 18% of credentials earned by K12 students are demanded by employers. General Career Readiness credentials make up over 25% of all K12 credentials, but most employers do not value them.

Second, there are so many choices! According to Credential Engine there are over a million unique credentials in the U.S. (2022).

Third, there is a lot of information and marketing targeted at what clients should do and buy. But very little information about what’s truly valuable and worth the time and investment.

How do we overcome these challenges?

For several years, Career Key has been researching solutions. We’ve asked ourselves,

How we can make shorter-term, non-degree education decisions easier for people in different career stages, particularly high school students and adults considering a career change?  

No other career tools and assessments do that in a practical, easy to understand way – many do not even mention non-degree programs at all.

I’m pleased to announce that this summer we’re going live with our solution: refreshed, expanded content about a wider variety of best-fit education programs and how to choose one! New content will appear in both the Student and Transitions versions of our personality and career interest inventory Career Key Discovery, as well as the Resources self-help articles on our website.

Sources:

Credential Engine. (2022). Counting U.S. postsecondary and secondary credentials.

Washington, DC: Credential Engine.

“Making Alternative Credentials Work: A new strategy for HR Professionals” (SHRM)

Updated Feb. 2024