Short-term ” stackable” credentials are defined as “part of a sequence of credentials that can be accumulated over time and move an individual along a career pathway or up a career ladder” Short-term credentials have higher completion rates than degrees. Stackable credentials can help improve completion rates, provide students who might not complete a longer term degree with a valuable labor market signal.
Stack. Stackable credentials have received a lot of attention recently. stacking can address skepticism about the value of college while keeping open the door to alternative credentials. The number of certificates earned has grown substantially since the turn of the century. The importance of stackable credentials remains debatable. We conclude that stacking with a certificate does not appear to serve large numbers of students. We offer our views in the form of a letter to the editor.
Only 19 states have formal stackable credential policies (Wilson, 2016) Presently, there is little evidence on the economic value of stackable awards. Unless each award boosts earnings to compensate for time out of the labor market, stacking credentials is not a good investment for students. If students and workers see that stackable credentials do lead to higher earnings, the demand for these sequences should grow.
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