This chapter describes the role microcredentials can play within the context of guided pathways and degree completion, illustrated through three case studies of community colleges and systems.

Entering the middle of the 21st Century, Texas has the ninth-largest economy in the world, whose success is powered by the increasingly educated workforce. Texans have earned more degrees, certificates, and credentials over the past decade than at any time in history, and Texas has outpaced every other state in growing undergraduate and graduate…

When making study choices, students often find it challenging to identify their interests and strengths. Higher education (HE) systems that do not offer opportunities for reorientation and transfer run the risk of some students never completing their studies. This policy brief examines the different flexible pathways institutions can choose to…

In 2010, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the College Board initiated a project to identify ways of improving the efficiency of the transfer pathway, a century-old mechanism that provides community college students with an opportunity to earn the baccalaureate degree at four-year institutions. Both organizations understand that the…

In the wake of President Obama's challenge to again make the United States the world's No. 1 producer of college graduates and degree and certificate holders, the nation's community college leaders are shifting their focus from access to success. Fueled by the president's goals, and six months of conversation and deliberation within the college…

In March, 2009, President Obama proposed the American Graduation Initiative, which established the goal that by 2020 the United States will regain its position as the nation with the highest percentage of its population holding post-secondary degrees and credentials. The College Completion Toolkit provides information that governors and other…

In a knowledge-based economy, economic and social well-being depend on the development of human resources, and those with access to education benefit from higher lifetime earnings, lower rates of unemployment and poverty, a greater sense of engagement at work and society, and healthier lifestyles. This environmental scan considers the major…

Several data sources indicate that the desire to obtain both a college and university credential in Ontario's postsecondary system is considerable. Aspirations at the start of college are high, with at least one quarter of college students having serious intentions of attaining a degree after a diploma. Data sources include the College Student…