In navigating the current climate of higher education in the United States, university faculty and staff are increasingly tasked with doing more with less. In this article, we explore the value of micro-credentials as a way to benefit both students and universities. We include an account of the successful creation of several graduate certificate…

"Stackable" credentials offer opportunities for college students to start by earning short-term credentials in vocational and technical fields, then stack additional credentials as they progress in careers, building skills in the classroom and in the workforce. Stackable credentials come at a cost: colleges expend resources in developing…

A high school diploma is no longer the path to financial stability; a person needs at least a postsecondary degree or credential to earn a median income (Carnavale, et al. 2019). Community colleges need to work to create opportunities for all students, including those that may enter school as an adult, and not straight from high school, to attain…

This article highlights specific approaches to developing leadership identity in college students within an academic curricular context. The authors examine curricular contexts such as majors, minors, and certificates with an emphasis on leader and leadership development, as well as specific course activities used to engage students in developing…

Industry certification and apprenticeship programs are vital in closing the labor shortage gap while improving graduation rates nationwide. New Mexico has trailed behind the rest of the nation in rebalancing the emphasis on skilled trades, particularly in rural schools. This phenomenological study interviewed ten Career and Technical Education…

In the United States, some professions are anchored by certifications and licensures to demonstrate an individual is qualified to practice in that professional domain. Broadly speaking, licensures are non-academic credentials required by federal or state law for individuals to practice in that field (Gilmore and Williams 2007). In contrast,…

For many high school students, the benefits of civic education seem irrelevant and take place in their future lives. Student performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Civics is stagnant. In 2018, the average civics score for eighth-grade students was not significantly different from 2014 and had only increased by 3…

Tuition-free college programs are gaining momentum as policymakers address rising college costs and workforce readiness. Despite their growing adoption, limited research examines how workforce-focused eligibility criteria impact student outcomes beyond enrollment. This pre-registered study employs two within-study quasi-experimental…

Purpose: Recent research on graduate students' diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) socialization found that graduate colleges play a role in supporting graduate students' DEI professional development (Perez et al., 2020), but more studies are needed about how graduate colleges facilitate DEI socialization. One graduate college at a large,…

Short-term certificate (STC) programs at community colleges represent a longstanding policy priority to align accelerated postsecondary credentials with job opportunities in local labor markets. Despite large investments in developing STCs, little evidence exists about where and when STCs are opened and whether community colleges open new programs…

In England, examinations for general qualifications (GCSE, AS and A level) were cancelled in summer 2020 and summer 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and replaced with contingency measures involving teacher judgements. For summer 2020, the intention was to calculate grades using rankings provided by centres, prior attainment data for the…

Background: Instances of academic dishonesty are common in online learning environments because difficulties in their detection result in considerably low degrees of risks. However, if not identified, the noise introduced by dishonest learners in MOOCs' clickstream data could lead to biased results and conclusions in scientific research.…

The landscape of developmental education has experienced significant shifts over the last decade nationwide, as more than 20 states and higher education systems have transitioned from the traditional prerequisite model to corequisite remediation. Drawing on administrative data from Tennessee community colleges from 2010 to 2020, this study…

Although interdisciplinary scholars have long debated the ethics of empathy, it continues to be widely seen as universal, prosocial, and reparative in education. Subject English, long associated with the work of producing civilised, moral and cultured students, is a critical locus for the activation of empathy. But what becomes of empathy in the…

Academic success among adult learners is a significant concern across all of New York's boroughs, with the Bronx being particularly affected. This study aimed to examine the barriers to academic success among adult learners in the Bronx. The research utilized secondary data obtained from a previous assessment conducted at an adult learning program…