Though higher education has had one excellent product for years — a degree — the demand for that product is slowly declining. So much so that EDUCAUSE deemed it an “enrollment crisis,” complete with budget cuts, mergers, and even closures.
There’s a solution to this crisis, but it’s not to just push through. It’s to change how higher education institutions deliver their curriculum, recognize skills and competencies, and help students differentiate themselves in the job market.
And digital credentials are the best way to stay ahead of the curve. In fact, 88% of education leaders view alternative and microcredentialing as essential for their future. But not just any digital credentialing program will do.
Below, we share five data-backed strategies for attracting more learners, engaging and reenrolling alums, and boosting your institution’s brand awareness based on our State of Credentialing Report — with tips and examples from leaders at Syracuse University, Penn State University, George Washington University, and MIT.
You know the significant time and effort learners put into earning a credential, and so do your students.
96% of learners who earned a digital credential consider it valuable for their career, and 78% believe it increases their chances of getting a job offer — but only if it carries weight with learners and employers.
While learners didn't have an instant preference for digital credentials, our data shows that they wanted everything that only digital credentials can provide:
This poses a significant opportunity for issuers — not only to maximize the value of their digital credentials via metadata but also to better communicate this value to learners.
As Penn State University Assistant Teaching Professor of Economics Frank Sorokach points out, “Employers want to know what a badge tells them — about the student’s competency, the quality of the education they received, and the skills they have proven they have.”
First, add as much relevant metadata as you can to your credentials. This allows employers to examine what the students have learned and how they’ve demonstrated their competency, increasing the chances they’ll land their dream job.
Syracuse University is a fantastic example of an issuer maximizing metadata. As shown below, each of their credentials:
After your metadata is in place, you’ll want to focus on educating your learners — why should they care about your digital credentials?
Make clear what your credentials mean for students’ careers on your program page(s) and in credential delivery emails. Here are strategies we’ve seen work well:
The American Council on Exercise (ACE) is a great example of an organization that does this well. The value of its credentials is front and center on its program page, and each section gives learners even more reason to accept and share their badges.
Today’s learners crave a curriculum that prepares them for the challenges they’ll face in their professional careers.
The State of Credentialing report revealed that 92% of learners want projects and assessments as part of their coursework. 97% want a series of linked modules or courses to help them master a topic and apply that knowledge to real-world scenarios.
Unfortunately, what learners want to see in their courses doesn’t align with what education providers provide. Just 29% of credential issuers have learning pathways, and only 34% have built-in assignments and tests.
Addressing these gaps may seem like a daunting task. To make it easier, consider breaking down existing courses into focused skill modules and integrating existing content like webinars and guides. Pairing these materials with hands-on projects and assessments within a structured pathway allows for a flexible, comprehensive learning experience that builds skills progressively through interconnected microcredentials.
Helping learners visualize their learning pathway and awarding digital credentials along the journey will increase learner retention and application, encourage them to keep going, and reward them for staying the course.
UiPath’s Specialized AI Pathway, for example, clearly outlines each Pathway requirement, allowing learners to choose between several different courses (and even optional courses) to suit their specific needs.
Educational publisher McGraw Hill assesses students' knowledge before their course of study, then takes them through targeted lessons based on those results, inserting hands-on activities and quizzes along the way. Bob Nisbet, Senior Marketing Manager at McGraw Hill, emphasizes, “We've found this makes learning more efficient and effective. Students know exactly what skills they need to acquire and can track their progress along the way.”
They’re not the only ones who’ve seen success with this approach:
94% of education providers who have adopted digital credentials report a positive impact on their organization. And the most significant benefit they cited was increased credential sharing online. Why? Because it’s essentially free advertising.
Enabling learners to share their credentials online boosts brand awareness and, in turn, program referrals. Myriam Joseph, Assistant Director of Marketing and Business Development at MIT Professional Education, explains, “If you admire someone and you see they just completed a certificate that everyone is raving about on social, you're going to want to know more.”
Yet most institutions overlook this powerful organic marketing channel — only 1 in 3 sends a reminder to students to open credentials and share them. 44% of issuers report doing nothing to recognize or reward learners who share their credentials.
Encouraging credential shares can:
But learners have a lot on their plates — one email explaining how to share their credentials isn’t going to prompt action. The most successful credentialing programs do four things:
An easy way to knock out all four? Accredible’s Email Campaigns.
Thomas Mastro, Director of Strategic Initiatives & Planning at The George Washington University’s College of Professional Studies, saw the value right away: “Because a large majority of our student population are working professionals, many of them are active on LinkedIn. Adding badges and certificates to their LinkedIn page is impactful in the sense that then their networks will see, and possibly engage in, our programming.”
He and his team deployed a Credential View Reminder, sent one week after a “Congratulations, here is your badge” email, and a LinkedIn Share Reminder, sent one month later to remind students to share their certificates on LinkedIn.
These two Campaigns alone increased The University’s LinkedIn profile credential add rate by 133% and its LinkedIn share rate by a whopping 580%. Thomas plans to launch more Campaigns, pinging students who get halfway through sharing their certification (to push them to follow through) or emailing past learners when new coursework rolls out (to increase reenrollment).
According to the State of Credentialing report, more than 9 out of 10 learners plan to take more courses and are actively looking for recommendations from their education providers. However, 1 in 4 don’t follow through because they don’t know what to take.
Our data also suggests that learners are looking for ways to leverage their credentials for future opportunities. 84% of learners report wanting to be included in an online directory, yet only 35% of issuers provide the opportunity.
This tells us that issuers are missing a significant opportunity to meet learner expectations post-course completion to retain them and help connect them with future opportunities.
First, review all of your existing courses and determine what the next step for your learners would be. Myriam at MIT Professional Education did just that, examining 50 of the program’s top courses, noting the course or certificate learners should aim to take next, and including them in the earned digital credential emails.
The team also provides course recommendations via Accredible’s Recommendations on digital credential pages (its own and other issuers’ pages) and prominently at the top of CourseFinder, a credential directory and course search platform. In doing so, MIT better markets its courses to new and existing learners, generating additional program enrollment and revenue.
With Recommendations, MIT Professional Education has generated over 5 million impressions with current and future learners — generating over 18,500 additional program referrals.
“Since we've started using Recommendations, we’ve seen a lot more learners who earned credentials take additional courses,” she says. “When we started, we had around 35% of learners return, but now we’re over 50% taking additional courses.”
Accredible’s Spotlight Directory is another way for learners to maximize their credentials. Wharton Executive Education built a “Wharton Talent Network” to showcase alumni who’ve earned credentials, with a short description of their professional experience, work availability, and links to their social media profiles. Employers can filter results by credentials, skills, or even location to home in on highly qualified candidates for specific roles.
It’s hard to know what learners want without a direct line of sight into learner data. Yet only 54% of issuers track which learners complete a course and a mere 23% track which learners take additional courses.
Less than 50% track what content or courses learners are most engaged with, which learners are most engaged, course completion time, and where learners drop off — all critical data points for enhancing the learner experience.
Worse, only 13% of issuers track program referrals from shared credentials. If they still use paper or PDF certificates, tracking how and how often they are shared is nearly impossible.
As a marketer, Myriam Joseph, the Assistant Director of Marketing and Business Development at MIT Professional Education, immediately saw their certificate program as a way to amplify MIT’s exceptional network. However, to get learners to share, she had to see what was happening behind the scenes and modify her marketing strategies accordingly.
She and her team used Accredible’s analytics to:
At the same time, Myriam made it easy for potential learners to explore added courses, taking them straight from a student’s credential LinkedIn post to their course catalog.
“We made it easy for them to learn more about that program and bring them back to our website,” she says. “But most importantly, we worked with Accredible to add tracking to all of these actions so that we can measure them. And we were able to see how many new people came in through Accredible and entered our lead pipeline so we could nurture those learners."
Since shifting to digital credentials and optimizing the MIT Professional Education program, Myriam and her team have issued over 75,000 digital certificates, hit a consistent 90% open rate, boosted credential referrals by over 55%, and increased LinkedIn share rates by a staggering 280%.
Trying to incorporate all these best practices at once can be overwhelming — especially without the right tools and resources.
Accredible has helped over 2,300 organizations, including the University of Cambridge, Rutgers, University of Oxford, and Syracuse University, increase learner engagement and enrollment and drive program growth.
Curious about what Accredible could do for your organization?
Find out how it can take your institution’s program to the next level by booking a demo today.
Schedule a demo and discover how Accredible can help you attract and reward learners, visualize learning journeys, and grow your program.
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Accredible is the world’s leading digital credential platform, enabling education and training leaders to increase learner engagement and drive program growth.
Accredible is the world’s leading digital credential platform, enabling education and training leaders to increase learner engagement and drive program growth.
