Career Prep: Combining Micro-Credentialing with Traditional Degree

In recent years, micro-credentials have gained popularity as a way for students and recent graduates to enhance their skills in specific areas and ready themselves for the job market. At the same time, an increasing number of companies are embracing skills-based hiring alongside degree-based hiring.

Are these trends an existential threat to the traditional college degree and the schools that provide them?

In one word: no. This should not be an either/or proposition. A strong argument can be made for schools that embrace “the power of AND,” an approach that combines a traditional four-year college degree and the targeted skills with micro-credentials. Universities will not only offer a valuable service to their students but create a competitive advantage for themselves as institutions of higher learning.