The On-Ramps and Off-Ramps of Education

To be successful in today’s higher education landscape, institutions must make education adaptable, flexible, stackable and accessible, ensuring learners can gain skills and credentials whenever they need them.

Editor’s note: This article is adapted from a conversation with Ailsa Craig on the Illumination Podcast in which they discuss the evolving landscape of student engagement in higher education. To hear the full discussion, listen to the episode here.  

The idea that education is a linear journey—enrollment to graduation to workforce—is outdated. Instead, institutions must embrace a more fluid model that accounts for learners entering and exiting education at different points throughout their lives. 

On-Ramps: Lowering Barriers to Entry 

For many learners, committing to a full degree from day one is neither practical nor financially feasible. Microcredentials serve as an entry point, allowing students to: 

• Gain foundational skills without enrolling in a full program 

• Explore different fields before committing to a degree pathway 

• Build confidence, particularly for those returning to school after time away 

This lower-stakes approach to higher education can increase access, retention and long-term success, particularly for nontraditional students who may not feel ready for a traditional college experience. 

Off-Ramps: Recognizing Learning Along the Way 

Education doesn’t always happen in a straight line. Life circumstances change, and students may need to pause their studies for various reasons. Rather than viewing these pauses as failures, institutions must redefine success by validating the learning that happens along the way. 

By issuing credentials for completed coursework, institutions can do the following: 

• Recognize partial progress rather than leaving students with some college, no degree 

• Provide tangible, employer-recognized credentials that reflect real skills gained 

• Encourage lifelong learning by making it easier for students to return and pick up where they left off 

This shift ensures every learning experience is valued and recognized, regardless of whether a student completes a full degree. 

The Role of Continuing Education in Credential Innovation 

One of the most natural homes for microcredentials is continuing education (CE) divisions. These units have historically operated with greater agility than traditional academic departments, allowing them to quickly launch new programs, respond to workforce needs and test innovative learning models. 

Continuing education has the ability to achieve the following: 

• Develop programs quickly in response to market demands 

• Offer flexible learning formats, including online and hybrid courses 

• Collaborate with industry partners to ensure relevancy 

However, to truly integrate alternative credentials into the larger higher ed ecosystem, institutions must accomplish these results: 

• Ensure CE is connected to academic decision making rather than operating in isolation 

• Develop clear policies for credit articulation, allowing students to seamlessly transition from microcredentials to full degrees 

• Position CE as a strategic partner in the institution’s long-term enrollment and workforce development goals 

By doing so, colleges and universities can unlock the full potential of microcredentials, embedding them into a lifelong learning framework rather than treating them as a separate or secondary offering. 

Where Do We Go from Here? The Future of Credentials 

The conversation around microcredentials isn’t just about what higher education offers; it’s about how learners engage with education throughout their lives. 

To truly future-proof higher ed, institutions must focus on these objectives: 

1. Adopting a student-first credentialing strategy that prioritizes flexibility, accessibility and recognition of learning 
2. Integrating microcredentials into degree pathways rather than positioning them as separate or competing options 
3. Strengthening industry partnerships to ensure credentials align with real workforce needs 
4. Making credentialing policies transparent and transferable, enabling seamless movement between institutions and employers. 

Higher education must move beyond rigid structures and embrace a more adaptive, student-driven model—one where education is a lifelong process, credentials are stackable and learners have multiple ways to achieve their goals. Institutions that recognize and embrace this shift will be the ones that remain relevant, responsive and resilient in the years ahead.