Let’s start with some simple math. The #1 reason why Americans value higher education is to get a good job. And although 96% of chief academic officers of colleges and universities have confidence they are preparing students well for the workplace, no one else believes them; 13% of US adults, 11% of C-level business executives and 6% of college trustees have the same levels of confidence in how well college grads are prepared for work. When employers are asked what they want to see most in college grads, the top things they cite are work-related experiences and industry-relevant skills. And the strongest predictor of alumni saying their education was worth the cost and high quality is the degree to which they feel their education is relevant to their current work. If you add this all up, it points to a pretty clear ultimatum for the future of higher education: credegrees and co-ops.

What exactly are credegrees and co-ops? Credegree is a new term I’ve coined to describe a program where a student graduates with both a traditional bachelor degree and some sort of industry-recognized skill or credential – hence the combination of credential and degree in the name. Co-ops have been around for more than a century, but many people still have a limited understanding of what they are.  Co-op is short for cooperative education, which is “a structured method of combining classroom-based education with practical work experience.” Co-ops usually involve a partnership between an educational institution and an employer, are typically paid jobs for the students and are done in a way in which students alternate between school and work terms. Co-ops, importantly, are also longer than a typical 12-week summer internship – usually lasting six months, across a summer and a semester. This allows for students and employers both to engage in deeper and more meaningful work experiences.

Cooperative education is not new. Yet, the universities that have been doing it for decades now are suddenly among the hottest brands in North America – Northeastern University, Drexel University and the University of Waterloo, for example. The specific idea of credegrees is indeed a new one, but there has been long-established workplace demand among the top employers for individuals with both degrees (that have trained them well in critical thinking, skilled communication and collaboration) and industry-relevant skills (such as data science or coding). And several early examples of this concept can be found in higher education today in the form of universities partnering with bootcamps to offer coding skills to traditional college students. What’s new is the clear employer and consumer demand that will quickly establish credegrees and co-ops as the norm in higher education – as opposed to being rare practices.

Traditional four-year universities have often looked down upon the idea of offering non-accredited or industry-aligned/recognized credentials as part of a bachelor degree experience. The prevailing attitude is that this kind of education is best offered by community colleges or other vocational training providers – as if these aspects of education and training are somehow anathema to a traditional four-year institution. Here’s a classic question that illustrates the false dichotomy the academy has created on this topic: What would you rather have a graduate who is broadly educated and prepared for any number of jobs as a critical thinker, skilled communicator, etc., or a grad who has work experience and hard skills?  The correct answer is neither. It’s both. And there’s no reason – other than ignorance, snobbish attitudes and a lack of creativity and new elbow-grease put into pedagogical design – that we can’t have both at the same time, in the same graduate.

So how would this work? As students chose majors they will now also select an industry-credential to add to their educational mix in college.  We already have double majors, minors, etc. Why not a major and a credential? Such offerings will inevitably mean new kinds of ecosystem partnerships between universities, employers, industry associations and other educational providers. It may also mean students pursuing their industry credential during the “nooks and crannies” of the traditional academic schedule – such as during summers and breaks and perhaps even weekends. It may mean embedding the cost of the industry credentialing in their overall tuition costs. It could also mean new revenue sources for universities – by providing this kind of training to current alumni, many of whom will eagerly look to their alma mater as a trusted and preferred source of this kind of education and training.

For a student, it doesn’t necessarily require that they chose their career indefinitely. With estimates that current graduates will face dozens of career changes in their lives, it will be critical to introduce students to the process of industry-recognized credentials and programs – as there is a high-likelihood they will need to weave in and out of this kind of education in some fashion for their entire career. Whether it’s completing industry exams for the financial services industry or becoming proficient in a coding language or in data science – there are a range of valuable credentials and skills that can be effectively woven into the bachelor degree. And if a grad ever finds him or herself out of a job, they immediately have a valuable credential that can land them a new job – if only a temporary situation.

Most critically, credegree and co-op graduates will become the most highly sought-after by employers because they will be better prepared for work – bringing a dynamic blend of broad abilities, specific skills and real experience. The universities who seize the opportunity to be decisive first-movers in the credegree and co-op campaign will be the big winners who thrive amidst the current higher education disruption.

This content was found at https://www.forbes.com/sites/brandonbusteed/2019/03/11/why-college-will-soon-be-about-credegrees-and-co-ops/#21758ca53159

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