WASHINGTON — A new website that provides more detailed information on credentials was depicted Monday as a vital tool to help students and job seekers “achieve their dreams,” but questions lingered over how useful it will be to those particular groups.
To proponents of the new website—formally known as the Credential Registry—the registry shines some much-needed light for employers, colleges, universities and other entities on what various credentials—from badges and certificates to degrees, diplomas and licenses—actually represent in terms of competencies and skills.
“I think the registry and infrastructure that will be built around it represent one of the most significant and far-reaching developments in this field that I’ve ever seen,” said Jamie Merisotis, president and CEO of the Lumina Foundation, the primary backer of the project born through the Credential Transparency Initiative, or CTI.
But the registry, which has yet to go public but can be partially accessed here , faces an uphill battle and should not be seen as the panacea for the problems that employers and job-seekers face in trying to figure out if they represent a good match, several higher education leaders and experts warned.
“Given all the values of American higher education, I think this is going to take some very heavy lifting,” said Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education, or ACE, an organization that represents numerous colleges and universities.
Former Michigan Governor John Engler, president of the Business Roundtable, an organization of companies that employ nearly 15 million people, announced a new nonprofit—the Credential Engine—that he said will help take the new Credential Registry to scale.
Louis Soares, vice president at the Center for Policy Research and Strategy at ACE, suggested that the website, which is heavy on taxonomy and technical terms, may not be the most user-friendly in its current form and requires “some sophistication” on the part of users.
