According to new data, three out of four (75%) students are more likely to enrol at universities offering skills-based certifications – ‘microcredentials’ – alongside traditional degrees.

Just over half of universities now offer microcredentials as part of their curricula, with 75% saying that their provision attracts more students. They can also contribute to improved retention: for students who have previously paused their traditional degree, 75% expressed increased interest in returning to education if micro-credentials were offered.

This is according to research*, based on a study of 1,058 higher education leaders from 852 institutions across 89 countries. Coursera currently offers job-relevant courses, including 125 Professional Certificates, to over 148 million learners worldwide. 

However, despite nearly all (97%) educational leaders responding to the global survey agreeing that micro-credentials improve long-term career prospects, for students currently less than half (46%) of European institutions offer them for academic credit.  

Of the regions surveyed by Coursera, European institutions are the least likely to offer micro-credentials. Yet barriers to integrating micro-credentials successfully also exist in regions outside Europe. Only six in ten (59%) respondents from North America state that they currently offer academic credit for micro-credentials, with the global average standing at 53%.

The research suggests that educational leaders are finding it difficult to embrace new approaches to learning through micro-credentials. Primary barriers to successful integration of micro-credentials include: 

• A lack of awareness about micro-credentials (50%)
• Difficulties integrating micro-credentials with existing curriculum (45%)
• Uncertainty about the quality of micro-credentials (35%).

A majority of those institutions that do not currently offer micro-credentials are planning to in the near future: eight in ten (82%) respondents express intentions to do so within the next five years. To facilitate microcredential integration into university curricula, institutions identify resource allocation (53%), curriculum transformation (50%), and ensuring faculty buy-in and engagement (47%) as the primary impediments. 

Nikolaz Foucaud, Managing Director EMEA, Coursera said: “Repeated testimonies from students, employers, and higher education institutions alike suggest that microcredentials are playing, and will play, an increasingly valuable role in ensuring that a university education is aligned with the needs of employers, and well-placed to nurture quality employment outcomes. Their ability to equip learners with job-relevant skills at speed and scale – being designed to be completed in a few weeks or a couple of months – makes them an ideal complement to the traditional degree.”

“However, if integration is to match intention, there is still work to be done. Providers of microcredentials can allay concerns about quality by securing independent credit recommendations, while institutional leaders must collaborate with faculty to ensure that they are incorporated into curricula in a way that enhances existing offerings.”

Jennifer Walsh, Chief Strategy Officer, Hawai’i Pacific University, said: “Micro-credentials ensure that undergraduate students and adult learners are equipped with industry-specific skills that they need for employability and advancement. Through offering micro-credentials via Coursera’s Career Academy, we are sending a clear message to our students: we are invested in your professional success.”

Research from Coursera