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This brief describes work done by RAND Education and Labor and the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan--Ann Arbor and documented in "Stackable Credential Pipelines and Equity for Low-Income Individuals: Evidence from Colorado and Ohio. Research Report. RR-A2484-1" [ED627835]. The brief discusses what states and institutions can do to: (1) support stackable credential development across fields and institutions; (2) improve the information students have on stackable credential programs; and (3) improve noncredit-to-credit stacking.

Federal, state, and local initiatives have encouraged education and training providers to build stackable credentials, a series of postsecondary credentials that can be earned over time and that build on each other to prepare individuals for different needs for knowledge and skills throughout a career. By offering flexible pathways that allow individuals to earn credentials incrementally and work as they earn credentials, stackable credentials can advance economic and educational opportunity for low-income individuals and other groups that have not been well served in traditional degree programs. However, there is limited evidence on whether low-income individuals are benefiting from stacking credentials and whether low-income individuals face systemic barriers to equity within stackable credential pipelines. In this report, the authors take a mixed methods approach to examining stackable credential equity in Colorado and Ohio, two states pursuing stackable credential initiatives. The authors analyzed administrative data to describe patterns in credential-stacking and in earnings for low-income individuals relative to middle- and high-income individuals. They identify four potential systemic barriers to equity within stackable credential pipelines and interview key stakeholders to learn more about factors contributing to these barriers and discuss options to ensure equitable opportunities to stack credentials across fields of study and institutions.

A growing number of postsecondary institutions and systems have begun offering or scaling stackable credential programs. These structured education and training pathways--in fields such as health care, information technology, and manufacturing and engineering technology--provide individuals with opportunities to earn certificates, postsecondary credentials that require less time to complete than an associate's degree, typically between several weeks and a year of coursework and training to complete. These initial certificates provide individuals with immediate job possibilities. Stackable credential programs may be especially helpful for individuals from historically underserved communities. These programs offer greater flexibility to simultaneously navigate education, employment, family, and other responsibilities. Using administrative data from Colorado and Ohio, this study examined differences in credential stacking and labor market returns from stacking for low-income individuals versus middle- and high income individuals (combined). This report describes this study's approach, its key findings, and the implications of those findings. This report also describes work done by RAND Education and Labor and the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan--Ann Arbor and documented in "Stackable Credential Pipelines and Equity for Low-Income Individuals: Evidence from Colorado and Ohio. Research Report. RR-A2484-1" (ED627835).

"Stackable credential programs" are designed to make it easier for students to earn multiple postsecondary certificates or degrees in a field as they advance in their careers. To examine the stacking of credentials in Ohio and inform ongoing efforts to scale stackable credential programs, the Ohio Department of Higher Education and the RAND Corporation formed a research partnership. In May 2020, RAND released "Stacking Educational Credentials in Ohio: Pathways Through Postsecondary Education in Health Care, Manufacturing and Engineering Technology," and Information Technology, a report that documented how students were moving through stackable credential pipelines in Ohio postsecondary institutions between 2005 and 2015. This toolkit is intended to be a companion document to that report, providing a how-to guide for practitioners who are overseeing stackable credential programs to identify issues in their stackable credential pipelines and make data-driven improvements. Using three stackable credential pipeline issues identified in the 2020 report--i.e., improving rates of stacking for Black students and adult learners, increasing stacking opportunities among students who earn a certificate at an Ohio Technical Center, and reducing excess credit hours--the toolkit illustrates how practitioners can use a four-step process to (1) take high-level statewide findings and collect additional evidence to explore these issues in their context, (2) narrow in on specific levers for change, (3) identify improvements and a framework for assessing them, and (4) carry out rapid cycles of improvement. [For "Stacking Educational Credentials in Ohio: Pathways through Postsecondary Education in Health Care, Manufacturing and Engineering Technology, and Information Technology," see ED613709.]

Stackable credential programs--that is, programs that facilitate students' ability to earn multiple postsecondary certificates or degrees--have been a priority for Ohio, which has a long history of legislation, state and regional initiatives, and institution-led efforts to build more-effective pathways to address the needs of employers and students. To assess progress and inform ongoing efforts to scale stackable credentials, the Ohio Department of Higher Education and the RAND Corporation established a research partnership. In this report, RAND researchers examine students who earned postsecondary certificates in health care, manufacturing and engineering technology (MET), or information technology (IT) fields at Ohio institutions between the 2004-2005 and 2012-2013 academic years and went on to earn (or stack) additional educational credentials. The authors descriptively examine the completion of credentials over time, the types of students who are earning certificates and going on to stack credentials, the subfields and levels of credentials earned, the types of institutions students earned credentials from, and the credit accumulation and terms of enrollment for students earning different types of credentials. The findings indicate increased numbers of students earning certificates and stacking credentials in Ohio. Certificate-earners were diverse, but rates of stacking were lower for Black students and adult learners (i.e., ages 25 and older). Most of the students who stacked credentials had earned a degree within four years, and most stacked within the same field.

Instead of enrolling for four or more years to get a bachelor's degree, what if individuals could work their way toward a degree gradually? First, they would attend college or a trade school for six months or a year and earn a certificate that prepares them for an entry-level job in various fields. Then, they would pursue additional knowledge and skills at the time they need them to advance their careers, reenrolling in college to continue progress toward a second certificate or degree. This might allow these individuals to invest their time and tuition dollars more strategically, and they might come away with training that better fits their needs. This approach to education and training is often referred to as "stackable credentials." Stackable credentials are most common in fields that offer many "middle skill" jobs--those that require some postsecondary education and training below the bachelor's degree level--such as health care and information technology. Ohio has been a leader in scaling stackable credential programs. It established statewide agreements that require credits to be awarded for certain blocks of coursework that previously were not eligible for credit, and it increased the funding allocated to certificate programs. Have institutions changed the programs that they offer? Are students stacking credentials, and, when they do, are they seeing an increase in earnings? Researchers at the RAND Corporation and the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) established a multiyear partnership to answer these questions and others. To find the answers, the team examined the state's stackable credential offerings and student outcomes in three fields: health care, manufacturing and engineering technology (MET), and information technology (IT). This brief describes work in the reports "Stacking Educational Credentials in Ohio: Pathways Through Postsecondary Education in Health Care, Manufacturing and Engineering Technology, and Information Technology" (ED613709); "Making Improvements to Stackable Credential Pipelines: A Toolkit on Using Data to Drive Improvement in Ohio Postsecondary Institutions" (ED613757); and "Stackable Credential Pipelines in Ohio: Evidence on Programs and Earnings Outcomes" (ED613593).

Stackable credential initiatives aim to build education and training pipelines in applied fields that allow individuals to earn educational certificates or other industry-recognized credentials and then build on these short-term credentials to earn additional certificates and degrees throughout their careers. Stackable credentials have the potential to provide more flexible education and training options for individuals and align better with employer needs. Stackable credentials are a priority for Ohio and a national trend in postsecondary institutions, yet little research has been conducted on whether institutions are scaling stackable programs, how students are stacking credentials, and whether these programs benefit individuals and employers. In this report, the authors examine Ohio's stackable credential pipelines in three fields--health care, manufacturing and engineering technology, and information technology--during the period between 2005 and 2019. They explore two areas: (1) growth in short-term education programs offered by Ohio public institutions and the degree to which programs incorporated features that characterize stackable credentials; and (2) earnings outcomes for certificate-earning students who went on to stack postsecondary education credentials. [For the technical appendix to this report, see ED613594.]