Enhancing Global Learning Mobility Through Credential Transparency

How do we ensure that the economic and social mobility promised by quality educational experiences are realized by all, especially as more people around the world need to apply their credentials in contexts and jurisdictions that are different from where they achieved them? How do we support learners who move across borders? How do we support those learners who have either fallen off the path or have been traditionally excluded?

Supporting learning mobility becomes a reality when people can make meaningful comparisons across credentials from different jurisdictions. A key step in supporting this work is to define credentials using a linked, open, transparent data schema that clarifies relationships among credentials. Understanding one’s credentials and how they can be used unlocks potential, but being able to access that data via technology solutions first is crucial. AACRAO, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, and the nonprofit organization Credential Engine are collaborating to create a more transparent global credential landscape using linked open data. 

AACRAO is a nonprofit, voluntary professional association working to make higher education more responsive to learners. Credential Engine’s mission is to map the global credential and skill landscape with consistent, reliable information.

Together these organizations are enhancing global learning mobility through the AACRAO Electronic Database for Global Education (EDGE) combined with an open linked data structure, the Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL). AACRAO EDGE serves as the premier U.S. resource for the evaluation of foreign educational credentials, supporting institutions in international recruitment, admissions, academic placement and international transfer credit evaluation. The CTDL is a linked open data schema used by credential providers, government agencies, employers and others to illuminate the meaning and value of credentials by making these data machine readable and consumable by learner- and worker-facing tools. This project will help illustrate the value and worldwide connections of credentials by making the EDGE data available in CTDL, allowing cross-system interoperability.

In our current, innovative pilot, a select number of non-U.S. educational credential definitions are to be represented in the linked open data structure of CTDL and published to the Credential Registry, a database of CTDL metadata. This makes these select data points machine readable and consumable by tools that allow learners, educators and employers to make better decisions.

One of the basic tenets of comparative international education is to understand and research the education systems being analyzed thoroughly. The AACRAO EDGE–Credential Engine work strives to do just this. Let’s look at a credential in EDGE, a certificate from a particular country. This credential is listed in EDGE and linked to the CTDL. The data about the credential can be combined with other useful data, so that not only is the credential explained, but so is the pathway and the provider. This assures the learner that their credential is understood and that the reviewer, whether employer, higher education institution, licensor or other, can assess it accurately and fairly. Successfully doing so will provide the tools for international higher education institutions and the workforce to recruit and support learners. For AACRAO EDGE, it is another opportunity to provide valuable information that supports institutional decision-making in international recruitment, admissions, academic placement and the evaluation of international transfer credit.

Now consider a scenario from the learner’s perspective. A learner has completed a diploma program at a university. After graduation, she decides to pursue further education or employment opportunities in another country, such as the United States. Through this collaboration, AACRAO would work with the appropriate authority of the specific credential to define the data structure of the education program, which may include other certifications and credentials. This data would then be mapped to CTDL and published to the Credential Registry. EDGE will use this data to combine with other resources that enable clear comparisons among credentials from different jurisdictions and recommendations for how to interpret and apply these credentials—in this case, in the U.S.

When the learner applies to a U.S. institution or employer, that organization can access the Credential Registry and easily find detailed information about that education system’s credentials, including their level, competencies and equivalencies with other qualifications. Upon looking at the credentials of the learner, an employer, HEI or licensure organization has the tools to determine accurate recognition and placement of the learner, supporting their learning pathway. This transparency and standardization facilitated by AACRAO and Credential Engine help ensure that, for example, South African credentials are properly understood and recognized, improving these credentials’ chances of being accepted for further education or employment opportunities.

You can also get involved by joining Credential Engine’s Qualifications Frameworks task group aimed at representing qualifications frameworks as linked, open data.