Charting a Course to Quality: A Navigator’s Handbook to a Robust Non-Degree Credential Data Ecosystem

As the demand for affordable, flexible, and career-oriented education grows, non-degree credentials can quickly open doors to good jobs. However, to ensure these programs lead to positive and equitable outcomes, students, employers, and states need robust data systems to measure and assess their quality. 

Charting a Course to Quality is a comprehensive handbook designed to guide states in building and enhancing the data ecosystem necessary to evaluate non-degree credential programs. It offers practical steps and examples from states already leading in this area, so others can adapt successful models to their unique contexts. 

This publication is the final installment in a series dedicated to helping states advance their non-degree credential ecosystems. It builds on the foundation laid by our earlier works: 

• The Non-Degree Credential Quality Imperative explores how states are crafting policies to increase access to high-quality non-degree credentials. 

• State Financial Aid for Non-degree Credentials examines the financial aid strategies states employ to support students pursuing these credentials. 

Together, these publications provide a handbook for states committed to ensuring that people from all backgrounds have access to valuable educational opportunities that lead to meaningful employment.