Hello and welcome to Certified Insights from your digital credential friends at Accredible. You’re in good company with 100K+ education and training leaders.
Each month, we share tips and strategies to help you grow your credentialing program. Up next:
✨ One year, one mission, what comes next
📩 What should we cover in 2026? Tell us.
📚 Certified Reads on U.S. labor record reform, JHU’s microcredential governance, and SMS badge engagement
One year ago, we launched Certified Insights with a question: What can credentialing leaders learn from the programs doing it best?
Twelve issues later, that question has only grown in relevance and urgency.
In 2025, digital credentials stopped being passive records. They became leverage. Learners used them to land jobs, unlock promotions, and open new doors. Employers looked for them. Program leaders redesigned around them. And credentialing went from a back-office function to a front-line signal.
This newsletter was never just a roundup. It was built to reflect real momentum and the people driving it. So to the 100K+ of you reading, forwarding, and shaping the conversation: thank you. You’re building what’s next.
As we close the year, we’re highlighting the signals that mattered in 2025, the programs that led the way, and the predictions shaping what comes next.
Across Accredible’s 2,300+ customers, 42 million credentials were issued to more than 9 million learners this year — bringing the total to 170+ million issued, 32+ million learners credentialed, and the largest network of verifiable digital credentials in the world.
But it wasn’t just about volume. The signals were clear and directional.
Credentials are growing and evolving.
Learners searched CourseFinder more than 97,000 times in 2025 (a 26% increase from 2024). Microsoft Excel took the #1 spot. AI surged from #10 to #2. “Data Engineer,” “Marketing,” and “Data” entered the top 10 for the first time — suggesting a broader shift toward productivity tools and data fluency.
On the skills side, learners prioritized durable and applied capabilities. “Technology Application” topped the list. Newcomers like “Data Analysis,” “Data Visualization,” and “Collaboration” displaced more traditional leadership traits — a signal that adaptability and execution are rising in value.
Credential sharing is becoming strategy.
In 2025, 6.8 million credentials were shared, downloaded, or added to resumes and profiles — a 25% year-over-year increase. Slack, Telegram, X, and Messenger broke into the top 10 sharing channels for the first time, joining LinkedIn, email, and WhatsApp.
And those shares led somewhere: 900,000+ credential-driven referral clicks back to customer programs — up 34% from 2024. With a 27% share-to-click rate across the Accredible platform, more than one in four times a credential is shared, someone new clicks through to explore a customer’s program.
Thousands of learners also used digital credential transcripts to package their full learning record — submitting them in job interviews, admissions packets, and internal promotion reviews.
Issuers delivered more value, not just more volume.
Today’s learners want visibility, direction, and recognition. And credentialing programs delivered.
1.54 million learners enrolled in guided learning pathways — up 46% from last year.
More than 800,000 opted into public Spotlight directories across 60 credentialing organizations — a 167% year-over-year jump. At the same time, directory searches from employers and talent sourcers rose more than 5x.
And employers paid attention.
According to the 2025 State of Credentialing report:
This wasn’t just a year of growth. It was the year digital credentials proved they could deliver real-world results at scale.
Behind the numbers were programs that didn’t just issue credentials — they used them to drive outcomes.
This year, we launched the Certified Impact Awards to recognize the people and programs leading the way. Here’s what stood out:
What these programs have in common isn’t their sector or size. It’s their intent. Credentialing wasn’t a checkbox — it was a strategy.
👉 Explore all 10 Certified Impact Award winners and how they delivered results.
If 2025 proved credentials work, 2026 will test how far they can go.
We asked 20 leaders — including SHRM Foundation, 1EdTech, UPCEA, Penn State, Snowflake, Johns Hopkins U, IEEE, and Google — to share their 2026 predictions.
One sees AI agents becoming teammates, with credentials verifying how well humans and AI collaborate. Another predicts resumes will fall, replaced by verifiable evidence of skill.
A third expects microcredentials to outpace certifications as Gen Z demands faster, modular, job-aligned proof.
The message is clear: credentials are becoming the infrastructure of work. The question is — are you ready?
👉 Browse all 2026 predictions and vote on the ones you believe in.
To every reader, partner, and contributor — thank you. This community has helped credentialing leaders go further, faster, and with more clarity.
And while this newsletter is just one small part of that momentum, we’re honored to be building it with you.
Here’s to a bigger, bolder 2026.
Until next time,
Ryan
Senior Director @ Accredible
We’re planning 2026 and want your input.
What would help you go further, faster next year?
📩 Reply with one idea, topic, or challenge you want us to cover. One sentence is plenty. We read every response.
AACRAO Credential Chat with Janet Schreck
How Johns Hopkins University is scaling microcredentials across 10 schools without sacrificing autonomy or rigor. In this conversation, Noah Geisel and Dr. Janet Schreck dig into governance, metadata, assessment, and the power of shared definitions.
Modernizing employment records: The public infrastructure the US labor market needs — Brookings
The US tracks labor with outdated, fragmented systems. Brookings argues for modernizing employment records using global models: real-time reporting, standardized data, and worker access. This "public infrastructure" is critical for validating skills and navigating an AI-driven economy.
Reach Learners Where They Act — Accredible Blog
Digital credentials only drive impact when they’re seen and shared. This post explores how SMS Engagement helps programs boost visibility at key moments — from issuance to renewal — and why reaching learners via mobile is fast becoming a must-have strategy.
From Badges to Pathways: Iowa State’s Microcredentialing Playbook — On-demand webinar
Go behind the scenes with ISU as they build one of higher ed’s most ambitious credentialing programs. In this 30-minute spotlight, learn how ISU designed a learner-first framework, launched 80+ microcredentials in year one, and used stackable Pathways to connect skills, confidence, and career relevance.
1EdTech Digital Credentials Summit — February 18-20, 2026
The premiere event for education leaders, employers, and edtech innovators to work toward creating a better path to the future for all learners.
Tired of juggling paper certificates, PDFs, and endless manual processes to track learner achievements?
Or running into scaling limitations with your current digital credentialing solution?
Accredible has you covered. Create and issue branded digital credentials that showcase skills and provide real value — without the hassle.
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Accredible is the world’s leading digital credential platform, enabling education and training leaders to increase learner engagement and drive program growth.
Accredible is the world’s leading digital credential platform, enabling education and training leaders to increase learner engagement and drive program growth.
