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:
🔮 What 2026’s top predictions say about your next move
🧠 Skills-first vs. signal-first: Which matters more in hiring?📚 Certified Reads on credential scale, skills-first standards, and UPCEA’s 2026 outlook
When we launched our 2026 predictions campaign last month, we weren’t chasing hot takes. We wanted to surface the real forces shaping credentialing in the year ahead and the leaders steering them.
Hundreds of credentialing professionals explored the complete list and cast their votes. And the top predictions made one thing clear:
Credentialing is moving from structure to strategy.
The most resonant ideas weren’t about issuing more badges or rebranding old programs. They were about building trust in the age of AI, ambiguity, and nonstop upskilling — with credentialing practices that are responsive, portable, and learner-first.
Before we shift fully into 2026, here’s what your peers are betting on and what it signals about your next strategic move.
1. “Embedded” becomes a credentialing mindset
“Life is an integrated experience that doesn’t conveniently silo experiences — and neither should our credentialing practices.” — Noah Geisel, Microcredentials Program Manager at the University of Colorado Boulder
Learning no longer fits neatly into classrooms, departments, or even single systems. In 2026, expect more programs to connect coursework, industry certifications, work-based learning, and simulations into holistic, stackable journeys.
From higher ed to corporate L&D, embedded design will help institutions recognize more learning, more often, without sacrificing rigor or structure.
Programs that stay siloed risk being overlooked entirely. In fact, we think the point is so critical, it belongs on a billboard:
2. Verified evidence replaces polished claims
“The focus will shift from courses to evidence: verifiable proof of what people know and can do.” — Wendy Palmer, Director of Lifelong Learning Practice
This shift is already underway. Our 2025 State of Credentialing report found that 84% of HR leaders have caught or suspected candidates of exaggerating skills.
“That’s where credentials are having a real moment,” said Erin Scruggs, VP & Head of Global Talent Acquisition at LinkedIn. “They provide verifiable evidence of skills at a time when employers are actively looking for signals they can trust.”
With AI-generated resumes flooding hiring platforms, your credentials must be seen and believed — not just earned.
3. Durable skills return to the spotlight
“A person with strong power skills is going to move from nice-to-have to essential.” — Clayton Lord, Senior Program Director of the SHRM Foundation
In our 2025 Year in Review, we saw learner behavior shift in real time:
Collaboration, Analytical Thinking, and Communication skills surged. Traditional leadership skills fell.
Clayton’s prediction? In an AI-saturated world, the human edge matters most. Empathy. Adaptability. Resilience. The durable stuff.
Expect credentials to reflect — and reward — these strengths more explicitly in 2026.
4. Microcredentials meet the moment
“Skills-based microcredentials will create new pathways into and through technical careers — offering skilling, reskilling, and upskilling in as close to real time as possible.” — Jennifer Fong, Director of Continuing Education at IEEE
In fast-moving industries, degrees can’t keep up. Jennifer predicts that performance-based microcredentials — designed around industry needs and validated by doing — will play an increasingly central role in building an agile, technical workforce.
This isn’t about replacing degrees. It’s about recognizing learning that happens outside them and empowering learners to prove what they can do when they need to do it.
In 2026, the most responsive programs will prioritize velocity, validation, and visible skills.
5. Credentials become higher ed’s proof of value
“Transparent documentation of learners’ knowledge, skills, and achievements… will become a must-have.” — Janet Schreck, Senior Associate Vice Provost for Academic Affairs & Associate Professor of Education at Johns Hopkins University
With Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment regulations taking effect and public skepticism about degree ROI rising, credentials are becoming the connective tissue between learning and employment.
Expect to see more microcredentials embedded in degrees, earn-and-learn models, and noncredit-to-credit bridges — a trend leaders like Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois are already putting into practice.
In 2026, credentials will be the transcript of tomorrow, but with real-time relevance and ROI.
The signal behind the noise
We didn’t launch this predictions series to chase headlines. We launched it to help leaders like you see what’s coming and decide where to focus next.
Now that the results are in, the message is clear: 2026 will be all about signal strength.
✔️ Proof over polish
✔️ Embedded over isolated
✔️ Durable over trendy
✔️ Interoperable over siloed
✔️ Evidence over resume
If credentials can’t prove it, connect it, or travel with the learner, they’ll get ignored.
But the good news? These shifts are already happening, and you have a front-row seat.
👉 Explore all 2026 predictions and vote on the ones you believe in most.
One program already ahead of the curve? Asana.
→ Join us January 28 for a spotlight webinar with Asana’s Head of Customer Education, JJ Janikis. We’ll unpack how Asana built a globally scaled, outcome-driven certification program — recognized by Forbes and named the 2025 Certified Impact Awards’ Credentialing Program of the Year — and what other programs can learn from it.
We’ll cover how Asana:
If you’re launching or evolving a credentialing program in 2026, this session offers a practical blueprint. Register here →
Until next time,
Ryan
Senior Director @ Accredible
IBM’s Sonia Malik puts it bluntly: “A credential without skill is a promise. A skill without a credential is a secret.”
In a world shifting to skills-first hiring, her question is worth asking.
📩 Reply to share your take: Are your hiring decisions driven more by the signal of credentials or the substance of skills? What’s the biggest barrier to making that shift?
Counting Credentials 2025 — Credential Engine
The U.S. now has 1.85 million credentials from over 134,000 providers, spanning badges, certs, degrees, and more. This landmark report and its companion piece reveal the scale, urgency, and opportunity of the credential ecosystem — and why digital, structured, and transparent credentials are now essential infrastructure.
Making Sense of Skills-Based Microcredentials — IEEE
How IEEE is helping define what makes a microcredential trustworthy — and why validation and assessment are essential to employer confidence. Jennifer Fong, Melanie Booth, and Khaled Mokhtar explore how standards, stackability, and skills-first design can unlock workforce pathways. Noah Geisel also shared his takeaways here.
What’s next for online and professional education? UPCEA’s latest report offers 25 bold predictions from 14 experts across policy, workforce, and tech. Expect deep dives into AI integration, CPL strategy, credential ROI, and the demographic cliff — with clear signals on how institutions should adapt.
How Asana Built a High-Impact Certification Program That Scales — January 28, 2026
Go behind the scenes with Asana’s award-winning team to learn how they built a globally scaled certification that’s driving 6x higher Academy lead conversion and tens of thousands of completions. In this 45-minute session, you’ll see how outcome-based design, global collaboration, and shareable credentials created one of the most impactful product certifications of 2025.
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.
