Hello and welcome to Certified Insights from your digital credential friends at Accredible. You’re in good company with 58K+ education and training leaders.
Each month, we share tips and strategies to help you grow your credentialing program. Up next:
🎯 Why measure learner outcomes (and how you can start)
💬 Take the 6-minute State of Credentialing survey — we’ll plant a tree and donate $25 to support education
🔗 WGU’s registrar on microcredential integration, SkillsFWD’s early lessons on LERs, and Coursera’s 2025 Microcredentials Impact Report
“What career impact did this have for learners?”
It’s one of the most important — and often the hardest — questions credentialing leaders face today.
Many teams have strong completion rates and engaged learners. But if we can’t say what happens after the credential — whether it helped learners grow, advance, or achieve their goals — we’re missing the part of the story that matters most.
According to Strada Education Foundation, career advancement is one of the top motivators for enrolling in programs. Yet many providers don’t have a reliable way to measure whether learners actually achieve those outcomes. In fact, early data from our 2025 State of Credentialing survey shows that more than half of issuers still aren’t tracking learner outcomes at all.
That disconnect doesn’t just limit insight — it weakens our ability to improve, secure funding, and build learner trust.
The good news? You don’t need a research team to start measuring what matters. In this issue, I’ll walk through a simple, scalable way to begin and show how teams like Klaviyo, Wharton Executive Education, and City & Guilds are already making outcomes part of their strategy.
What should we be measuring, anyway?
Let’s start with what matters. Measuring learner outcomes doesn’t mean tracking every possible data point — it means identifying what’s most meaningful to your learners and stakeholders.
Here are five simple, high-value outcomes to prioritize:
If you can capture even a few of these consistently, you’re already ahead of the curve.
You don’t need a research team — you need a process
There are many ways to measure learner outcomes — follow-up interviews, LMS or digital credential platform data, continuing education tracking, even employer feedback. But most programs need something simple, repeatable, and scalable.
That’s why we created the Learner Outcomes & Experience Survey, a tool designed to help teams of any size capture key learner insights, 6–12 months after credentialing:
You can customize the Google Doc or send the ready-to-use Google Form through your LMS, email platform, or — if you’re using Accredible — automate it with Email Campaigns.
Julie Accardo, Customer Education Program Manager at Klaviyo and Klaviyo Academy leader, wrote back the same day we launched the guide, saying, "This was a helpful article. Working on setting up the survey campaign today."
It’s a great reminder that even small, timely steps can turn insight into action.
What to do with the data
Once responses start coming in, don’t let them sit idle. Use them to:
Even small sample sizes can uncover patterns that inform smarter decisions — and drive meaningful program improvements.
Real-world impact: Lessons from Snowflake, City & Guilds, and FFA
Three programs — spanning corporate training, national education providers, and nonprofit youth development — offer powerful examples of what measuring outcomes can unlock:
These aren’t just feel-good stats — they’re fuel for growth, stakeholder confidence, and program refinement. And they’re proof that credentialing works when done with intention, and measured over time.
Ready to start?
If you want to know what happens after the credential and use that insight to improve your programs, I’d encourage you to take the first step: Explore the guide and customize the free survey template.
You’ll find instructions, examples, and even automation tips to help you launch it with confidence. Even if you only send it to your last 100 learners, you’ll learn something worth acting on. Don’t wait for perfect conditions — start small, learn fast, and build from there.
You’re not alone. More programs are starting to track outcomes like these to tell a fuller story of learner success. Join them.
Because at the end of the day, issuing a credential is just the start. Proving its value? That’s how we grow.
Until next time,
Ryan
Senior Director @ Accredible
The 2025 State of Credentialing survey is open! It only takes 6 minutes, and your insights will help shape this year’s report on what’s working, what’s evolving, and what’s next for credentialing programs.
🌱 We’ll plant a tree and make a $25 donation to support education for every response
🎁 You’ll be entered to win a $100 Visa gift card
📘 You’ll get early access to the full report
👉 Take the survey and add your voice to this year’s industry snapshot.
Managing Microcredentials: A Registrar’s Guide to Integration and Recognition — The EvoLLLution
Western Governors University’s Gabrielle Martinez shares lessons learned from integrating microcredentials into institutional systems. She offers practical guidance on ensuring credentials remain meaningful, verifiable, and academically sound.
FWD Thinking From the Field — SkillsFWD
Early lessons from SkillsFWD grantees show that marketing and learner excitement — not just technology — are key to driving adoption of Learning and Employment Records. The report also calls for stronger government alignment and shared LER success metrics.
How Micro-Credentials Can Boost Your Starting Salary by Up to 15 Percent — Forbes
Drawing on findings from Coursera’s 2025 Microcredentials Impact Report, this article highlights how short-form learning is driving salary gains, particularly for first-time job seekers. It underscores growing employer demand and the career-launching value of industry-recognized credentials.
Measuring Credential Value & Learner Outcomes — On-demand
Watch this 30-minute group demo and Q&A to learn how to track post-credential outcomes, use survey data to improve programs, and demonstrate impact to stakeholders.
The Badge Summit — July 21-23, 2025
This annual gathering of educators, technologists, and credentialing leaders explores the future of digital badges, microcredentials, and skills-based learning. Join in person at CU Boulder or virtually.
Feeling stuck with clunky certificates, PDFs, or credentialing tools that can’t scale?
Join 2,300+ organizations using Accredible to issue branded digital credentials that validate skills, boost visibility, and drive program growth.
No spreadsheets. No roadblocks. Just results.
Know someone who'd find value in Certified Insights? Forward this email and invite them to subscribe.
Did a friend forward this email to you? Sign up to get this newsletter next month.
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.
