Credentialing organizations are increasingly tasked with offering flexible and accessible solutions to meet the growing demand for specialized skills and faster career progression. Microcredentials are emerging as a key solution to meet these demands, allowing professionals to demonstrate specific skills and competencies in a fraction of the time and cost of traditional degrees. Whether viewed as steppingstones toward larger credentials or as specializations in their own right, microcredentials are transforming how professionals and organizations approach skill development.

In 2019, the microcredentialing market was valued at $9.9 billion, and it’s projected to reach $117 billion by 2025. This rapid growth reflects a significant shift in how both learners and employers perceive education. 72% of employers are open to hiring candidates with microcredentials, and 90% of students and recent graduates agree that these qualifications help them stand out in the competitive job market.

What Are Microcredentials and Why Do They Matter to Credentialing Organizations?

While there is not a universal definition for microcredentials, you can think of them as short, competency and learning-based recognitions. Completing a microcredential provides evidence to potential employers that you have mastered the skills necessary to succeed. They typically involve completing a course or series of activities and passing an assessment. Microcredentials focus more on specific, actionable competencies rather than broader educational achievements.

As credentialing professionals, it’s critical to understand the broader implications of microcredentialing programs. These initiatives are not just about offering short courses — they represent a shift in how education and skills are valued in the workforce. Microcredentials allow organizations to respond quickly to industry changes, meet the needs of both learners and employers, and drive long-term engagement with their members.

When developing your microcredentialing strategy, it’s essential to ask: What is the goal of your program? Are you trying to bring in new learners, re-engage existing members or create a lifelong learning pathway? Each of these objectives requires a different approach, and understanding your goal will help shape the program’s design, pricing and go-to-market strategy.

For credentialing bodies and professional associations, microcredentials offer a strategic opportunity to expand their offerings, engage new learners and increase long-term value. But how do you design a microcredential program that drives transformational growth? Here are three key strategies to consider when developing impactful microcredential programs.

1. Top-of-the-Funnel: Attracting New Learners

Microcredentials can serve as a powerful tool for drawing new learners or members into your ecosystem, particularly those at the beginning of their careers. For learners, microcredentials represent a low-cost, low-commitment way to acquire marketable skills quickly. For professional credentialing organizations and professional associations, they provide a way to engage with career explorers or those entering a new field.

One example is the CFA Institute’s Investment Foundations Certificate. This microcredential is designed to give learners a foundational understanding of the finance industry without the need for a full Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. It offers an accessible entry point for those looking to explore finance as a career path.

Credentialing organizations can benefit from this strategy by acquiring new customers and driving career entrants into their customer base. By offering low-stakes assessments and a clear path for career mobility, microcredentials can attract a diverse group of learners who may later pursue more advanced certifications with your organization.

2. Specialization: Upselling and Engaging Current Learners

For organizations looking to keep current credentialed professionals engaged, specialization is the right strategy. Offering microcredentials in niche areas allows you to create specialized learning pathways, enabling your members to stay current on the latest industry skills without committing to a full certification program.

Take the CFA Institute’s Certificate in ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) Investing as an example. This program offers existing members an opportunity to deepen their expertise in specific areas without having to go through an entirely new certification process. The microcredentials are low-commitment and highly marketable, providing professionals with the skills they need to stay relevant.

From an organizational standpoint, this approach allows you to upsell and monetize your existing learners while ensuring they remain engaged with your ecosystem. By providing learners with relevant, in-demand skills, you build long-term loyalty and increase the overall lifetime value of your customers.

3. Stackable Microcredentials: Creating Lifelong Learners

Perhaps the most exciting potential of microcredentials lies in their ability to be stacked — combined into a more comprehensive credential over time. This strategy is particularly useful for learners who want to advance their education but may not have the time or resources to commit to a full certification program right away.

Stackable microcredentials allow learners to build their skills gradually, giving them flexibility in how they pursue their education. For example, the American Medical Technologists and ISACA’s IT Certified Associate (ITCA) programs allow learners to start with smaller, focused credentials and eventually work their way up to a full certification. This approach not only helps learners advance at their own pace but also increases their professional opportunities by offering multiple entry and exit points along their learning journey (Figure 1).

Figure 1: This graphic illustrates how different professionals can stack credentials. Source: American Medical Technologists

From an association’s perspective, stackable microcredentials help convert new customers into lifelong learners. By encouraging learners to start small and build over time, you create a pathway for continuous engagement. This strategy also provides an opportunity to upsell microcredential learners into full certification programs, further boosting your organization’s revenue and engagement.

With the market for microcredentials growing rapidly, now is the time for credentialing bodies to embrace this trend. By adopting these strategies, you can create impactful programs that not only meet the needs of your learners but also drive organizational growth and long-term success.