Building Better Programs

Scaling “Stackable Credentials”: Implications for Implementation and Policy

The Center for Postsecondary and Economic Success at the Center on Law and Social Policy (CLASP) released a paper that explores “stackable credentials,” defined by the Department of Labor as a series of credentials that accumulate to build an individual’s qualifications for advancement on a career pathway. The paper discusses some of the barriers to acquiring multiple educational and occupations credentials, pulling from data collected in Kentucky, Oregon, Virginia, and Wisconsin, which are part of CLASP’s Alliance for Quality Career Pathways, a state-driven initiative funded by the Joyce and Irvine Foundations. The paper also outlines the ways in which these states are working to increase credential attainment for their residents.

Scaling “Stackable Credentials”: Implications for Implementation and Policy