With more than a million credentials available in the US, there is limited guidance on which ones offer the greatest return on investment for workers and employers. The Credential Value Index (CVI) is the Burning Glass Institute's attempt to bring data-driven clarity to this complex landscape. The Burning Glass Institute, along with help from GitLab and Jobs for the Future, began work in 2023 to develop a comprehensive analysis of real workers’ outcomes before and after they attain non-degree credentials. The CVI leverages this analysis to empower workers with clarity on non-degree credentials outcomes, helping them achieve their career goals.
The Credential Value Index can be integrated into the workforce and education ecosystem to support a range of use cases:
Local Workforce & Economic Development
Enable state and local policymakers to align credential investments with outcomes and with the needs of key sectors by integrating into eligible training provider lists.
Career Navigation & Job Search
Build integrations into job boards to provide applicants with data-driven insights into the credentials that will help them reach their goals.
Skills-Based Practice
Support employers in leveraging credentials to drive talent management and promotion.
Hiring
Integrate into the match engines of employers’ applicant tracking systems to surface candidates whose credentials most effectively qualify them for a role.
CTE
Develop a tool to help K-12 administrators evaluate which Career and Technical Education programs to fund.
Higher Education
Work with state systems to enable new outcomes-based funding models; support community colleges in launching high-impact NDC programs; support colleges and universities in adopting “degree-plus” models.
CVI Activation Partners
We collaborate with employers, providers, researchers, intermediaries, policymakers, and investors to build quality standards, increase capacity, and drive innovation in the non-degree credential space—bringing greater transparency to post-credential outcomes nationwide. Special thanks to Jobs for the Future for their partnership in advancing this work.
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A data laboratory advancing mobility, opportunity, and prosperity at the intersection of the future of work and learning. Explore more about how the Burning Glass Institute is shaping the future of work here.
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