There are bad actors selling shoddy courses to students. So that gap in data is one that accreditors and regulators should seek to close.
Historically, public money wasn’t spent on noncredit programs, so policy makers rarely regulated them. That’s changing since Congress passed workforce Pell grants, which will make federal financial aid available for short-term training programs beginning in July 2026. States are also seeking to boost workforce credentialing programs as an economic development tool. According to HCM Strategists, 32 states — though not Massachusetts — were investing $5.6 billion in public money in short-term credential programs as of November 2024.
As federal and state money begins flowing to noncredit programs, regulators and accreditors need to think seriously about how to ensure that these programs give students their money’s worth. Two new initiatives by accreditors are worth watching and potentially expanding.
The New England Commission of Higher Education later this month plans to vote for the first time to recognize nonprofit institutions offering high-quality noncredit programs. While not the same as accreditation, NECHE is framing the recognition as a quality assurance framework, which certifies that the institution meets certain criteria. The accreditor measures whether programs are designed to respond to employer needs, have qualified faculty, provide student support, and evaluate program outcomes using factors like licensure rates and employment rates.
The first institutions being considered for recognition include the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Per Scholas (a national organization with a Massachusetts presence), four community colleges in Maine and New Hampshire, and Central Connecticut State University. Holyoke Community College and Bunker Hill Community College are expected to seek recognition this spring. Bunker Hill Community College president Pam Eddinger said the college offers noncredit classes in information technology, certifying students to work on a help desk or in cybersecurity, and health care, like training certified nursing assistants. It also offers courses in English language and adult basic education.
NECHE vice president Laura Gambino said colleges want the recognition because it gives them credibility they can use in marketing, grant applications, partnerships with employers, and creating transfer pathways to two- and four-year programs. But Gambino said ultimately, it’s about students. “If I’m a student looking across 10 institutions or programs, how do I know which ones are good or less good or which to avoid, because there are bad actors in this space,” Gambino said. “Recognition is one step to help students in that process.”
A Chicago-based accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission, is taking a slightly different approach, with plans to recognize external providers — those not part of a college — that offer noncredit courses. Higher Learning Commission president Barbara Gellman-Danley said organizations offer a wide range of courses in areas like business management and coding, and it can be hard to know which are legitimate. The accreditor will monitor whether organizations are financially soluble, well-governed, and have measurable outcomes.
Paul Gaston, trustees professor emeritus at Kent State University and an expert on higher education assessment, said there has been a proliferation in credentialing programs, primarily due to advances in technology. But until NECHE and the Higher Learning Commission got involved, no organization was overseeing the industry. “No one has really claimed clear ownership of the noncredit or nondegree credentials,” Gaston said. “The result is a number of students have read the advertising and said that sounds good, and then found for one reason or another that they’re not getting a credential that has value.” One well-known example is Corinthian Colleges, a national network of for-profit colleges and vocational programs that shut down and went bankrupt amid lawsuits by state and federal regulators charging the company with deceptive advertising.
Gaston said getting the accreditors involved is a “promising start” in providing quality assurance. He hopes to see more accreditors follow suit, including specialized accreditors like the American Medical Association or American Bar Association. The American Medical Association, for example, could take on a role in evaluating entry-level programs in health care fields. Potentially, Gaston said, depending on how the rules for workforce Pell are written, accreditors could play a role in determining what organizations are eligible for federal financial aid.
Kermit Kaleba, strategy director for credentials of value for the Lumina Foundation, a higher education-focused foundation, said states could also do more to collect and publish data about noncredit programs and their outcomes — which could spur conversations about how to improve them. “As policy makers have been paying more attention to noncredit programming as a tool for economic and workforce development and showing increased interest in funding for programs, there is a need for more quality assurance to make sure those funds are being used for programs that lead to a reasonable return on investment,” Kaleba said.
Non-credential programs provide an important option for learners seeking to enter or advance in the workplace. Students need a way to know that a program will effectively help them meet their goals.