Include all of your degree credentials (such as D.O. or M.D).
Nearly 50 million adults in the U.S. have some kind of non-degree credential.
Indeed, 41 million adults currently hold some form of non-degree credential, and there is growing acknowledgment that tomorrow's students, dubbed "the new normal" by former U.S.
Here's what we know: The degree is still the coin of the realm in our information economy, but there is unprecedented demand for — and recognition of — non-degree credentials.
And the relevance and number of non-degree credentials is only accelerating, as learners share what they know online and employers work to expand the talent pool and apply sophisticated analytics to find the right match.
It is time to create a more streamlined pathway into and through American higher education, a true system that helps more Americans enter and complete postsecondary degrees, credentials and certificates.
"Earning a post-secondary degree or credential is no longer just a pathway to opportunity for a talented few," the White House Web site states.
And the lack of a higher education degree or credential is particularly debilitating in a recession, said Anthony Carnevale, the director of the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University.
In fact, we are working toward achieving an ambitious national goal for college completion: By 2025, we want 60percentt of Americans to hold a high-quality postsecondary degree or credential.
The foundation acknowledged that "we have not seen dramatic improvements in the number of students who leave high school adequately prepared to enroll in and complete a two- or four-year postsecondary degree or credential".
Current evidence suggests returns are increasing over time and tend to be higher for: females as opposed to males; degree or credential holders as opposed to dropouts; general academic streams compared to technical vocational streams; and professional fields such as engineering, medicine, business, and sciences as opposed to social sciences and humanities and especially fields like fine arts.
