Microcredentials: What every student needs to know before college

Many students realise that they are in the wrong course only after they have enrolled in a 2 or 3 year programme. This applies to all students at any point of time in their lives, whether they are fresh out of school or a professional looking for extra qualification. Making an informed choice is becoming even more important now as we actually have so many options to suit our abilities and pockets. Microcredentials is a concept that is rapidly becoming very popular in this regard.  

What are Microcredentials? 
Microcredentials are specialised courses to help students develop professional skills and academic knowledge in a short time, while giving a glimpse of what a deeper dive into the subject might be like. Microcredentials may be offered in cooperation with certified universities or as a training programme by leading names from a particular industrial sector. A student in Delhi may do a 3 month course in hospitality management form a University in Australia before going for a full-time post graduate degree. A student form Mumbai may take up a networking and hardware course of a month by Cisco to understand whether it’s really doable. With the online learning boom since the pandemic, a lot of online educational portals are also offering microcredentials in subjects as varied as cooking to coding.  

Types of Microcredentials 
Broadly speaking, there are 2 types of microcredentials: undergraduate and postgraduate. We can also divide them according to time taken, i.e. full-time but of less than 2 months in duration, and courses that can go up to 6 months with only a few hours per week. A third division trending in the market takes the approach of dividing microcredentials according to the type of credential earned: is it by a University or a government body, or is it by a company or recognised non-school educational body?   

Why are Microcredentials trending? 
Microcredentials are more affordable and accessible than normal institutional courses. They do not require prior studies in a particular subject, and entrance to a course does not require a touch test. They are preferred by students and working professionals alike. Companies are also using microcredentials to understand who might make a good employee.