Accreditors’ New Frontier
Sara Weissman
September 8, 2025
As microcredentials proliferate and attract millions of students, some accreditors are ready to launch quality checks for alternative credential providers.
The microcredential landscape is often called a “wild west” in higher ed circles.
The field is crowded with tens of thousands of program providers, in and outside of academia, online and in person. Short-term programs vary widely, from certificates to badges to boot camps, spanning weeks to months to over a year. And while some programs offer high returns, others yield little to none or insufficiently track outcomes.
Now, two accrediting agencies are stepping into that murky terrain, hoping to bring some order—and branch out into a new market. Both the New England Commission of Higher Education and the Higher Learning Commission, which has been researching short-term programs for eight years, are gearing up to assess whether providers of these programs meet their standards.
