Finding the Right Path: Online Learners use Non-Degree Credentials to Step Ahead

The tides are shifting in higher education as online students seek out learning opportunities that meet their needs. Affordability and flexibility remain top concerns, as many online learners are working professionals who want an educational experience they can balance with their lives. 

Meeting those needs has prompted a surge of new products – certificates, stackable credentials, and micro-credentials, to name a few – that offer low-cost, high-return options for adding qualifications, such as the acquisition of a new skill or earning a professional certification. These non-degree credentials are also something employers are actively looking for when reviewing candidates. 

The University of Michigan was an early adopter of these learning opportunities, most prevalently in some master’s degree programs, which implemented non-degree credentials as a way to cast a wider net for prospective students while also fulfilling the university’s mission of offering access to a life-changing education.

What Learners (and Employers) Want

While a number of factors are driving these trends, such as rising education costs and upskilling demands for workers, the results reveal a singular new direction for higher education. 

According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, the number of learners seeking and completing certificates reached a new 10-year high for the third consecutive year in 2024. The rates of those attaining non-degree credentials has tripled since 2009, according to data analyzed by the Pew Charitable Trusts, with approximately one-third of adults surveyed having attained a non-degree credential. Meanwhile, enrollment in degree programs is trending downward, with declines in both bachelor’s and associate degrees earned between 2020 and 2025. 

Learners are seeking flexibility, often juggling work and personal responsibilities, as well as affordable experiences, according to the UPCEA 2025 Voice of the Online Learner report. Many are seeking career-boosting opportunities and believe an online education is comparable or better than an in-person program. 

The influence of employers also plays a part. Accredible’s 2025 State of Credentialing report stated 91% of employers actively seek digital credentials when reviewing candidates, and 63% have hired someone based in part on achieving a skills-based credential or professional certification.

With pressure points from employers on the outside and demand from students within, non-degree credentials are emerging as a central component of the next chapter of higher education.

Leaders in Degree Pathways

The University of Michigan has long run ahead of the pack in offering innovative online  pathways for student achievement. It was one of the first institutions to partner with edX on its former MicroMasters program, working with the School of Social Work, School of Information, and Marsal Family School of Education to create opportunities for students to gain skills or professional certification that provided a pathway or credit toward a master’s degree.

A desire for more course customization prompted some programs to transition to Coursera’s MasterTrack program. The Center for Academic Innovation created the first MasterTrack program in collaboration with the College of Engineering, with the School for Environment and Sustainability also launching a program. 

These opportunities, which allowed learners to explore master’s and certificate-level courses without enrolling, opened the door to online learners who may have been on the fence about pursuing a full master’s degree or couldn’t commit to a full-time residential program. In addition to that on-ramp, the offerings also presented an off-ramp for students who weren’t a match for the degree programs, one that didn’t cost them a full semester of tuition fees. It also provided a certificate for completing the courses, an acknowledgement normally not available to students who drop out before earning their degree.

“Credentials are gaining popularity because people have questions about the value of a full degree, or they need proof they’ve learned something new to remain employed, or to make more money, or switch to a profession that’s more interesting to them,” said Sarah Dysart, the center’s chief learning officer. “Being able to engage in a program that has a credential attached to it, something that has rigor behind it, is a signal that you’ve learned something meaningful.”

Proving Ground of Success

As the first social work department to offer a MicroMasters program in 2016, U-M’s School of Social Work got an early glimpse of the potential of a non-degree program. Their strategic plan initially focused on expanding program access, affordability, and workforce development for the students. When they later transitioned to Coursera’s MasterTrack program, which allowed more synchronous cohorting with online learners, the faculty and staff were struck by the quality and capability of the students. 

The breadth of ages and experiences in the online cohort, many of whom were working professionals seeking a program that fit their schedule, was and is one of the strengths of the School of Social Work’s offering. For example, this semester, 65% of online master’s students are over 30, with more than half being the first in their families to attend graduate school. 

The result has been a dynamic classroom with varied perspectives, providing an enriching experience for students and faculty alike.

“We realized we had a lot of really well qualified, competent learners going through this program, and so we started to envision bringing them into our master’s program,” said Barb Hiltz, director of MSW Programs and clinical associate professor. “Could we envision a way that what they do through the certificate could shorten their time to earn a degree?” 

That question found its answer as the school began plans for an online master’s degree. The initial success of the MasterTrack program was a key factor in the creation of the online master’s program, which was in the late planning stages when the COVID-19 pandemic pushed all instruction virtual. This sudden test of effective online teaching helped answer any doubts about having a rigorous, quality online degree program. 

“There was some trepidation from our faculty,” said Hiltz. “Social work is a people profession, it’s an interpersonal profession. And I think of all the terrible that came out of the pandemic, one positive was our faculty realized there are ways to do online education really well.”  

The MasterTrack program became an on-ramp for the online degree, offering a six-course program that, once completed, could qualify prospective students for an accelerated Master of Social Work degree. If admitted, learners entered an accelerated 45-credit pathway (rather than the full-time 60-credit program), saving time as well as money. The six courses cost $2,000, compared to $18,000 for a semester as a Michigan resident, offering learners a savings of over 20% of tuition if they continued on the accelerated pathway.

“One of the reasons for implementing this was it was a way to reduce cost, which is very difficult to do in higher education in any kind of meaningful way,” said Tim Colenback, assistant dean for enrollment management at the School of Social Work. “It’s opened up the opportunity for students who would never be able to relocate to Ann Arbor for school to get a Michigan experience and get a Michigan education.” 

Students surveyed as part of the onboarding for the MasterTrack program said they took it to prepare for graduate school at U-M, to explore the subject area, and to see if the Master of Social Work was a good fit for them. It was, with nearly 70% of those enrolled matriculating into the MSW program. 

The certificate pipeline quickly filled with prospective students. In its first year in 2021, the School of Social Work’s online master’s program enrolled 10 students in the part-time spring cohort, ballooning to 26 in the fall semester. Now the online students account for 27% of total master’s enrollment at the school. 

This fall, the program was rebranded again as the Social Work Essentials Certificate, available on Canvas. The program has demonstrated how a credential pathway can influence a degree program, changing the approach, structure, and recruiting for the online Master of Social Work, and proving the value of offering non-traditional pathways toward a degree.

“It’s really been a great benefit to the students and to the School of Social Work,” Colenback said.

Photo by Anna Anderson, School of Social Work.

References

Accredible (2025). 2025 State of Credentialing Report.

National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (2025). Undergraduate Degree Earners – 2023–24.

Pew Charitable Trusts. (2025, Oct 23). Interest surging in nondegree credentials—but how do students finance them?

UPCEA and Risepoint (2023). Understanding the evolving needs of online learners: A survey of adult learners and online education.