Will a Flood of Credentials Threaten the Four-Year Degree?

2026-02-17

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Colleges and other providers have flooded the market with non-degree credentials in the past decade. But a recent analysis shows that only one in three credentials bring meaningful returns for graduates. Jeff and Michael talk with Matt Sigelman, president of the Burning Glass Institute, who is working to provide data to consumers and policymakers about the ROI of non-degree credentials. Given many of the returns of credentials come to those with traditional degrees already, the future of the degree and credentials are inextricably tied together. This episode...

Chapters

0:00 - Intro

1:21 - Creating a Way to Measure Real-Time Labor Market Data

3:15 - Charting an Explosion of Non-Degree Credentials

7:14 - Helping Consumers Find Which Credentials Have Value

11:36 - What is the ROI of Non-Degree Credentials?

12:51 - How Could the Data on These Credentials Be Improved?

14:20 - The Challenge of Getting Data to Consumers

18:38 - Will Better Data Push Providers to Improve Degree Offerings?

20:52 - How Will Non-Degree Credentials Impact the Four-Year Degree?

24:25 - Sponsor Break

25:38 - Why Creating Measurement Tools Takes So Long