Great things can come in small packages, and such is the case for microcredentials and fast-track certificates. “Bite-size” educational programs that can feed one’s brains and ambitions while being completed across one to two semesters. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, fast-track credentials are “one of the fastest-growing trends in higher education.” The Chronicle recently ran an insightful article exploring this rising trend, with a special emphasis placed on Rio Salado and our sister colleges in the Maricopa Community Colleges District for embracing and refining micro programs with such gusto.
Rio Salado College President Kate Smith and STEM initiatives faculty chair Rick Vaughn were interviewed by the Chronicle for this piece. Speaking about Rio’s mission to make education more accessible and meet students where they’re at, Smith said:
“At Rio, we’re not competing against other colleges. We’re competing against poverty and the things that keep people out of higher education.”
President Smith would go on to talk about the importance of creating “onramps and offramps that make education seamless” so that working parents and students dealing with financial or other hardships can continue their education while fulfilling their other obligations. Fast-track programs are one of these on-ramps, providing students a chance to quickly upskill and add an accomplishment to their resumes that can help them further their professional ambitions.
Read the Chronicle article here
Article by Austin Brietta