What are micro credentials and nano-degrees?

Gaining a degree from a prestigious university after several years of study was not so long ago the first and only step to a successful career. Now this traditional option is no longer the only one with the emergence of online learning platforms and micro credentials, which is actually a good thing and gives a lot of new opportunities. So what is micro credentials, and how is it different from nano-degrees?

About micro credentials and nano-degrees

Micro credentials (micro credential programs) are small, short training programs, usually consisting of 3 or 4 specific courses that have a narrow focus. Sometimes micro credentials are called nano-degrees, mini-degrees, digital/web badges, specializations, or micro-certifications. Obtaining a micro-certification is similar to a university or college degree, but in an abbreviated form: the duration of such programs varies from two weeks to one year. To obtain this document, students must attend lectures and complete certain assignments in the form of projects, essays, or tests. Micro courses can be organized both online and in-person. In Russia they can be compared to professional retraining and advanced training in the sense that they involve getting a "crust" which confirms certain knowledge and/or skills. But in order to enter a program of professional retraining or advanced training a previous diploma is required, and for micro credentials a diploma or some specific knowledge is optional and depends on the program itself.

Micro credentials now act as an alternative or supplement to traditional university training. Of course, the university covers a wide range of a given field of study, and there are interdisciplinary topics involved. But you can't say that micro credentials are inferior to traditional undergraduate programs (at least some) because they now greatly increase employability.

Why are micro credentials popular now?

1. The cost of higher education

One of the main reasons that micro credentials are gaining momentum so quickly and are so popular is the cost of undergraduate education. The prices of programs at universities in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand and Europe are generally very high, and students often have to take out a loan. Of course, there are full scholarships and grants, but most students study without them. Countries with free education also exist, but the cost of housing and moving can come out to the cost of the program itself, if not more.

2. "Skill gaps"

Big corporations like Google, Microsoft, IBM, SAP and others offer many micro credentials programs for free. Not only are big corporations interested in micro credentials, but you could say all companies. Why? The explanation is simple - all employers want to see an employee who really understands the position they are applying for. The diploma received at university does not always mean that the graduate knows and remembers all the material in the program 100% perfectly. Think back to your classmates and classmates - you probably see images of the smartest and the laziest now, but didn't everyone get a diploma and/or diploma? This points to the problem of gaps in knowledge and competence.

3. The rapid pace of technology

With the rapid development of technology, more and more new fields and interdisciplinary fields are emerging. For example, the term "Data Science" first gained wide publicity in the early 2000s, and now includes several distinct areas, such as data mining, data clustering and classification, data mining, data warehousing, and many others that are also evolving and changing rapidly. New software or programming languages come out, and the modern specialist needs to catch it all instantly. And courses in these new products cannot be in an undergraduate or graduate program, but they can be found in micro credentials.

4. Pandemic

Pandemic has greatly changed the way we live, including the format of getting an education. Most higher education programs are still delivered in person, and micro credentials programs were widely offered on online platforms even before the pandemic, whose popularity has increased dramatically since the pandemic began. So micro credentials programs have been easy to adapt to the current reality, plus universities around the world have started releasing their own similar programs.

What are the majors?

The most popular field of micro credentials is definitely computer science (Computer Science) and data science, which include programming languages (JavaScript, Swift, Scala, Python, Go, etc.), artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analysis, natural language processing, robotics, and more.

The business field also offers many micro credentials programs. They offer programs in business management, product management, project management, supply chain management, entrepreneurship, marketing, team building, communications, strategic management, doing business in various fields, and there are also mini-MBA and MBA preparation programs.

Micro credentials are not necessarily the newest programs; among them you can find all the traditional humanities, technical, engineering, and so on. Among the interesting and unusual ones you can find programs on digital leadership, solar energy, blockchain, bioinformatics, sign language science, mental health, sports coaching, food science, robotics, sustainability and ecology, basic music technology and more!

Where to find micro credentials?

Micro credentials, as we mentioned earlier, can be called differently and each platform gives them a different name. Like online courses, they can be found on popular MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) platforms:

1. Coursera

This is probably the most famous online course platform from top universities and companies, which was founded in 2012 by Stanford University computer science professors. Here, micro credentials are called specializations, professional certifications and MasterTrack Certificates. The individual courses that make up the specialty and professional certificate programs are free to take here without getting a certificate. Full certificate programs are paid, with a monthly subscription costing only $39. There's also the option of a 7-day free trial or applying for funding in the form of several small essays.

2. edX

An equally popular platform that offers courses from cutting-edge universities and organizations. The platform was created in 2012 by scholars at Harvard and MIT as a nonprofit organization. Micro credentials are found here as Professional Certificates, XSeries and MicroMasters, MicroBachelors. Fees for such programs are paid separately. On edX, in addition to programs from well-known universities, you can find programs from Google, Amazon, IBM, Inter-American Development Bank, Microsoft, Linux, etc.

3. Udacity

Udacity was founded as a nonprofit organization by independent entrepreneurs and academics in 2011. Here micro credentials are called nanodegrees, which gained enormous popularity in 2015. You can find "nano-degree" programs on the platform from major companies like Google, Facebook, AT&T, Salesforce, GitHub and many others, mostly focused on computer science, science and data and related fields. Subscriptions to such programs cost $399 or $279 per month.

4. FutureLearn

Where micro credentials are called "micro credentials" or just "programs" The platform was created by the Open University, a public research university and the largest university in the UK, in 2012. (2012 really was the year of the MOOC!). It also offers programs from top universities around the world and companies like Cisco, Tableau, the Coding Institute, and others. Programs must be paid for separately, and there is a 14-day cancellation and refund option if you don't like the program.

5. Kadenze

Kadenze was created in 2015 as a for-profit organization. You can find micro credentials programs under programs. Like many platforms, you can take the courses that make up the programs here for free, without getting a certificate, a subscription costs $20 per month (some programs may require an additional fee). Kadenze emphasizes courses and programs in the creative industry and art field, so if you dream of a career in fashion, media, music, design or photography, you can start with Kadenze right now!

Benefits of micro credentials

A lot of information! Let's now quickly go through the reasons why you should get this "micro credentials": 

1. Saving time

Time is money! As we mentioned before, the duration of micro credentials is from two weeks to 1 year (1 year is a rare duration), while the bachelor degree in Russia and some countries is 4 years, then another plus two years of master degree, the difference is significant!

2. Saving money

The cost of micro credentials on different platforms mainly varies from 200 to 1000 USD. For comparison, Harvard's professional certificate (micro credential) "Tiny Machine Learning" on the EdX platform costs $537 and Imperial College London's "Master of Machine Learning and Data Science" online master's program on the Coursera platform costs £29,000 (approximately $39,789). Agree, the difference is huge! And it's not about the platform or the university, it's about the program. Someone will say, "So the expensive one also has Data Science!" Right, count on this: the professional certificate from Harvard "Data Science" costs $793, which together with machine learning is $1330 - it's still many times cheaper than a master's program (almost 30 times cheaper, to be exact).

3. Credit (credits) at university

If you are currently a student at an institution, you have the ability to take the micro credit or even individual courses and get credit for that. It all depends on your institution, you need to check with your instructor or program director.

4. A huge plus on your resume

Many employers have already shared that they value a candidate's particular skills and ability for additional learning more. Having micro credentials shows a candidate's curiosity and a high probability that he or she will be a lifelong learner with a "growth mindset."

5. The ability to build your schedule

In university, the schedule is prearranged, and if you miss a lecture or seminar, for example, it will be difficult to catch up with the rest later, and the very "skill gap" is very likely to form. And vice versa, if you feel that some course is going very slowly with long intervals between classes, you will lose your time. With online micro credentials you decide when to take a class, how fast you go through the course, and how much homework you do.

In conclusion...

We showed micro credentials only at their best here. Still, keep in mind that they are online and you might miss real communication with other students, communication with professors might be non-existent or minimal. It is also unlikely to be suitable for those who dream to build a profession as a doctor, dentist, surgeon, for whom a program of study at the university or college is structured to master the profession and can not be replaced by short courses. Although, for medics there are always courses such as English in Medicine, Introduction to Stroke Treatment, Health Administration and others. That way, everyone can find a micro-program for themselves!

Subscribe to our social networks so you don't miss out on posts about current free online courses!