Short-term Credential Provider Endorsement
Today’s learners, institutions, and employers need short-term credential providers who are ready for what’s next. We’re bringing our rigor for quality vetting to the credentialing industry to identify those with the credibility and reliability to deliver on that vital promise. This is the Short-term Credential Provider Endorsement.
Overview
What is an Endorsement?
A quality assurance review – based on a set of requirements – to help identify education and training providers whose offerings prepare learners for the skills needed for the workforce.
The Endorsement applies to the Provider, not to individual short-term credentials. Additionally, the Endorsement applies to the Provider to the extent that the Provider offers short-term credentials. It does not extend to other types of educational offerings or business lines offered by the Provider.
Who is a Provider?
A training/education provider who is not a degree-granting institution, that creates, delivers or awards short-term credentials that demonstrate they are aligned with modern workforce needs; they are advancing learning for today’s job market, and through their short-term credentials, they are accelerating career opportunities for learners.
What is the Timeline for Becoming Endorsed?
The process typically takes four to six weeks from the application deadline. All determinations about endorsements are made at the discretion of HLC.
What is the Length of an Endorsement?
HLC’s Endorsement is an ongoing relationship that is valid for 24 months from the date on which it is earned. Short-term credential providers who obtain HLC’s Endorsement will need to go through a renewal process at the end of a 24-month period.
Save the Date
Endorsement Info Webinar
November 18, 11:00 a.m.
Endorsement Q&A Webinar
December 4, 11:00 a.m.
Endorsement Q&A Webinar
January 14, 11:00 a.m.
Endorsement Application Deadline: January 23, 2026
Benefits
Short-term Credential Providers
The Endorsement demonstrates the quality of providers as trustworthy credential partners for addressing workforce learning initiatives and developing learners’ skills to fill workforce needs.
Endorsed Providers have demonstrated that they meet professional standards of quality in a crowded marketplace. The Endorsement may open more opportunities to provide workforce-related short-term credential offerings through contractual relationships with colleges, universities, professional associations, and/or directly to learners.
Students
This Endorsement will help students or learners who are looking for credible providers in the short-term credential landscape to secure a certificate or certification.
The Endorsement provides the learner assurance that the Provider is a quality option that may be recognized by higher education institutions and employers.
The Endorsement demonstrates that the Provider is aligned with the needs of today’s workforce.
Colleges and Universities
Colleges and universities will have a trusted quality assurance agency Endorsement to reference prior to contracting with a short-term credential Provider for curriculum, assessment and related support.
HLC can verify for colleges and universities that a Provider demonstrates organizational behaviors and effective practices to assure relevant and high-quality short-term credentials, learner protections, and sound financial and operational procedures.
Employers
Employers across industries are dealing with rapid transformation on multiple fronts: from technology and AI to remote work and new generations of talent with changing preferences and expectations.
HLC looks at relevant standards vital to meeting the skills needed from the workforce today and in the future.
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