⬇️ Inside this issue:

• Why 2025 is the year skills took the wheel

• Thania breaks down why LER costs are so hard to pin down

• Read, watch, and listen: what’s buzzing in the LER world

INTERESTING READS

📅 Employers are gearing up for full-time and internship hiring this fall.

🧭 Gen Z is craving career advice, but their parents are just as confused.

🎓 Why the short-term Pell expansion could be a game-changer for training access.

🏛️ Digital credentials in government come with big potential—and even bigger complexity.

SKILLS-BASED HIRING

Why 2025 marked a major shift in hiring and how skills shined

By now, you’ve probably seen it on the news, in your boardrooms, or your own hiring data: skills-first isn’t a theory—it’s the new playbook. And in 2025, the shift picked up serious momentum.

This year, more states, employers, and educators aligned behind one clear idea: if someone can do the job, they should get the job. Degrees are no longer the gatekeepers. Credentials are getting more specific. And the systems that power all of it? Smarter than ever.

Let’s break it down.

Public sector sets the pace

In Pennsylvania, 92% of state jobs are now open to candidates without a college degree. That’s 65,000+ roles redefined by what you know—not where you went to school. Delaware followed suit, seeing a 575% surge in applications after cutting degree requirements. They’re not alone: more than 25 states have removed or reduced degree requirements for public roles.

The result? Broader access, better pipelines, and more diverse talent at scale.

Employers are paying attention

In the private sector, skills-based hiring moved from buzzword to budget line. According to the 2025 Micro-Credentials Impact Report, 90% of employers now offer higher starting pay to candidates with micro-credentials. Think 10–15% more.

Not just theory, 87% of employers actually hired at least one micro-credential holder this year. In fact, 96% said these candidates were stronger applicants overall.

Translation: credentials are no longer just résumé padding, they’re strategic signals.

LERs hold the system together

None of this works without infrastructure. Enter Learning and Employment Records (LERs)—the digital glue making credentials portable, stackable, and verifiable. These records allow workers to carry proof of their skills across platforms, employers, and sectors.

Thanks to projects like the T3 Network’s LER Hub and state toolkits from the National Governors Association, adoption is accelerating. It’s not just about having a badge—it’s about making that badge count across the system.

What this means

2025 wasn’t about debating the value of skills. It was about operationalizing them. That looks like:

• Credentials that lead to real job offers

• Systems that talk to each other

• States and employers working from the same playbook

• A shift from checking boxes to proving value

This isn’t a pipe dream. It’s already happening. And for the first time in a long time, we’re building a labor market where potential isn’t predicted by pedigree.

The bottom line: In 2025, skills didn’t just enter the chat—they took the wheel.

KNOWLEDGE

What to read, watch, and listen to this weekend

📚 Read: LER Use Cases

The National Governors Association highlights how states are putting Learning and Employment Records into action—from removing degree requirements to aligning credentials with workforce needs. Real-world examples show how LERs are shaping more transparent and equitable pathways into good jobs.

📺 Watch: Credential Chats

AACRAO’s series of short, digestible conversations with higher ed leaders breaks down digital credentials, interoperability, and the student record innovations shaping the future of mobility.

🎧 Listen: The Power and Promise of Micro Credentials

Johnna Gueorguieva explores how micro-credentials are creating flexible, skills-first learning opportunities—and why they’re becoming essential tools in a fast-changing workforce.

IMPLEMENTATION

Why does no one “really” know the cost of an LER?

When I first landed in the Learning and Employment Record world, I asked a simple question: How much does it cost to launch a digital credentialing system, or an LER project?

The response? The ones you’ve probably encountered too.

An awkward pause. Overly generic buzzwords. Indirect answers.

I discovered it’s not evasiveness—it’s complexity. Here’s why the answer still comes wrapped in “well…” instead of a dollar sign.

1. No industry regulator

Unlike highly regulated fields such as healthcare or aviation, the Learning and Employment Record (LER) ecosystem lacks a central governing body to establish pricing standards or uniform guidelines. The result is a landscape that can feel more like an open frontier, rich with experimentation and innovation, but also fragmented, with no single framework to anchor costs or practices.

2. No one-size-fits-all standard

Standards such as Open Badge 3.0, IEEE Std 1484.2-2024 LER Ecosystem Standard, CASE 1.1, and the VC 2.0 provide essential scaffolding, but they stop short of serving as a mandatory blueprint. Therefore, each Learning and Employment Record (LER) implementation reflects the priorities, infrastructure, and constraints of the organization deploying it. That flexibility fosters innovation and contextual fit, but it also means that pricing structures default to being bespoke, with little predictability across implementations.

3. Size (and scope) matters

Think about building a website: a one-page site costs a lot less than a full-blown portal filled with interactive sections.

LERs are similar. You could be building a single badge system or a full-stack credential ecosystem. And that affects the cost dramatically. As we laid out in our article on cost scenarios—from small pilots to large-scale LER ecosystems, a single badge pilot might cost $15K–$30K, while enterprise-level integrations can reach $1M+.

4. Partnership influences costs

Who you partner with doesn’t just define the billing model, it determines the sustainability and ROI of your credentialing ecosystem. While platforms may opt for per-credential pricing and custom vendors work on a project or time‑and‑materials basis, the real cost influencer is the breadth and alignment of stakeholders engaged. When credentials are co-designed with learners, employers, and issuing bodies, they’re more likely to deliver enhanced employability, sustained relevance, and learner confidence; outcomes that directly reinforce justification for ongoing investment.

Furthermore, sophisticated L&D systems now incorporate analytics for ROI tracking, measuring course completion rates, and skill progression to validate impact. That kind of accountability comes only with partners committed to (and capable of) measurable, data-driven frameworks.

Crucially, business research shows that omitting key stakeholders from the value‑creation process risks undermining both the perceived and the actual worth of an initiative, especially under financial pressures, where stakeholder alignment becomes vital to maintain support and strategic viability.

5. The ecosystem is changing fast

Technology, policy, and adoption models are evolving rapidly, reshaping the economics of LERs. California’s 2024 launch of a statewide “career passport” shows how policy shifts at scale can redefine costs, while the LER SmartReport 2025 highlights how new issuers, verifier tools, and marketplaces are adding both expenses and efficiencies. At the same time, the blockchain identity market nearly doubled to $4.9B in 2025, signaling a move toward wallet-based verification models that trade higher upfront investment for scalable, long-term savings.

6. People keep pricing close to the vest

Organizations don’t usually publish cost breakdowns for their LER builds, whether successful or not. That means what we know is often whispered in conference hallways, not listed in documentation. For example, public RFP’s (proposal requests) like those issued by the state of Wyoming and grant awards from private corporate and philanthropic funders, the range of costs is anywhere from $1.4 to $1.6 million for a larger, state-wide system.

It really shouldn’t be a secret, but that’s up to us to change

Ambiguity makes planning risky. The problem isn’t just pricing—it’s the silence around it. Without clear benchmarks, many projects risk overbuilding, overspending, or stalling out altogether. We need more open conversations, shared learnings, and practical transparency about the actual costs of building and sustaining these efforts.

For more on our investigation into the costs of LER ecosystem development, we’ve worked through some cost scenario examples in a previous edition of Skills Scoop. Platforms like the LER Project Showcase also do a good job of framing the up front and long term costs as these ecosystems emerge, evolve, and grow. But, there’s still a long way to go when it comes to surfacing pricing details.

Until then, when it comes to projects, here’s what I’d tell a friend:

• Scope it. Define whether you’re launching a single badge or a full-stacked infrastructure.

• Partner smart. Match your goals with a vendor or team that understands your scale. (Optionally, get a second opinion to make sure the vendor isn’t doing more marketing than good-faith scoping)

• Budget for flex. Build in room for innovation, iterations, and ecosystem fluctuations.

LER pricing isn’t mysterious because people are gatekeeping—it’s complex because the landscape is still taking shape. But with clear goals, thoughtful partners, and the right-sized scope, you can navigate the noise and build something meaningful.

If you’re willing to share what your LER really cost—or what it didn’t—email us at [email protected]. Every story helps build a smarter, more open ecosystem. 

BY THE NUMBERS

Microcredentials are getting noticed by employers

87% of employers hired a candidate with a micro-credential in the past year (Coursera)

_{Source: Coursera}

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Open roles

• Senior Program Officer – Connect Strategy @ Ascendium Education Group – (Remote)

• President & CEO @ Washington Retail Association – Olympia, WA

• Group Director, Global People Strategy & Innovation @ Walmart – Bentonville, AR

FOR FUN’SIES

💌 Have more feedback? Reply to this email and tell us. We read each one.

🗣️ Want to be featured as a contributor? We’re looking for industry people to write editorials.