A Statewide Initiative to Award College Credit for Industry Credentials in Ohio

Ohio is among the first states in the country to develop statewide agreements that award college credit at the state’s community colleges and universities for industry credentials. The Industry-Recognized Credential Transfer Agreement Guide (ITAG) initiative builds on a history of statewide articulation initiatives in Ohio. Statewide credit for prior learning agreements aim to ensure a more consistent set of opportunities across different colleges to receive credit for noncredit learning. This reduces the need for students to navigate a confusing web of different policies and provides greater assurance that articulated credit will be universally accepted by the state's institutions.

This report provides an overview of RAND's efforts to support the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) as it began to implement the ITAG initiative. RAND's charge was to provide evidence-based guidance to ODHE in three areas: (1) opportunities to center equity in the ITAG implementation process, (2) an outreach plan, and (3) an impact analysis plan.