The General Education Foundational Skills Credential recognizes students as they complete the state's 31-credit general education curriculum (GT Pathways). The credential provides the essential skills and competencies students gain through general education as they work toward completing their degree. These skills are highly sought after by employers and were built on employer feedback. They provide a mechanism for students to communicate their skills to potential employers, and include:
- Written communication
- Quantitative literacy
- Problem solving
- Inquiry and analysis
- Critical thinking
Benefits of the Credential
- Provides evidence of a student's completion of general education requirements and achievement of foundational skills
- Helps students communicate the value of the skills and competencies they gained through their general education coursework
- Bridges the general education curriculum and its applicability toward a student's future career
- Serves as a completion milestone for students on their way to earning a two-year or four-year degree
- Provides a starting place for students who are undecided on their major
How to Get the Credential
Students who complete Colorado's state general education curriculum are eligible for the credential, but not every institution awards the credential at this time. To find out if you've already qualified for the credential or what you need to do to earn it, contact your school counselor or advisor.
- Institutions of Higher Education
The Colorado Department of Higher Education's (CDHE) General Education Council and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE) endorsed a framework for Colorado public institutions of higher education to formally recognize students when they have completed all requirements in the state's 31-credit general education curriculum (GT Pathways). The credential aims to highlight the skills and competencies gained through general education and the value of these essential skills to employers. They provide a mechanism for students to communicate their skills to potential employers, and include:
- Written communication
- Quantitative literacy
- Problem solving
- Inquiry and analysis
- Critical thinking
Intended Outcomes of the Credential
- Provide formal documentation and evidence of a student's completion of general education requirements and achievement of foundational skills
- Validate the foundation skills gained through general education courses for employers
- Give students a way to communicate the value of the skills and competencies they gained through their general education coursework
- Support transferability of general education coursework among Colorado's higher education institutions
- Bridge the general education curriculum and its applicability toward a student's future career
- Serve as a completion milestone for students on their way to earning a two- or four-year degree, increasing student confidence and encouraging persistence to graduation
What are some of the potential benefits of implementing the credential?
- Encourage students to complete general education requirements earlier in their academic career
- Provide a starting place and a path for undecided students
- Allow students who have to stop out to receive a credential
- Assist students in obtaining internships and jobs while still enrolled
- Shift students' perceptions of general education to being an achievement rather than an obstacle
- Promote a focus on skills and competencies statewide, rather than on specific institutional courses
- Provide structure for concurrent enrollment students and reduce "random acts of dual enrollment"
How will implementation of the credential look across Colorado's institutions?
- Colorado's General Education Council, in partnership with CDHE, adopted a statewide framework for the credential that is aligned to the GT Pathways requirements.
- Institutions have flexibility in the way the credential is implemented and can customize:
- Name of the credential; however, we encourage using General Education Foundational Skills Credential
- Any additional requirements to obtain the credential, such as institution-specific general education requirements
- How the credential is awarded
- Frequently Asked Questions for Institutions of Higher Education
Q: Why is the Colorado General Education Foundational Skills Credential needed? How is it valuable?
A: The Colorado General Education Foundational Skills Credential signifies to students, family members, and employers that an individual has completed courses designed to develop key foundational competencies and skills in written communication, quantitative literacy, problem solving, inquiry and analysis, and critical thinking. These skills are regularly identified by employers as key to success in the workplace (see The Career-Ready Graduate: What Employers Say About the Difference College Makes). The credential also signals to students that they have achieved a key milestone in the completion of their larger academic goals and affirms the return on the investment they have made in completing the general education curriculum.
Q: Does my institution need to participate?
A: Decisions about which academic credentials to award and when to award them are the prerogative of individual institutions. As such, institutions are strongly encouraged, but not required, to participate.
Q: Can my institution implement a general education completion award that differs from these requirements?
A: The General Education Foundational Skills Credential is designed to be awarded to students who have completed all GT Pathways requirements. Recognizing that some institutions require additional general education courses that go above and beyond GT Pathways, and institutions may require students to meet the institution's full general education requirements before issuing the award. That being said, keeping the credential simple, identifiable, and consistent across all institutions will benefit students across institutions and provide increased credibility to employers and other stakeholders.
Q: If a student transfers after receiving this award, can the receiving institution require additional coursework to meet general education requirements (such as with some institutions' diversity requirements)?
A: Ideally, a student who completes the General Education Foundational Skills Credential at one institution should fulfill all general education requirements statewide and not be required to complete any additional courses post-transfer - similar to students who complete a Degree with Designation (DwD)/Statewide Transfer Articulation Agreement (STAA). However, until such a time that this expectation is codified into Commission on Higher Education policy, institutions may require incoming transfer students to take additional required courses that are outside of the statewide GT Pathways program.
Q: Must the credential be added to the student's academic transcript?
A: Ideally, the credential would appear on the academic transcript similar to other academic credentials including degrees, certificates, minors, and areas of concentration. Transcripting the credential gives it legitimacy and a cachet that is greater than awards and recognitions that are not transcripted. Appearance on the transcript also communicates authenticity and validity to employers and others who might require academic transcripts for hiring or admission. Institutions that decide not to transcript the award (and those that do) might provide students with comparable collateral such as electronic notification or a printed document of recognition.
Q: Must the credential be awarded to students at the time it is completed?
A: The credential has maximum value to students if it awarded when it is earned - that is, at the time when all course requirements have been completed. By doing so, institutions signal progress toward the degree in the short term and provide an opportunity for students to communicate the value of their efforts to employers before completion of a larger degree program. In an ideal scenario, institutions would award the credential as one of several stackable credentials building to an associate or bachelor's degree.
Q: Why should (or why shouldn't) we call this a "certificate"?
A: Each institution defines "certificate" differently, in some cases reserving use of the term for credentials that fall below a certain number of credits. The term "certificate" might be reserved for credentials that are connected to career and technical programs or that are reported to the U.S. Department of Education or to the Student Unit Records Data System (SURDS). Some institutions may prefer to avoid potential policy implications, including being subject to federal Gainful Employment regulations, that could follow the awarding of a "certificate." In responses to these concerns, the proposed name of the award includes the more generic term "credential" (but nothing prevents an individual institution from calling the award an "certificate").
Q: How should my institution administer this credential? Where should it be housed?
A: Recognizing institutional variability, the location and administrative logistics for this credential is up to the discretion of individual institutions.
Q: Is this a financial aid-eligible award?
A: Provided the student has declared an academic program that includes general education requirements, the completion award should be aid-eligible; that being said, each institution defines financial aid eligibility for programs and students depending on their accreditation approvals and Title IV Participation Agreement with the U.S. Department of Education. (Note: High school concurrent enrollment students are not eligible for state or federal financial aid.)
Q: How will we brand and promote the award?
A: CDHE partnered with institutions and a technical assistance company to develop a branding and outreach strategy and has created a toolkit (see link above). DHE staff will also be available to provide assistance.
- General Education Foundational Skills Credential Communications Toolkit
CDHE has created a communications toolkit to amplify messaging for the Gen Ed Foundational Skills Credential campaign. Feel free to utilize this toolkit and share with other professionals.