More than a matter of degree: credentialing, certification and community colleges

In recent years, an increasing number of private sector companies in the United States of America (USA) have begun to provide education and training, assessment of competencies, and provision of credentials that are recognised and valued in the labour market. This has led to competition between traditional education providers and these new adult certification centres. As part of the response to the need for dialogue between these parties, the National Council on Occupational Education (NCOE) and the National Council for Continuing Education and Training (NCCET) convened a national invitational colloquium in June 2001. Participants from education, business and government took part in the discussions and this paper reports on their resulting views and recommendations.