The life cycles of MHEC’s initiatives vary according to the needs of the community and the resources available to address those needs.
Initiatives that have completed work in recent years include:
Midwest Credential Transparency Alliance (MCTA)
MHEC and Credential Engine received a grant from the Ascendium Education Group to work with all 12 Midwest states to help move them along a path toward credential transparency. Credential transparency refers to making public – in formats humans can read and machines can act upon – essential information about credentials, such as competencies, quality, costs, pathways, transfer value and connections to jobs. It is based on the premise that the easier it is to access and use comparable information about credentials, the easier it is for people to find the most cost-effective way to learn the right skills and find the best jobs.
Much of this work was accomplished through a regional community of practice known as The Midwest Credential Transparency Alliance (MCTA). Each MHEC state had a team of representatives from higher education agencies/systems, K-12 agencies, workforce development agencies, and governor’s offices who collaborated to break down data silos and support the creation of a rich, interoperable, linked work and learn data ecosystem. The system allows states to publish their credentials to the Credential Registry, a free, open access tool for students, educators, and employers to search for and learn about all of the credentials offered throughout the Midwest.
Multi-State Collaborative on Military Credit (MCMC)
In October 2014, Lumina Foundation awarded a $900,000 grant to MHEC to assist an interstate partnership of 13 states to advance best practices designed to ease the transition of veterans and their families from military life to college campuses, with special reference to translating competencies acquired through military training and experiences into milestones toward completing a college degree or earning a certificate or license.
The three-year project was built on the efforts of individuals who had collaborated virtually and in person for 2.5 years prior to grant funding, which began on November 1, 2014. Work groups were established to exchange information and share best practices in four areas: articulation of academic credit, licensure and certification, communications and outreach, and data, systems and technology.
In October 2015, MHEC was awarded an additional $200,000 grant from Strada Education Network (formerly USA Funds) for the MCMC initiative. These additional funds supported veterans in increasing postsecondary degree completion, streamlining pathways for licensure and certification for healthcare professions, supporting services during key educational transitions,
and creating networks for supporting communications, technologies, and data collection and analyses.
Through this initiative, MHEC provided webinars, reports, and policy briefs to advance practices designed to ease the transition of military-connected students to postsecondary education.