Applicants for the Higher Learning Commission’s (HLC) Short-term Credential Provider Endorsement are expected to create and publish an account in the Credential Registry and provide a link to their page in the Registry in the application for the Endorsement.
The Credential Registry is an open-source, cloud-based data store for detailed information on credentials, providers, and related data, such as skills, courses, pathways, jobs, and more. By adding your data to the Registry, you’ll make information about your organization and the programs you offer transparent and accessible to learners, employers, government agencies, researchers, and other key stakeholders.
Learn more about the Credential Registry.
Entering your organization’s information in Credential Engine to obtain your CTID number is a two-step process. (Step 3 below is optional.) Please note there is a 24-hour approval window for each step.
Create an Account and Add Data to Get Your CTID
Before creating an account, check the Credential Finder to determine if an account exists for your organization. If so, email accounts@credentialengine.org to be added as a user on the account.
To create an account for your organization, follow these steps.
Guidance for completing account information
- What and Why: Select We will be publishing data to the Registry. (Do not select We will be consuming data.)
- Publishing Roles: Select Credential Organization or Organization.
- Publishing Methods: Select Manual Entry and Bulk Upload.
- Basic Information:
- FEIN, DUNS, and OPEID numbers are not required but recommended if available.
- One of Primary Phone or Organization Email Address is required.
- Publishing Estimates:
- For Estimate Type, select one of the defined credential types.
- Publishing estimates are not binding and are viewable by Credential Engine staff only.
Once you submit your account, Credential Engine will review and approve it. Please allow 24 hours for processing. You will receive a confirmation email when the account is approved.
Review Organization Data
After Credential Engine has approved your account, follow these instructions to review information about your organization in the Credential Publisher app.
Applicants to HLC’s Credential Lab Endorsement are expected to enter organization data that meets the Credential Engine benchmark model for organizations.
Approve Organization Data
Once you have reviewed your data, you will need to approve your organization in the Credential Publisher.
- Select “Summary and Downloads” from the navigation bar at the top of the page. From there, select “Approve My Organization” in the My Organization tab.
This will notify Credential Engine to publish your organization’s data to the Credential Registry. Please allow 24 hours for processing. You will receive a confirmation email when the organization is published.
Once your organization has been published to the Credential Registry, your organization’s CTID will be available.
The application for HLC’s Endorsement asks for a list of educational offerings. The HLC’s Endorsement applies to the Provider, not to individual short-term credentials. Additionally, the Endorsement applies to the Provider to the extent that the Provider offers short-term credentials. It does not extend to other types of educational offerings or business lines offered by the Provider.
Submit any credentials that are covered by the scope of the HLC endorsement. Select from a list of credential types, such as certificate, badge, certification, micro-credential, and more.
Credential Engine offers a range of options for publishing data to the Registry. Select the option that works best for you.
- Manual entry: User-friendly interface for publishing small quantities of information.
- Bulk upload: Select data properties, download a CSV template, populate, and upload to publish to the Credential Registry. Recommended for large quantities of data.
- Badge Publisher: Import Open Badge information from badging platforms to publish to the Credential Registry.
Only publish credentials that your organization owns.
To connect a credential to a competency framework, follow these instructions.
Complete HLC’s Endorsement Application
To submit the HLC’s Endorsement application form, applicants will need to include ONE of the following.
Provider’s CTID number
This is the unique identification number of your organization in the Credential Registry.
- Example of a CTID: ce-9bd8c615-9f3c-40e6-9c20-6d9f811844e6
Find your organization’s CTID:
- Account System: In the Account Dashboard under My Organizations.
- Credential Publisher: On the Organization Summary and Downloads page (top menu), My Organization tab.
Provider’s URL in the Credential Registry
In the Credential Finder, search for your organization, and copy/paste the URL of your organization page.
- Example of a Finder URL: https://credentialfinder.org/organization/327/
National_Healthcareer_Association_(NHA)
Contact
For assistance, please contact accounts@credentialengine.org.