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Learning Mobility

A learner-centered innovation, where systems, processes, programs, and initiatives must be designed around the needs and best interests of the learner of today and the future at every stage of their journey.

AACRAO is leading this national, systemic innovation

Our Focus

Facilitating seamless evaluation and documentation of learning.

Our Goal

Empower higher education professionals to lead institutional transformative change for the benefit of learners.

Our Why

Our unwavering belief in the power of higher education to be the great equalizer and driver against systemic barriers to economic and social mobility.

Learning Mobility Principles

  • Learner-Centered

    Learning Mobility prioritizes the needs and interests of today's and tomorrow's learners. Systems, processes, programs, and initiative should enhance the learner's experience at every stage of their educational journey and empower them to shape their education for their unique goals. This ensures that educational opportunities are accessible, equitable, and tailored to individual learners.

  • Equitable Outcomes

    AACRAO is working both nationally and internationally to increase Equitable Outcomes. This means that all systems, processes, programs, and initiatives must enable educational, social, and economic mobility for people with varying abilities, preparation, and skills. This supports pathways to better employment opportunities and to further education and training.

  • Interoperability & Open Standards

    We believe that all technology must use open standards and common ontologies/frameworks to enable data to be machine-readable, exchangeable, and actionable across technology systems and, when appropriate, on the Web. It must support combinations of data from multiple sources, enable human interoperability, and be understood by people in different occupations and industries from diverse backgrounds.

  • The Value of Higher Education

    When we do this well, we strengthen the value of Higher Education. In a knowledge-based economy where being highly skilled and experienced is valuable currency for success and economic growth, education serves as an accelerant to credential attainment. Documenting and communicating that attainment is an imperative and AACRAO members are critical to this work.

All of our projects are rooted in the learning mobility principles and address the following barriers to smoothing the learner's journey.

  • Common Language

  • Credit Mobility

  • Technology

  • Evolution of the Record

AACRAO is the legitimate, longstanding source of information and advice on how to create and maintain trusted information systems and student records. The same policies and practices that have served well for over a century can be applied and modernized for the evolved learner information and data that digital credentials will deliver. We need to create a broad consensus on foundation principles and then build resources that empower institutions, vendors, and organizations to work in a shared understanding.

  • Accreditation & Transfer
    AACRAO has been a leader in the drive to inspire higher education to re-envision institutional policy and practice in ways that create equity and support the success of all learners to achieve recognition of their learning and achievements toward quality credentials. While credit mobility and transfer of academic credit are only one component of learning mobility, AACRAO must continue to support our members as they grapple with this important challenge.
  • Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
    AACRAO is recognized as a lead resource by the US Departments of Education and Labor in APEC's efforts related to recognition, learning mobility, and microcredentials. Through its involvement in APEC, AACRAO gains insights into global initiatives and contributes to shaping policies and practices that facilitate international learning mobility.
  • Advisory Board of the AI Transfer and Articulation Infrastructure Network (ATAIN)
    This is a groundbreaking national initiative designed to revolutionize credit mobility and college transfer success for learners across the country led by Sova, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities (APLU), and Dr. Zach Pardos.

    Get Involved: submit your application before the January 24, 2025, deadline to take part in this project and gain free access to the technology for the first year.

  • Connecting credit and non-credit systems
    Connecting credit and non-credit systems is difficult. Creating collaborations with vendor coalitions and partner organizations like UPCEA is essential to ensure that the valuable continuing professional education (which constitutes a majority of skills-centered credentialing at institutions) is legitimized and incorporated into high-value credentials. The challenge of translating the academic language of learning outcomes into learner/employment-facing skills language will require significant effort.
  • Groningen Declaration Network (GDN)
    The Groningen Declaration Network (GDN) brings together key stakeholders in the digital student data ecosystem to make real the concept of global digital student data portability. Network participants envision learners worldwide should be able to digitally consult and share their authentic educational data with whomever they want, whenever they want, wherever they are.
  • Global Recognition As an official observer to the GCR process since 2019, AACRAO plays a pivotal role in promoting global recognition of qualifications in higher education. Despite the US not ratifying the GCR, AACRAO integrates its principles into its work to support global alignment, fostering collaboration and socialization of GCR concepts.
  • LEARN Commission The LEARN Commission will recommend national guidelines to practitioners for recognizing undergraduate learning in all its forms and applying learning to credentials, with the intent of advancing learning mobility.
  • Prior learning assessment (PLA) and competency-based education (CBE)
    PLA and CBE remain as significant academic, administrative, and procedural challenges for institutions. However, they hold the promise of creating entry points for millions of learners who have, through military, job, or other training, significant skills that should be acknowledged and incorporated into meaningful learner records.

AACRAO's goal is to ensure that best practices are identified and that students' data privacy and security are protected. A lack of understanding surrounding data exchange and related technologies creates both a technical and psychological barrier towards the realization of an inclusive data exchange ecosystem in the US.

  • Accelerate
    The Accelerator initiative seeks to promote the adoption of Learning and Employment Records (LERs) in post-secondary education (PSE) by addressing various challenges hindering their implementation.
  • Infuse
    The Infuse project aims to leverage conversion technology to create a sudden influx of robust LERs to facilitate meaningful skills-centered pathways for adult learners.
  • Interstate Interoperability and Credential Collaboration
    Collaborations aim to develop pilot models to enable digital record distribution and exchange over state lines.
  • Digital Credentials
    AACRAO will support higher education contributions of robust learning to the overall CLR/LER work by putting forth recommendations of academic record practices that protect the integrity and validity of these expressions of learner achievement, supporting the principles of interoperability and student-centered records, and continuing to seek collaboration and innovation partners.
  • Groningen Declaration Network (GDN)
    AACRAO is a founding member of the GDN, a global network dedicated to creating an equitable digital learner data ecosystem. Through active participation in GDN, AACRAO ensures that US practices align with global principles of interoperability and innovation in digital learning mobility.
  • Digital Wallets
  • Workforce Alignment