Stackable credential

The catalog or articulation agreement specifies how the courses or competencies in the smaller credential satisfy requirements in the larger one. The student completes the first credential and it is posted. When the student enrolls in the next program, the degree audit applies the earlier credits automatically or after a brief review. Additional requirements are then completed for the higher award.

Example: a 12-credit online healthcare certificate stacks fully into a 30-credit applied associate degree, which in turn stacks into a bachelor’s completion program. The student earns the certificate after one term, the associate after one year, and later returns to finish the bachelor’s using all previously earned credits.

Ordinary transfer credit depends on a new evaluation each time. A stackable credential has pre-defined, guaranteed applicability within the same institution or system. A double major or minor is concurrent rather than sequential stacking.

Assuming any certificate will stack into any degree. Losing stacking benefits by allowing a long stop-out that expires catalog rights. Expecting stacking across unrelated institutions without an articulation agreement.