Hoping to make sure high school students don’t waste time earning career credentials that won’t help them find jobs, Ohio is slashing the credentials counted towards graduation, axing easy ones that thousands of students earn, but don’t lead anywhere.High schools nationally are increasingly encouraging students, especially those who don’t plan on going to college, to earn certificates and licenses in trades or office skills so they have a chance to earn a living after graduating. Ohio, since 2019, has made earning a credential that’s recognized by employers a key path to earning a diploma.But concerns have grown in recent years over a mismatch nationally between what schools offer and businesses want, with one study estimating that only 18 percent of credentials earned by high school students matter to employers.Criticism has increased in Ohio of schools helping students with poor academic skills use weak credentials that aren’t sought by employers as a “workaround” or “shortcut” to graduate, but give them little chance of making even $30,000 a year.
In response and at the direction of the state legislature, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce this summer cut its list of credentials that qualify students to graduate from 164 to 70.The list notably drops two groups of credentials — one for retail sales and one for government management of emergencies — that several thousand students use each year to graduate despite little demand from employers. In the most extreme case, about 9,000 students earned credentials wanted for just three jobs.
