In traditional higher education, AI degrees are emerging around the country. From 2020 to 2024, the number of institutions offering AI bachelor’s degrees grew from four to 23, and AI master’s degrees grew from 19 to 60, according to the nonprofit Computing Research Association.
The prevalence of non-traditional credentials is more difficult to quantify, as many programs operate outside the reporting structures required of colleges and universities. However, experts agree they are on the rise.
“We’re seeing this massive proliferation of AI credentials on the market,” said Erik Leiden, managing director of workforce strategy at the Burning Glass Institute research firm.
At the same time, due to the lack of centralized data collection and time to witness long-term impacts, it’s hard to know which AI credentials are worthwhile.
“There are probably hundreds, if not thousands of different credentialing bodies that issue different certificates, and no one really knows which of them are valuable,” said Emil Palikot, an assistant professor at Northeastern University and researcher focused on AI and labor markets.
THE BOOM
Experts say the surge in AI credentials is driven by employer demand. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 16.5 percent of entry-level job descriptions include AI skills, like developing effective prompts, analyzing outputs and identifying where AI can be useful.
At the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) AI certificate pathways are being created in response to workforce needs. Edwin Blanton, assistant vice provost, said employers’ views on AI have evolved. Where a few years ago, many wondered whether AI was a fad, now they are focused on policies, intellectual property protections and practical use.
“It more recently became, ‘We’re not necessarily prepared for this, what protocols do we need to put in place for our organization?'” he said. “And then it evolved even further to, ‘How can we best use this to our advantage?’”
UTSA offers AI credential courses in partnership with the online learning platform Coursera. Blanton said the programs attract working professionals, especially in marketing, healthcare and finance.
An AI credential can signal two things employers are looking for, Blanton said: In the immediate term, it shows technical AI skills, and in the long term, it shows a willingness to upskill and continue learning, which Blanton said will be important as technology evolves.
WHAT DIFFERENT PROGRAMS OFFER
Still, different credentials will signal different things to employers.
Andrew Harrison, an associate professor in the college of business at the University of Cincinnati, said the university's graduate certificate focuses on using AI to solve business problems, including through large language models and productivity-focused bots.
Harrison said companies recognize AI’s potential but are still figuring out how to translate it into productivity.
Universities often emphasize broader and more transferrable skills, while industry-offered credentials may focus more narrowly on particular tools or company ecosystems. For example, Google’s AI Professional Certificate trains students on Google’s suite of AI tools.
“If you are working in a work environment that is all-in on Claude, got an enterprise Anthropic subscription, everyone's using Claud code, and you take the Google AI professional certificate, the lessons on using NotebookLM are not going to be helpful for that case,” Leiden said.
Some credentials are also designed to stack into larger educational pathways. For example, at the University of Cincinnati, students can apply certificate credits toward master’s degrees.
“I don’t think the future is degree versus certification,” said Julie Thalman, vice provost of online strategy at the university. “It’s that integrated learning ecosystem where learners build the capabilities over time through degrees, certificates and industry credentials.”
EVALUATING VALUE
Researchers say the value of an AI credential often depends upon who is earning it.
Palikot’s 2024 research paper on non-traditional credentials offered through Coursera found that certificates can be particularly helpful for workers early in their careers or looking to change careers.
“When someone doesn’t have a strong portfolio, or someone doesn’t have relevant education, like traditional education, getting a certificate can really can be quite impactful,” he said.
These kinds of credentials can be appealing because they offer short timelines, lower costs and faster curriculum updates than traditional degree programs. UTSA's Intro to AI course, for example, takes eight hours and costs $49, according to the university’s course listing.
By contrast, workers who already possess strong traditional credentials or work experience may see less benefit from a certificate alone.
Researchers and educators say learners should evaluate AI credentials based on employer recognition, workplace relevance, hands-on learning opportunities and measurable career outcomes.
Certificates from recognized organizations, or that are slightly older, may be better for employer recognition, Palikot said.
“If someone is signing up for a course that has just been created, nobody has ever heard of it,” he said. “You might learn a lot, I’m not negating this, but nobody will know what that means.”
Similarly, Leiden said workers should evaluate whether a credential matches the tasks required in their field. For office workers across industries, AI’s implementation may look similar — assisting with drafting emails and creating presentations. But in the future, those skills may evolve to include managing AI agents and coding tools to offer tailored task support.
“There’s a bunch of different applications depending on what your job is,” he said.
Another factor in choosing the right AI credential program is how quickly it updates its curriculum to keep pace with technological advances. At UTSA, Blanton said coursework initially focused on ChatGPT before expanding to include Gemini, Perplexity and NotebookLM.
Some organizations are also attempting to measure credential outcomes more directly.
The Credential Value Index (CVI) from the Burning Glass Institute tracks outcomes of non-degree credentials, including wage gains and job transitions.
Among AI-related credentials tracked by the CVI, outcomes vary widely. A course from Udemy entitled, “Artificial Intelligence: Reinforcement Learning in Python,” resulted in the highest wage gain according to the CVI — the course itself costs $79.99, and the CVI tracked wage gains of $9,700. On the other hand, several courses issued by trusted companies like Microsoft and IBM led to no wage gain.
According to Leiden, even these quantified results should be taken with a grain of salt, as AI credentials are too new for researchers to fully understand their long-term value.
“Credentials are already a wild, wild west where, especially in spaces that don’t have accreditation, there’s a lot of question marks in terms of what’s going to happen and when,” he said. “So, vigilance is going to be really important for AI credentials.”
