Dive Brief:
- LinkedIn’s new “Add to Profile,” button, available broadly today, allows institutions to embed a link on their website or in emails to graduates so they can add educational experience to their profile in one click.
- LinkedIn has already partnered with a dozen colleges and universities globally, recognizing the heightened profile views and networking possibilities that come with filling out the education spot on the LinkedIn profile, according to the company.
- Following initial participation by certification providers, Microsoft certificate holders identifying their experience through LinkedIn have doubled and the same identification by Coursera certificate holders has increased 133 times over, LinkedIn said.
Dive Insight:
LinkedIn’s new offering will make it very easy to highlight traditional post-secondary accomplishments and it will do the same for alternative credentials. As certificate programs become more easily advertised and employers and recruiters start taking notice, higher ed’s continuing education business may take a hit. If MOOCs and other free or low-cost online options start getting demonstrable results from employers on LinkedIn, students may not be as inclined to get a more traditional degree from the local university. These concerns have also been identified in the push to better track alternative credentialing and make certificates more desirable to employers.