Digital Credentials for Universities and Higher Education
Digital credentials for universities connect academic authority with portable learning evidence. Issue digital diplomas, certificates, badges and microcredentials, then connect achievements to reviewed skills, Comprehensive Learner Records and workforce intelligence—with institutional governance.
Why Universities Need Digital Credentials
Universities issue thousands of documents every year that are impossible to verify, easy to forge, and useless to employers.
Connect structured credentials, reviewed skills and learner records within the institution's approval and governance processes.
One platform. Every stage of the credential lifecycle.
Design branded degrees, badges, certificates and transcripts — no designer needed.
Issue one or ten thousand. Triggered automatically when students complete programmes.
Any employer verifies instantly — no account, no call to the registrar, no waiting.
Revoke, renew and manage all credential records from one admin dashboard.
Connect with Canvas, Moodle, your SIS and any other system via REST API or webhooks.
See who claimed, shared and verified — and which programmes drive the most engagement.
Digital Diplomas, Certificates, Badges and Microcredentials
Degrees to digital badges — consistently branded, instantly verifiable, built on open standards.
Tamper-proof qualifications with institutional authority
Secure digital records via EduTranscript
Courses, programmes and continuing education
Open Badges 3.0 issuer — assess receiving-system compatibility
Stackable achievements for modular programmes
Leadership, clubs, volunteering and competitions
Professional development beyond the degree
Verified work placements and industry experience
Not all digital credentials are equal — and the difference matters for universities.
Most "digital badge" platforms issue a PNG image with embedded metadata. That's not a Verifiable Credential. Universities need credentials built on W3C VC and CLR standards — the only formats that are cryptographically verifiable, machine-readable, and platform-independent.
- ✕ Verification only works while the issuing platform stays online
- ✕ No cryptographic signature — can be screenshot and faked
- ✕ Not machine-readable by ATS or employer systems
- ✕ Tied to one credential — no full academic record
- ✕ Requires a third-party account to verify anything
Widely sold to universities as "digital credentials." Not fit for institutional use.
- ✓ Signed with the institution's private key — tamper-proof by design
- ✓ Anyone can verify — no account, no platform call needed
- ✓ Works offline — not tied to any server staying alive
- ✓ Open Badges 3.0 uses W3C Verifiable Credentials for structured achievement claims
- ✓ Machine-readable by ATS, HR platforms and employer systems
CertifyMe is 1EdTech certified for Open Badges 3.0 + W3C Verifiable Credentials.
- ✓ Degrees, course credits, badges and co-curricular — one structured document
- ✓ 1EdTech CLR standard — machine-readable, structured, portable
- ✓ Skills mapped to every achievement — employers see what students actually know
- ✓ Accepted across institutions, grad schools and employer systems
- ✓ Powers the SkillStory Skill Passport — the learner carries it for life
CertifyMe's learner wallet is CLR certified by 1EdTech. No other badge platform offers this.
Transcripts that take minutes, not weeks
Students request online. You approve with one click. Employers verify without calling the registrar. EduTranscript is built for institutions that can't afford to be slow.
Batch-issue at graduation scale automatically
Works with your existing student information system
Digital signatures — instantly verifiable by anyone
Data security and compliance built in
Open standards and credential verification
Open Badges 3.0 for universities
Open Badges 3.0 structures an achievement with issuer, recipient, criteria and evidence information. Universities can use it to describe assessed skills and microcredentials, rather than relying on a badge image alone.
Explore Open Badges 3.0 standards. Confirm CertifyMe's issuer role in the 1EdTech certification registry; certification does not guarantee compatibility with every receiving system.
W3C Verifiable Credentials and trust
W3C Verifiable Credentials describe structured, digitally verifiable claims. A compatible verifier checks cryptographic proof, issuer information and applicable status or revocation resources. A QR code locates a record; it does not by itself prove authenticity or independently establish a learner's identity.
Review digital credential verification, including issuer-key management, evidence access and long-term continuity requirements.
Connect credentials, skills and learner records
Skills taxonomy mapping
Interpret assessed achievements using institution-reviewed skill concepts and relationships. Keep programme terminology authoritative while considering recognised frameworks such as ESCO or O*NET.
Explore skills taxonomy mapping for universitiesComprehensive Learner Records
A CLR brings achievements and learning evidence together while preserving issuer provenance. Agree CLR 2.0 exchange requirements, consent and stewardship; the learner record complements the authoritative transcript.
Explore Comprehensive Learner Record infrastructureWorkforce intelligence
Relate reviewed programme skills to occupations and separately sourced labour-market information. Curriculum and careers teams can investigate alignment when the geography, coverage and freshness of the market source are known.
Explore workforce intelligence for universitiesStart with the digital credential infrastructure platform overview, then agree the standards, integrations and governance needed for your institution.
University use cases and implementation priorities
Registrar
Define credential types, academic authority, approval steps and correction or revocation policies for digital diplomas and certificates.
CIO and IT teams
Review SIS and LMS data mapping, API access, issuer keys, status services, deployment and data residency requirements.
Career services
Use reviewed skills and learner records to explain achievements and investigate curriculum–workforce alignment, without presenting illustrative pathways as verified job matches.
Continuing education
Describe assessed short-course achievements, digital badges and stackable microcredentials using consistent criteria and evidence.
Review published customer case studies and digital credential platform comparisons. Validate relevant outcomes, integration scope and security evidence during procurement.
Request a University DemoLMS, SIS and API Integration Planning
Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard, your SIS — CertifyMe connects with the systems you already run. Students get credentials automatically when they complete programmes.
Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard or your student information system
REST API, webhooks & SSO process and generate credentials
Branded, tamper-proof and ready to issue
Claims, shares and adds to their SkillStory Skill Passport
Every credential should carry your name, not ours.
CertifyMe powers the infrastructure. Your institution stays front and centre — on the credential, the verification page and every email sent to a student.
Credentials hosted on your own university domain
Your colours, fonts and logo on every credential
Credential notifications sent from your institution's address
Employers see your institution when they verify — not CertifyMe
Stop counting certificates. Start understanding them.
See which programmes students actually engage with, which credentials get shared to LinkedIn, and where verifications are happening — in one dashboard.
Data that helps you run better programmes
Know which credentials students actually use
See how your institution is represented in the market
Evidence for leadership, funding and strategic planning
Credentials that work for your students long after graduation
CertifyMe handles the institution's side — creating, issuing and verifying credentials at scale. SkillStory handles the student's side — turning those credentials into a portable Skill Passport, Verified CV and career identity they carry for life.
Explore Comprehensive Learner Records →
See how institutions map learning outcomes to skills →
- Degrees & diplomas
- Transcripts
- Certificates & badges
- Co-curricular records
- Skill Passport
- Verified CV
- Portfolio
- Job discovery
From student record to career identity
How CertifyMe and SkillStory work together across the full student lifecycle.
Degree, course, badge, internship — any achievement recognized by the university.
Tamper-proof, Open Badges 3.0 certified — automatically or on demand.
No account needed. No calls to the registrar. The credential speaks for itself.
Credentials, skills, internships and projects come together in a SkillStory profile.
ATS-ready, AI-readable — built from the student's institutional record.
Access never expires. Your institution remains their trusted issuer for life.
What universities actually gain
Less admin overhead. More student value. Better evidence of programme impact.
Automate credential issuance and verification — free your staff for higher-value work.
Tamper-proof, open-standards credentials independently verifiable in seconds.
Students get instant access to achievements they can share anywhere, anytime.
See who claims, shares and verifies — by programme, by cohort, over time.
Export programme performance data for accreditation, funding applications and leadership reporting.
SkillStory turns every credential into a verified portfolio and career-ready profile.
For Career Services
Give your career team verified evidence of what students actually know and have achieved.
- Verified credential profiles students can share in applications
- Academic achievements linked to real-world skills via SkillStory
- Portfolio and verified CV tools built on institutional records
- Employment outcome data tied back to programmes
For Employers Hiring Your Graduates
No phone calls to the registrar. No waiting. Credentials are verified the moment they're shared.
- Instant verification — no account or login required
- Tamper-proof digital signature on every credential
- Skills mapped to academic achievements via SkillStory profiles
- Your institution's authority on every verification page
Built for the standards universities depend on
Legal, privacy and interoperability requirements — covered out of the box.
Open Badges 3.0 + W3C Verifiable Credentials — works across any modern credential ecosystem
Review signing and encryption requirements, current audit evidence, deployment scope and contractual availability commitments.
Assess applicable privacy obligations, record access, consent, retention and the security evidence required by your institution.
Full control over issuance, revocation and your institutional identity — always
Trusted by universities and education organizations worldwide
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Why "digital badge" isn't enough
Universities are often sold basic badge platforms as a digital credential solution. They're not. There are three tiers — and only two of them are fit for higher education.
- ✕ Manual verification — days, not seconds
- ✕ Easy to forge or screenshot and fake
- ✕ No sharing, no analytics
- ✕ Not machine-readable by any system
- ✕ Disconnected from skills
- ✕ Verification depends on the platform staying online
- ✕ No cryptographic signature — can still be faked
- ✕ Not independently verifiable without a third-party account
- ~ Shareable, but no comprehensive learner record
- ✕ Single credential only — no CLR, no full academic record
- ✓ Cryptographically signed — independent verification, no account needed
- ✓ Tamper-proof — impossible to fake or alter
- ✓ Machine-readable — ATS and employer systems parse automatically
- ✓ CLR bundles degrees, transcripts, badges and co-curricular into one record
- ✓ Open Badges 3.0 certified — 1EdTech independently verified
Common questions
What are digital credentials for universities?
Digital credentials are institution-issued records of an achievement, such as a degree, diploma, certificate, badge or microcredential. Structured credential data can preserve the issuer, recipient, criteria and evidence so receiving organisations can interpret and verify the achievement.
How do digital diplomas, certificates and badges differ?
A digital diploma represents a qualification, a certificate records a defined award or completion, and a badge can represent a specific achievement or microcredential. Universities define the academic meaning, assessment criteria and authority of each credential.
What does Open Badges 3.0 certification cover?
The 1EdTech registry lists CertifyMe for Open Badges 3.0 Issuer and CLR 2.0 Issuer and Displayer roles. These are product-role certifications. Receiving-system compatibility and the format and verification requirements of a particular credential still need to be assessed.
How can a university connect credentials to its SIS and LMS?
Define the authoritative system, issuance event, data mapping and approval process first. Then assess available integrations, APIs or webhooks against the institution's systems, access controls and exception-handling requirements.
Does a Comprehensive Learner Record replace the academic transcript?
No. A Comprehensive Learner Record connects achievements, skills and other learning evidence while retaining their sources. It complements the authoritative academic transcript; the institution governs issuance, consent and access.
How should a university assess security and implementation?
Review deployment, data residency, access controls, retention, consent, issuer-key management and status or revocation resources. Request current security evidence and its scope, and agree integration ownership and continuity arrangements before rollout.
Ready to issue credentials your students will actually use?
See how CertifyMe fits into your university's existing systems in a 30-minute demo with an education specialist.
No commitment required. See it in your context, with your systems.