Students can get up to 80% of course fees covered under Micro-Credential scheme

Up to 14,000 learners could have their fees subsidised by the Higher Education Authority's new funding

Subsidised courses are available for up to 14,000 learners who want to study in a wide range of areas from agriculture and artificial intelligence to wind energy and workplace wellbeing.

As part of The Year of Skills, the Higher Education Authority (HEA) has launched funding of €9.7 million to subsidise fees for up to 14,000 learners across 654 micro-credential courses. The Micro-Credential Course Learner Fee Subsidy, under the Human Capital Initiative (HCI) Pillar 3, offers a subsidy rate of up to 80 per cent for courses addressing skills in key priority areas, including renewable energy, sustainability, construction and planning, artificial intelligence, cyber security, ICT, and electronic engineering. Other courses will provide a 50 per cent learner subsidy rate.

 

“All of the 654 courses are developed by Higher Education Institutions, including Universities and Technological Universities through the HCI programme where academics work directly with enterprise — so every single course has been developed in response to an identified need in the Irish economy for current and future skills,” explains Sorcha Carthy, Senior Manager in the Skills and Engagement Unit at the Higher Education Authority. “All the courses are very important in that they are skills that are needed now in the economy and in society. They have been identified through collaboration between the academic partners and leaders of the HCI Pillar 3 innovation projects, and their enterprise partners.” 

Sorcha Carthy, Senior Management in the Skills and Engagement Unit.

The courses cover critical areas identified by national strategies and industry, including climate/sustainability and energy, aligning with the priorities outlined as part of Housing for All and the Government’s Climate Action Plan. “They are all very relevant disciplines and skills areas, and are being delivered in ‘micro-credential’ courses — short courses, some of which can be ‘stacked’ into larger awards, because enterprise has seen that people want to upskill in a flexible, fast way. For instance, somebody working in IT may want to expand into cyber security, and can do a short course to build on their existing skills.” 

Micro-credential courses are small, accredited courses designed to meet the demands of learners, enterprise and society. The courses award between 1 and 30 ECTS and provide awards at Levels 6-9 on the National Framework of Qualifications. Traditional degree programs may not always be the right option to equip individuals with the targeted, up-to-date skills required in the modern workplace. “Micro-credentials bridge this gap, offering a flexible and accessible solution to empower individuals to excel in their chosen fields.” All courses are accredited by Higher Education institutions and are offered by universities and higher education providers across Ireland.

Ireland leading the way on micro-credentials 

“Micro-credential is a new terminology, and is quite new in many of the universities in the sector,” explains Ms Carthy, adding that the technological universities have been doing short courses in response to enterprise needs for many years, which could have been the predecessor to micro-credentials. “What is happening now is a huge investment with over 650 subsidised courses — and what makes it new is being so widespread and in so many disciplines, as well as being accessible and flexible. While it is an international movement, with other countries working on it as well, Ireland is leading the way, with our universities collaboratively working to develop a national framework for micro-credentials, seven universities are working on a HCI Pillar 3 project called ‘micro-creds’, with a portal where they advertise all their courses. What is particularly new is that it is becoming much more mainstream and there is a much wider offering of this short accredited learning format.” 

The MicroCreds.ie platform, the first of its kind in Europe for short university-accredited micro-credentials, is a key deliverable of the ambitious 5-year, €12.3 million MicroCreds Project. The platform brings together hundreds of short, flexible and accredited courses into one central place for learners and enterprise. The MicroCreds project is funded under the Higher Education Authority Human Capital Initiative Pillar 3 and is led by the Irish Universities Association (IUA) in partnership with seven of the founding IUA universities.

“While there were always short courses, they might not have been university accredited, which is the difference here. And the new added aspect will be that you can stack some of these pieces of learning into a masters degree.” Individuals can stack programmes across disciplines of interest and value, from AI, Data Analytics and Cybersecurity to Strategic Leadership and Human Resource Management to Communications and Law and Technology. “That is what is really attractive about these short, flexible pieces of learning, that some of them will be stackable within a wide range of areas.” 

Micro-credential courses will be instrumental in attaining national targets in lifelong learning and reaching the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan ambition to have at least 60% of all adults participating in training every year. The national participation in lifelong learning is at 11.8% as of Q4 2022, with eighty percent of these lifelong learners in employment. Providing more flexible short learning opportunities, which micro credentials will deliver, will increase the number of people participating in lifelong learning. Courses are delivered online, providing flexible learning and upskilling opportunities for learners and enterprises. While traditional degree programs are essential, they may not always be the right option to equip individuals with the targeted, up-to-date skills required in the modern workplace — micro-credentials bridge this gap, offering a flexible and accessible solution to empower individuals in excelling in their chosen fields.

“We would expect that the majority of people who would be interested in these courses are already in employment, and they perhaps do not have the time for the sizeable commitment of doing a full degree. In this way they can take these short pieces of learning and decide then if they want to go back and stack it into the larger qualification over time.” 

The Micro-Credential Course Learner Subsidy is being offered to applicants under the HEA Human Capital Initiative Pillar 3. It offers a subsidy rate of 80pc for courses addressing skills in key priority areas, with other courses providing a 50pc learner subsidy rate. “We want to incentivise this new way of learning and create momentum around micro-credentials. All of the 650 courses are subsidised, some at 50% half price, and others at 80% — the latter being in those particular fields where there is highest demand. The budget of €9.7m is going directly to the learner by cutting the fee by 50 and 80 per cent. We want to incentivise people to gain new skills which are in demand in the economy and help them develop their careers, through short flexible learning.” 

Irish Universities Association MicroCreds Project Lead Jools O’Connor said: “MicroCreds courses offer a fantastic opportunity to upskill and engage in lifelong learning. Micro-credentials make education easier and more accessible for people with busy lifestyles and helps them commit to learning in a flexible way that suits their personal and work commitments. We encourage anyone looking to address a skills gap to visit MicroCreds.ie to explore the wide range of micro-credentials from our seven partner universities.” 

Jools O'Connor, MicroCreds Project Lead.

Commenting on the role of universities in providing life-long learning, Director General of IUA, Jim Miley said: “MicroCreds courses are quality assured by leading Irish Universities. The national participation in lifelong learning is at 11.8% as of Q4 2022. 80% of these lifelong learners are in employment. At IUA, we welcome the news of the funding towards these courses. Providing more flexible short learning opportunities like micro-credentials will increase the number of people participating in lifelong learning.” 

To see the full list of 654 courses available at the subsidised rate visit www.hea.ie.