FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 29, 2025
̽»¨Â¥ Contact: Mike Simmons
Associate Executive Director, Business Development & Strategic Partnerships Division
Communications@aacrao.org
Guided by the LER Accelerator’s Principles of LER Adoption, selected projects will pioneer next-generation Learning and Employment Record solutions nationwide.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The LER Accelerator is proud to announce the selection of 25 projects for its inaugural cohort. Representing the range of colleges and universities—including a broad mix of public and private institutions, community colleges, research universities, and state systems—these projects will lead the way in designing innovative Learning and Employment Record (LER) solutions that center universal access, learner agency, and skills-based recognition.
Chosen from a highly competitive pool of applicants, the cohort reflects a strong commitment to addressing systemic challenges and unlocking new opportunities through LER adoption. Each project brings a unique lens—from K-12 through higher education to workforce and employer communities—and collectively represents a broad spectrum of LER use cases, technical maturity, and learner populations.
"LERs hold the potential to reimagine how we recognize and connect learning and work—but only if they are built with learner empowerment, trust, and usability at the core," said Mike Simmons, Associate Executive Director of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at ̽»¨Â¥. “This cohort reflects the breadth and ambition of a national movement to empower every learner and worker with tools to navigate their pathways and tell their own stories.”
The 2025 LER Accelerator Cohort:
Over the next year, participants will engage in a cohort-based planning initiative supported by the LER Accelerator, a coalition of national associations representing stakeholders across postsecondary education. Through structured planning and peer learning, cohort members will explore innovative approaches to recognizing, documenting, and sharing skills and learning through digital records. This work will be grounded in the coalition’s , which emphasize interoperability, learner agency, inclusivity, and skills-based recognition as essential to building a trusted and scalable national LER infrastructure.
a postsecondary policy, strategy, and intermediary firm, is a strategic partner for the LER Accelerator and will provide planning, facilitation, coaching, and implementation support to guide the inaugural cohort.
The LER Accelerator looks forward to working with these 25 trailblazing projects to shape a more accessible and effective credentialing future.
About the LER Accelerator
The LER Accelerator is a coalition aimed at advancing the development and adoption of LERs in postsecondary education. The Accelerator’s efforts aim to modernize how learning achievements and job skills are documented and recognized, helping to create a more transparent, efficient, and equitable system for both learners and employers. Members of the LER Accelerator coalition are working collaboratively to address barriers to LER adoption and advance successful models and examples that accelerate the creation and issuance of quality credentials in postsecondary education. Coalition members include:
To learn more about the LER Accelerator, visit the initiative website and for the latest updates. Explore the at the Learn & Work Ecosystem Library and stay tuned for new tools, case studies, and insights.
̽»¨Â¥
̽»¨Â¥ is a non-profit, voluntary, professional association working to make higher education more responsive to learners. With a membership of more than 15,000 higher education professionals representing approximately 2,300 institutions in
more than 40 countries, the association provides advocacy, research, and policy-based guidance and training to higher education professionals to smooth the path for learners at every stage of their journey.