Degrees Are No Longer the Endpoint of Higher Education

For a long time, higher education was built around a familiar logic: learning leads to graduation, and the degree marks the endpoint of the academic journey. This approach was once appropriate when learners primarily studied, worked, and developed within a single country or a relatively stable education system. However, as education and labour markets become increasingly global, the role of the degree is gradually changing.

Today, the degree is no longer merely an endpoint, but has become an intermediate outcome within a lifelong process of learning and competency development.

When degrees are no longer sufficient to describe learning value

A degree provides one important piece of information: that a learner has completed a programme at a certain level. However, in many contexts, this information is insufficient. Employers, receiving institutions, or recognition bodies often need clearer insight into:
– what specific competencies the learner possesses,
– the level to which those competencies have been achieved,
– and how they have been assessed and verified.

When the degree becomes the sole stopping point, learning value risks being “fixed,” while a learner’s actual competencies may continue to develop or need to be recognised in new contexts.

Higher education in the context of lifelong learning

Modern higher education is increasingly associated with the concept of lifelong learning. Learners may return to study at multiple stages of their careers, acquire new competencies, or transition into different fields. In this context, viewing the degree as a fixed endpoint is no longer appropriate.

Instead, a degree should be understood as a recognition milestone, reflecting a learner’s competency status at a particular point in time. The real value lies in the ability to continue assessing, updating, and recognising competencies as learners progress into subsequent stages.

Degrees as outcomes of a continuous assessment process

Within the digital higher education model, the focus shifts from “graduation” to “continuous assessment.” Learning processes are monitored, assessed, and verified across stages and specific learning outcomes. A degree, if awarded, is a consolidated outcome of these assessments, rather than the system’s sole objective.

This approach helps to:
– clarify the academic value of each learning stage,
– avoid concentrating all meaning on the graduation event,
– and enable flexible recognition in the future.

How SwissEdu⁺ approaches the role of degrees

Within the digital higher education model, SwissEdu⁺ approaches the degree as the outcome of a learning value chain, rather than as a final destination. The system focuses on organising education, assessing and verifying learning competencies, and generating outcomes that can be benchmarked and used across multiple contexts.

Partner universities, based on these structured and verified learning outcomes, consider recognition and degree awarding within their respective authorities. In this context, the degree reflects a validated competency state, while remaining open to further learning and recognition.

Implications for learners and education systems

When degrees are no longer viewed as endpoints, learners benefit from a more flexible system. They can:
– use learning outcomes for multiple purposes,
– continue learning and gain recognition at later stages,
– and avoid having to “start over” when transitioning between systems.

For education systems, this approach enhances transparency, reduces reliance on formal credentials alone, and strengthens connectivity across different academic systems.

Conclusion

The changing role of the degree reflects a broader transformation in modern higher education. Degrees are no longer fixed endpoints, but outcomes of a structured competency assessment process that can continue to evolve.

In the context of digital higher education, SwissEdu⁺ approaches degrees as part of an academic recognition ecosystem, where learning value is built, verified, and applied flexibly. This approach enables higher education to better respond to lifelong learning needs and cross-border recognition requirements.