The Hawai’i Community Colleges Non-Credit and Credit Alignment Lab

Program Description:  

In 2021, the Association of Community College Trustees (AACT) and Education Strategy Group (ESG) partnered to create the Non-Credit and Credit Alignment Lab. The two-year initiative shepherded 14 community college governance units through the process of developing pathways between non-credit and credit programs. The goal of the Lab is to make non-credit programs credit-based, allowing students to seamlessly transition between programs and incentivize additional learning and training opportunities.  

The Lab encourages community college leaders to make non-credit programs credit-based with three steps:  

1. Create “bridge tools” (credit matrices, articulation agreements, and equivalency agreements) 

2. Grant credit for prior learning and automate credit designations  

3. Track industry-recognized credentials and map them to courses and learning pathways 

Impact:  

Following the Covid-19 global pandemic, the Lab was born to create “A More Unified Community College,” leading to more resilient and responsive systems. The Lab helps learners actualize their own economic mobility while eliminating siloes that further perpetuate the divide between non-credit and credit-bearing learning experiences.  

At the University of Hawai’i Community Colleges (UHCC), the Lab has helped bring focus to supporting students in earning industry recognized certifications for in-demand jobs. One example is Maui College’s new CNA to LPN year-long program which is increasing healthcare capacity across the state. The program is specifically designed for working CNAs, providing flexible scheduling options and hybrid courses. Another example is Leeward Community College’s creation of an articulation agreement between the Office of Continuing Education and Workforce Development and the Integrated Industrial Technology program which allows students to receive credit for Network Management System training. Across the system, UHCC has developed or updated 17 articulation agreements meant to jumpstart learners’ journeys into healthcare, IT, and other skilled trades.  

Population Served:  

The Lab’s work primarily benefits learners in non-credit programs, which would typically leave them without direct pathways to go back to school, earn a degree, or enroll in additional learning opportunities.  

In addition to serving UHCC, the Non-Credit and Credit Alignment Lab also supported 13 other community college systems, including the CUNY Community Colleges Consortium in New York and North Shore Community College in Massachusetts.  

Learn more here. 

Page last updated in August 2026