Non-credit job credential programs are being offered more at community colleges, including Sierra College. And those colleges could benefit from policies that make non-credit learning easier to transfer to other schools, as well as more affordable. Grass Valley campus Executive Dean Stephanie Ortiz says students here can also leverage non-credit learning for college credit…

click to listen to Stephanie Ortiz

A survey finds that 35-percent of community college students are taking non-credit courses that lead to industry certification and credentials. That’s instead of strictly academic courses designed to transfer to a four-year school…

click to listen to Stephanie Ortiz

But Ortiz says currently most other community college districts in California are offering more of those kinds of classes. About three-quarters of students enrolled in such programs are over age 25. And many students in non-credit programs later decide to pursue four-year degrees.