The 2025 report from 1EdTech® and Credential Engine more accurately counts the number of available digital badges, tripled since 2022

 

BURLINGTON, Mass., December 11, 2025 — 1EdTech today announced the release of the 2025 Badge Count, offering a comprehensive look at the use of badging in today’s digital credential ecosystem. 

The findings, based on survey responses by digital badge platforms, highlight an expanding marketplace shaped by millions of badges, tens of thousands of issuing organizations, and widespread adoption across education, workforce development, and lifelong learning.

Since the previous badge count in 2022, the count of the number of digital badges offered to learners has more than tripled, increasing from 521,000 to 1,708,774 badges reported by survey respondents. While the number of participating badge platforms increased from 15 to 24 between 2022 and 2025, and global platforms were included for the first time, making direct comparisons challenging, the overall change in the count reflects the accelerating demand for meaningful, skills-focused recognition that supports learner mobility and career advancement.

In addition, the total count of the number of badges issued has more than quadrupled, from 74.7 million in 2022 to 320.4 million in 2025. This underscores the expanding role of digital credentials in documenting learning wherever it happens, inside and outside traditional institutions.

The Badge Count also highlights the range of achievements represented by digital badges. The most common available through responding digital credential platforms were:

  • Demonstration of a skill or competency (offered by 90% of platforms)
  • Earning a short-term microcredential (81%)
  • Completing an activity (76%)
  • Participating in an activity or event (76%)

Badge issuers represented a broad cross-section of the learning and employment ecosystem. The most common types of organizations issuing badges through the platform, according to respondents, were:

  • Community organizations and non-profits (issued through 76% of platforms)
  • Four-year colleges and universities (71%)
  • Two-year community and technical colleges (67%)
  • Industry associations and employers (62% each)

“The remarkable numbers reflected in the 2025 Badge Count show that digital badges are now a powerful catalyst for skills visibility and learner opportunity,” said Curtiss Barnes, 1EdTech CEO. “As adoption accelerates, it’s vital that badges remain meaningful and portable so learners can use them to navigate an increasingly interconnected learning and employment landscape.”

The full 2025 Badge Count report is available at: https://content.1edtech.org/badge-count-2025/

Some of these findings from the U.S. also serve as a key set of data in Credential Engine’s Counting Credentials 2025 report.

Credential Engine will join 1EdTech leaders to discuss the report’s findings and its implications at 1EdTech’s Digital Credentials Summit 2026 in Philadelphia, PA, February 18 - 20, 2026. To view the full agenda and register for the Summit, click here.
 

About 1EdTech

1EdTech® Consortium is a global community committed to building an integrated foundation of open standards that make educational technology work better for everyone. Our mission is to reduce complexity, accelerate innovation, and expand possibilities for learners worldwide. Our members represent K-12, primary, secondary, and postsecondary education, workforce and corporate learning, and technology and service providers. Together, we create and evolve community-developed technical standards and practices that support learner success throughout the lifelong learning continuum. Our organization gives a voice to all stakeholders working to improve education. 1EdTech hosts the Learning Impact Conference, Digital Credentials Summit, Learning Impact Europe Conference, and other engagement opportunities to advance the leadership and ideas that shape the future of learning. Visit our website at 1edtech.org.