<p>As part of a long list of changes made possible by the pandemic, executive education was not left untouched. In a world embracing digitization and upskilling at an expeditious rate, there has been a surge of executives applying for MBAs and higher education courses. Similar to the working-from-home phenomenon, online education creates accessibility for people to study from any device. With newer generations having grown up in a digital era, offering digital executive education solutions is more popular than ever.</p>
<p>According to Unicon, in 2019, the <a href="https://www.uniconexed.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">university executive education market</a> was worth almost $2bn. Specialized programs, often tailored to companies, enable executives to <a href="https://www.aacsb.edu/blog/2020/september/implementing-new-standards-in-a-virtual-world" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">develop new knowledge, skills, and attitudes</a> to apply to their organization’s products or services. Business schools have been rising to the challenge of rethinking their course delivery. Partial or fully digital alternatives to courses have been <a href="https://www.aacsb.edu/blog/2020/august/international-students-and-business-education-whither-or-wither" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">rolling out globally</a>. Using available technology to streamline teaching and processes makes embracing executive education’s online delivery all the more worthwhile without compromising course value and quality. </p>
<p>Significant changes in the global economy, developing technologies, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalization" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">globalization</a> – have all contributed to professionals constantly upskilling throughout their careers. The world is adopting a life-long learning mentality to succeed professionally and keep up with the latest developments and trends. Institutions offer certificates and credentials, allowing consumers to focus on specific skills over full degrees. Compare these certificates to the likes of <a href="https://www.spotify.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Spotify</a>, where users can stream individual songs without buying an entire album.</p>
<p>Educational certificates demonstrate an applicant’s commitment to learning and development and acquiring new skills and leadership capabilities. All of these are highly sought after by companies hiring new talent. </p>
<h2>Opportunities For Fraud</h2>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="535" src="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/shutterstock_1649332192-1024x535.jpg" alt="executive education" class="wp-image-10800" title="executive education" srcset="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/shutterstock_1649332192-1024x535.jpg 1024w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/shutterstock_1649332192-300x157.jpg 300w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/shutterstock_1649332192-768x401.jpg 768w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/shutterstock_1649332192.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>
<p>With the rise in distance and online learning, universities, business schools, and higher education institutes have had to rethink their students’ authentication. The increase in fraudulent ‘diploma mills’, a <a href="https://www.trueprofile.io/document-verification" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">6% ratio for global degree forgery</a>, and online education solutions creates space for scammers and fraudsters to thrive. Institutions offering courses online need to consider how they verify their student’s identities and previous education, ensuring that the person completing the educational activities is the same person that registered. Distance education offers many advantages; however, the opportunity for fraud should not be one of them. </p>
<p>Document and ID verification impacts an institution’s academic integrity by mitigating risks such as academic loans and student grant fraud. The unthinkable cost of reputational loss should motivate institutions to have a thorough and quick student verification process in place. Admitting too many unqualified students, or allowing fraudsters to associate with you, could deteriorate top programs’ reputations and devalue the perceived value of such courses. </p>
<p>For companies, hiring verified students who have completed their executive education could be the difference between a<a href="https://businessblog.trueprofile.io/the-perfect-candidate-or-someone-who-is-great-at-interviews/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> perfect candidate or someone who is great at interviews.</a> Verified candidates from higher education courses are incredibly valuable for employers looking to fill a skills gap within their company. Institutions omitting their students’ verification process, students who ultimately represent you by association, should not be an option. Choosing a leading and trusted verification solution with in-house experts to weed out fraud before a student is granted admission to a higher education institution is crucial. Multifactor authentication is the way forward. As well as ID verification, credential verification should be conducted to ensure that the potential students joining your courses are qualified to do so. </p>
<h2>Verifying Executive Education Credentials and Participants</h2>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="535" src="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/shutterstock_1571202994-1024x535.jpg" alt="executive education" class="wp-image-10802" title="executive education" srcset="https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/shutterstock_1571202994-1024x535.jpg 1024w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/shutterstock_1571202994-300x157.jpg 300w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/shutterstock_1571202994-768x401.jpg 768w, https://production-prod-trueprofile-blogassets-origin.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/03/shutterstock_1571202994.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>
<p>Organizations hiring, particularly from overseas, and within high-risk industries, more often than not, require proof of credentials and ID verification. Having executive education students pre-verified with a leading verification solution, such as TrueProfile.io before enrolling in their higher-level courses, avoids fraudulent applicants getting into a company’s recruitment pipeline. Graduates boasting pre-verified credentials enable them to be quickly snapped up by employers and stand out from the crowd when applying for a new role after being credentialed. It speeds up the hiring process for both parties. TrueProfile.io Recruiting has an entire database of pre-verified Members, ready to be hired. </p>
<p>Executive education has continuously evolved to keep up with business and technology developments. Still, the pandemic has accelerated how courses are delivered, which institutions should pay heed to. Companies looking to streamline their hiring process should work with verification solutions that conduct primary source verification, which expedites the onboarding process without compromising the quality of their shortlisted candidates. Sourcing employees from an increased pre-verified talent pool will ensure a skilled workforce and a competitive edge.</p>
<p>Working with over 100,000 issuing authorities, TrueProfile.io has direct access to 10.3 million student records globally, including ‘difficult to verify’ areas. To date, our in-house team of dedicated experts has carried out over 2.5million premium document verifications, exposing more than 130,000 fraudulent applicants. If you’re planning on hiring students with specific credentials and want to find out how to verify their academic background, register your interest, and mitigate risk during the admissions process <a href="https://lp.trueprofile.io/verify-university-applicants/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>. </p>