GW and two other institutions received a $2.25 million grant from the Lumina Foundation to create a system for employers to determine whether applicants are actually qualified for positions, according to a press release published Thursday.

The GW Insitute of Public Policy, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and Workcred, a non-profit, will collaborate on the project. The new grant builds off of a previous 2013 project at the GW Institute of Public Policy, in which researchers studied how the American National Standards Institute can better coordinate standards and systems to help conform credentials in the U.S. labor market.

Credentials have grown widely in use over the past decade, ranging from college degrees to industry certifications to licenses earned in the workplace. The term has become a buzzword as people are increasingly finding alternative ways to add credibility without taking on the time, cost and effort of pursuing a four-year college degree.

The registry will draw on data from the institutions who issue the credentials, which can include college degrees or industry certifications. The project will also allow employers to submit their competency and credential guidelines. Researchers will also review and analyze résumés, transcripts and portfolios from “competency-based” programs, or programs that award students or employees based on their performance or use of skills rather than traditional assessments, according to the release.

“This growth has intensified already existing confusion among employers, workers, job seekers, and students about the quality and value of credentials – what they mean, what stands behind them, and how they relate,” the release read. “A coherent and transparent credentialing marketplace – one that all users can understand and use effectively – is essential to advancing the interests of the American workforce and economy, and is the vision that motivates this initiative.”