For generations, society’s view of learning was firmly set. After high school, you enrolled in college and spent the next four years working toward a degree. If you were especially ambitious, you would later apply for a graduate degree, perhaps an MBA or an MS in another field.

But that way of thinking about higher education has come to an end. An ever-changing global economy now requires on-demand education. Debt loads often hold students back from pursuing advanced degrees. And life in the fast lane, with demanding jobs and personal lives, often makes it difficult, if not impossible, to put one’s career on hold to return to school.

Enter the idea of stackable credentials, single courses or packages of courses that can be stacked into a graduate degree. Think of it as the academic equivalent of LEGO building sets. Just as these sets are designed to encourage open-ended exploration and problem-solving, stackable courses provide the flexibility for students to learn at their own pace. They cultivate the exploration of new ideas and subjects that lead to problem-solving.

In our latest special report, in partnership with University of Illinois' Gies College of Business, where the stackable portfolio is the most extensive of any business school in the world, we invite you to explore The Stackability Revolution.