Nationally, Ithaka S+R estimates that over six million students have completed credits at postsecondary institutions that they cannot document due to a past due balance. These overdue balances contribute to a national problem of stranded credits--credits that students have completed but cannot document because they were unable to fulfill their financial obligations to their institution. This brief provides a roadmap for stakeholders interested in the underlying practices that create stranded credits and what can be done to improve them. To begin, the author provides specific definitions of the terms and practices implicated in the creation of stranded credits. While researchers and policy leaders have increased their attention on the problem of stranded credits, this brief lays out in detail how they are created, why they matter, and what can be done to better balance the interests of institutions, students, and a modern economy that relies on postsecondary education for the development of a competitive workforce.