As a growing number of Americans question the value of traditional higher education, they’re searching for other meaningful paths to gain the knowledge and skills that can propel them up the economic ladder. Last year, just 61% of recent high school graduates went straight to college — nearly 8 percentage points lower than just five years earlier. College enrollment rates for young adults between 18 and 24 are lower today than they were a decade ago.
Against that backdrop, the conditions are ripe to expand a time-tested workforce development strategy that today makes up only a tiny fraction of the American labor market: apprenticeship.
It’s increasingly clear that today’s young people are interested in the kind of learning-while-earning opportunities that apprenticeships provide. According to a recent national survey, high school students and adults not enrolled in college believe that on-the-job training — which has served as the heart of apprenticeship for centuries — provides them the best value among a wide range of postsecondary education options. This enthusiasm for learning while earning bears itself out in apprenticeship data. While the overall number is still small, over the past decade, the number of registered apprentices has increased by 85%.
Making the leap from excitement to real scale, and fulfilling the potential of apprenticeships as an engine of economic mobility, however, is easier said than done. But the good news is that the country already has the infrastructure it needs to take apprenticeships to scale — through over 1,000 community colleges all across the U.S.
Strengthening ties, expanding opportunities
For more than a century, community and technical colleges have been a cornerstone of America’s talent development strategy: opening doors for individuals to learn new skills, retrain for emerging fields, power this nation’s existing and emerging industries, and chart pathways to social and economic mobility.
Partnerships between colleges and employers around apprenticeships offer powerful solutions. They provide learners with an affordable education, real-world hands-on experience and clear, unobstructed pathways to high-demand careers. And, when educational outcomes are aligned with industry needs, these partnerships give employers direct and reliable access to emerging talent. It’s a win-win that also helps communities respond more nimbly to changing economic conditions and demands.
As a new report from Apprenticeships for America demonstrates, community colleges and employers have opportunities to collaborate even more closely on apprenticeships. These next-generation partnerships widen the path for skilled and knowledgeable workers across multiple industries. A growing number of community colleges — from less than 50 a decade ago to 200 today — are proving to be effective partners in developing and scaling apprenticeship programs.
Consider Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana, which has built an enormous apprenticeship program, with about 8,000 active apprentices in construction and another 1,500 involved in earn-and-learn programs in manufacturing and healthcare. In Texas, Dallas College has more than 3,000 active apprentices in programs spanning a wide range of industries, including education, business, healthcare and biomedicine. And Northern Virginia Community College, the institution I lead, just received a substantial grant to accelerate apprenticeship programs in fast-growing fields like semiconductors and data centers.
Tackling the funding challenges
As these examples demonstrate, community colleges can bridge the gap between education and employers. But they’ll need the right investments to increase their capacity to support more apprenticeship programs.
Scaling apprenticeship requires sustainable funding models, which have proven elusive to many community colleges. Reliable and ongoing funding streams from state and federal governments are needed to fund college-based apprenticeship training and the comprehensive student support services — including financial aid and academic and career guidance — that can remove barriers to success and completion and help apprentices thrive.
Existing federal funding streams, too, could be better put to use to support apprenticeships at community colleges. Congress should expand the eligibility criteria of Pell Grant and GI Bill funds so more apprentices can use these dollars to cover the costs of classroom training. Institutions also need to be creative and innovative in braiding apprenticeship funding from multiple sources, including federal and state grants, workforce development funds, corporate sponsorships and donor contributions.
A key workforce strategy
Because robust employer engagement remains a significant challenge across the entire apprenticeship landscape, community colleges should consider playing a more prominent role and broadening their impact beyond the classroom. Community colleges can streamline implementation of apprenticeship programs by serving as a group sponsor that manages the process, from recruitment to completion, for multiple employers.
Apprenticeships aren’t just about addressing current labor market shortages. They are part of a long-term strategy to develop American talent and support American industry not just in the traditional building trades but in critical sectors such as healthcare, education, business and technology.
High-quality apprenticeships born from collaborations between community colleges and employers can create real opportunities for those entering the workforce and those changing direction midway through their careers. By combining hands-on experience and education with a paycheck, apprenticeships open up new pathways to economic mobility and community prosperity. And by reimagining this centuries-old model and centering the increasing need for students to learn and earn, higher education and business can realize the full potential of apprenticeships.
