Community Colleges Apprenticeship Programs

Apprenticeship is a proven education and employment model that combines structured on-the-job learning with related technical or classroom instruction to prepare individuals for specific occupations. Apprentices are paid, have access to work-site mentors, and earn progressively higher wages as they advance in their programs. The rising cost of higher education, combined with the increasing skill demands from employers, is generating significant interest in apprenticeship as an educational model that can meet the needs of students and employers alike.

Community colleges are uniquely positioned to help scale up the number of high-quality apprenticeship opportunities and expand apprenticeship into industries like healthcare, information technology, business, and advanced manufacturing, where workers need educational credentials (degrees and certificates) to advance in their careers. Community colleges have a long history of developing and delivering training that is responsive to the needs of regional employers, both large and small, and providing students with affordable pathways to postsecondary credentials of value. Building high-quality apprenticeship programs requires expertise in both areas.

This brief presents an overview of the ways in which community colleges, in partnership with employers and other stakeholders, can support various apprenticeship training models, the tradeoffs to each model, and steps and strategies for building high-quality apprenticeships that culminate in postsecondary credentials and/or degrees.