Over the past decade, there has been a significant increase in community college-sponsored apprenticeship programs, according to Apprenticeships for America (AFA). “The number of community college sponsors with active apprentices has seen a steady increase since 2016. Starting from just 30 sponsors with active apprentices, the number climbed to over 200 by 2023.” This from AFA’s new report – How Community Colleges Can Help Scale U.S. Apprenticeships: Evidence from the Field.
Despite this tremendous growth, the report finds, “Despite the increase in active sponsors over the last decade, the average number of apprentices per sponsor has decreased over time.
“As of 2023, 541 community or technical colleges were identified as registered apprenticeship sponsors. However, only 208 of these colleges have an active apprentice. The overall number of apprentices in these programs (about 15,500) represent only a small fraction (about 3%) of all civilian apprentices.”
The report aims to identify how community colleges can have a significant impact on workforce development by effectively taking a leading role in apprenticeship expansion.
Among the strategies to become an apprenticeship intermediary:
- Community colleges will have higher impact and more relevance when they can begin to customize classroom instruction to the needs of an apprenticeship program.
- Community colleges can extend the sponsorship role to include multi-employer sponsorships in multiple industries and occupations.
- For community colleges with a highly developed student success ethos, they may find themselves with opportunities in advancing apprentice retention and success.
- Traditional community college tuition and financing methods can be made to better support apprenticeship. Be it FTE funding, Pell, and GI Bill tuition assistance, modest adjustments can better connect these funding sources, improve outcomes for students, and – in many cases – reduce costs to the taxpayer.
The report states, “Apprenticeship… offers a way for community colleges to address the skepticism of students that has driven enrollment declines in recent years. It is demonstrably connected to an employment outcome.
“It doesn’t entail incurring student debt. And it offers an alternative pedagogy for students who are looking for an alternative to traditional classroom-only instruction.”
The nonprofit AFA is a coalition of more than 2,000 employers, service providers, colleges, labor organizations, and researchers working to expand apprenticeship access.
Get How Community Colleges Can Help Scale U.S. Apprenticeships: Evidence from the Field details here.
