States and universities are providing new blueprints for making college-based, paid apprenticeships the backbone of new workforce pipelines.
“Every year, millions of Americans turn down the promise of a degree because they need to work,” Joe Ross, president of Reach University, said at a June Congressional hearing on modernizing the nation’s apprenticeship system. “Many take jobs in the very schools and hospitals where employers can’t fill the higher-paying roles that require postsecondary credentials.”
A recent Strada Education Foundation report found that fewer than half of graduating four-year students had participated in a paid apprenticeship, with first-generation learners and women least likely to be involved. These programs were largely limited to well-resourced and highly selective universities and certain fields of study.
The states, universities supporting paid apprenticeships
Wichita State University in Kansas embeds internships and research opportunities into every degree program. “Applied learning,” as Wichita State calls it, is nearly always paid: Students earned more than $39.2 million across 12,328 jobs at more than 900 organizations in the 2023-24 academic year.
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Sustained collaboration between the university and Wichita’s businesses grew out of years of trust-building, Bobby Gandu, associate vice provost for strategic enrollment initiatives at Wichita State, told University Business.
“The deeper challenge for any community is workforce development,” he says. “As much as I know our students are looking for these opportunities, this also has to benefit the businesses in the long run.”
The public research university has long collaborated with the city’s corporate sector and aircraft industry to place students in paid internships. But in the past two years, Wichita State has expanded opportunities for humanities and education majors.
Thanks to state and philanthropic funding, the university now subsidizes students’ applied learning opportunities in fields that don’t traditionally provide paid work experience.
“Many of our students are first-generation and low-income,” Gandu says. “It’s not even just a matter of getting them that experience, but it’s also about getting them a paycheck and making sure that they can continue to afford the cost of college and basic living expenses.”
Reach University was founded in 2020 to connect underserved learners with apprenticeship opportunities. One of its programs allows education and healthcare professionals to earn their degrees entirely on the job.
The online university now serves over 3,400 students across 10 states and has a 68%
on-time graduation rate and an 84% immediate job-placement rate.
States are also exploring ways to scale apprenticeship opportunities beyond individual campuses. Virginia has created an intermediary network to help community colleges and workforce boards better match students to employers.
Registered apprenticeships have grown by more than 40% over the past two years. State infrastructure will help employers address talent shortages while providing more learners with paid, career-connected pathways, officials said.
What’s holding apprenticeships back?
Stringent accreditation standards, state regulations and a lack of federal guidance have stymied degree-embedded apprenticeships. Witnesses at the U.S. House hearing last month argued that financial aid, employer buy-in and reduced administrative barriers can support uniform growth nationally.
One way K12, community colleges and universities can better cultivate relationships with employers is by aligning curriculum and learner pathways with on-site workforce training programs.
Paid postsecondary education and training is a national priority as learners across industries adapt to a job market shaped by artificial intelligence, John Ladd, senior advisor for apprenticeships at Jobs for the Future, said in his House testimony.
“Apprenticeship pathways should offer no dead ends and multiple on- and off-ramps for learners and workers,” he added.