Giving Compass' Take:

• AEI explores how community colleges are trying to integrate more apprenticeships into their offerings to better prepare students for a rapidly-changing workforce.

• For those who work in the higher education sector, it's worth looking at the upside of apprenticeship programs that are closely aligned with community colleges, but also the challenges they face, including buy-in from employers.

• Are apprenticeships to new on-ramp to quality jobs? There's ample evidence that the answer is "yes."

Most of today’s college students view having suc­cess in the workplace, earning a decent salary, and having a fulfilling career as key reasons for pursu­ing higher education. This sentiment is echoed by gov­ernors, state legislators, and higher education leaders who are looking at the labor market success of gradu­ates to evaluate how well postsecondary institutions are preparing students to join the workforce and contrib­ute to the economy. However, there is a growing belief that colleges are not adequately preparing students for the jobs and careers needed in the 21st century and that a substantial gap exists between the training and education America’s college graduates receive and the skills today’s labor market demands.

Of the many options being actively discussed to bridge the divide, apprenticeship programs are attract­ing widespread bipartisan support. Apprenticeships are often considered the “gold standard” of workforce edu­cation. They are formal training programs during which successful applicants are paid while being trained on the job by experienced workers or mentors. Acquiring new skills in the workplace is accompanied by related train­ing, typically provided by an educational institution such as a community college or a trade organization such as a union. In the past two years of his adminis­tration, President Barack Obama made apprenticeships a priority, directing well over $250 million to support apprenticeship programs. In 2017, President Trump signed an executive order to increase federal funding from $90 million per year to $200 million.

Read the full article about alignment between apprenticeships and community colleges by Jorge Klor de Alva and Mark Schneider at aei.org.