As graduation approaches, 2.2 million students across 116 colleges in the California Community Colleges system are looking for pathways that are practical, affordable, and connected to opportunity. According to Sonya Christian, the chancellor of the California Community Colleges, students want to learn and earn at the same time, without taking on excessive debt.
One solution is apprenticeship, which combines paid, on-the-job learning with classroom instruction. This framework allows students to earn a paycheck while building skills, reducing the need for debt and creating real experience and credentials.
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Apprenticeships offer a rare solution that works for students, employers, and communities at the same time. They give employers a direct hand in shaping the talent they need, while strengthening communities’ access to essential workforce services.
Research from California’s community colleges shows that apprentices consistently out-earn their peers and achieve higher success rates in their coursework across nearly all fields of study. They also continue to out-earn their peers two years after completing their programs.
For example, Manuel, a student in one of the manufacturing programs, began his pathway in a classroom and moved into a paid computer-controlled machine operator role at Eibach, Inc.. After completing his first apprenticeship, he is now advancing into a higher-level programming track, earning a salary while he learns and builds his career step-by-step.
Expanding Apprenticeships
Congress has an opportunity to strengthen and expand this proven workforce strategy by investing in apprenticeship programs, providing stronger incentives for employer participation, and aligning workforce and higher education policy to expand earn-and-learn models nationwide.
California is expanding apprenticeships into fields such as nursing, teaching, information technology, advanced manufacturing, and public-sector careers. In health care, this means helping incumbent workers quickly build skills and move into higher-wage roles.
The California Community Colleges work closely with employers, labor organizations, and community-based groups to design programs that meet real workforce needs. Faculty are also engaged in advancing credit for prior learning, creating rigorous processes to recognize the knowledge and competencies developed in these apprenticeship environments.
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Supporting Apprenticeships
Apprenticeships deserve broad-based support and national scale. They are both practical and proven, rooted in work ethic and upward mobility. By investing in apprenticeships, America can build a stronger future and provide opportunity in more places.
According to Sonya Christian, chancellor of the California Community Colleges, apprenticeships are a key part of the solution to providing students with practical, affordable, and connected pathways to opportunity. By supporting apprenticeships, we can strengthen both the economy and the social fabric.
- 2.2 million students are enrolled in the California Community Colleges system
- 116 colleges make up the California Community Colleges system
- Apprenticeships combine paid, on-the-job learning with classroom instruction
The California Community Colleges system is the largest system of higher education in the nation, and it is leading the way in expanding apprenticeships and providing students with practical, affordable, and connected pathways to opportunity.