The apprentice: How earn-and-learn pathways are helping US colleges weather a perfect storm, and what you need to know – The Times of India

How apprenticeships are helping higher education weather challenges and create paid learning opportunities. (Getty Images)

Colleges across the US are expanding apprenticeship pathways as they confront mounting pressures over enrolment, affordability and graduate outcomes. Leaders describe a volatile climate marked by demographic shifts, technological disruption and political scrutiny, prompting institutions to rethink how credentials are delivered.Minah Woo, vice president of workforce innovation and strategic partnerships at Howard Community College in Maryland, told Inside Higher Ed that higher education is operating in a “VUCA” environment defined by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. “We are dealing with a lot of things happening all at once,” she said, as reported by Inside Higher Ed, adding that institutions must be agile.Apprenticeships expand beyond the tradesHoward Community College launched its first apprenticeship cohort in HVAC in 2018, planning for five apprentices but enrolling 24, as quoted by Inside Higher Ed. The college now trains more than 200 apprentices across skilled trades and fields including construction management, licensed practical nursing, surgical technology, childcare, IT and accounting. Skilled trades apprentices can earn up to 27 credits towards an associate degree, and all programmes culminate in an industry-recognised credential.Nationally, registered apprenticeship participation more than doubled between 2014 and 2024 to nearly 680,000 active apprentices, according to a 2025 federal data analysis cited by Inside Higher Ed. Annual completers rose by 143 per cent over the same period, from about 46,000 to nearly 112,000.Yet apprentices account for only 0.3 per cent of the US working-age population, compared with 1.7 per cent in the United Kingdom, 1.8 per cent in Australia and Canada, 2.3 per cent in Germany and 3.6 per cent in Switzerland, as reported by Inside Higher Ed.Policy shifts and funding incentivesPresident Donald Trump has announced $145 million for a pay-for-performance incentive programme to expand apprenticeships, a move Ryan Craig described to Inside Higher Ed as a “sea change” in funding. The Labour Department will award up to five cooperative agreements targeting sectors including shipbuilding, AI, semiconductors, nuclear energy, IT, health care, transportation and telecommunications.Apprentices earn wages from day one. Between 2019 and 2022, entering apprentices earned an average $18 per hour, rising to $32 per hour upon completion, equivalent to about $66,000 annually, according to analysis cited by Inside Higher Ed. A Government Accountability Office review found average first-year wages of roughly $80,000 for completers.Programmes are typically debt-free, relying on braided funding from employers, public grants and, in some cases, Pell support.Colleges position apprenticeship as mainstreamInside Higher Ed’s forthcoming 2026 Survey of College and University Presidents found 37 per cent of institutions plan to add or expand apprenticeships within three years. Among community colleges, the figure was 64 per cent.Chris Harrington, director of ApprenticeshipNC, told Inside Higher Ed, “If they’re not an employee, they’re not an apprentice.” Joe Ross of Reach University said, as quoted by Inside Higher Ed, that “the workplace is going to become the college campus”.Advocates emphasise that apprenticeships are jobs leading to nationally recognised credentials, combining structured on-the-job learning with related instruction.