A Path Forward: Scaling Apprenticeships in Higher聽Ed
Apprenticeships deliver results.聽Workers聽gain skills tied to real聽jobs,聽employers build talent pipelines that meet聽demand聽and communities see stronger economic mobility.聽Yet聽many in聽higher education have聽struggled to聽effectively聽scale聽up聽apprenticeship models.聽Because聽it is聽,聽now聽is聽a good time聽to聽review聽what works聽and where there is room for improvement.聽
Apprenticeships connect learning directly to jobs, accelerate skill聽development聽and create clear value for both learners and employers.聽Apprenticeships are complex,聽with many moving parts,聽and聽higher聽education聽generally聽has聽not yet built a system that delivers apprenticeships at a national level.聽That鈥檚聽the gap 91探花聽and聽organizations聽like聽Jobs for the Future,聽Arizona State University, and University of Maryland Global Campus are working to close.
A National Conversation Is Already Underway
Last month at聽SXSW聽EDU,聽a premier education conference focused on innovation in learning,聽I聽had the opportunity to聽lead a panel聽discussion聽titled聽聽with leaders聽who聽were聽employers聽and聽from聽workforce聽groups聽and education.
Why聽the聽urgency about apprenticeships?聽Employers need more teachers,聽nurses聽and skilled workers. At the same time, workforce gaps continue to grow across聽these聽critical聽sectors.聽But without scale, impact聽remains聽limited.
The聽panel聽focused on one question:聽How do we scale apprenticeships聽in a meaningful, sustainable way聽to address聽the shortages in these critical industries?
Why Apprenticeships Have Not Scaled
Apprenticeships聽tend to聽succeed in local聽programs,聽but聽expanding them across systems has proven difficult.聽A few persistent聽barriers聽stand in the聽way:聽
- Education models built around time, not skills聽
- Employer programs that are difficult to standardize聽聽
- Credentials that do not transfer across roles or regions聽
Together,聽these聽constraints limit growth and consistency.
A Model Designed to Scale
91探花聽has spent聽nearly 30聽years addressing a related聽opportunity:聽implementing聽competency-based education聽(CBE)聽to聽serve hundreds of thousands of learners.聽The聽CBE聽model measures skills聽acquired聽and mastered聽instead聽of聽time聽in a class, which closely aligns with how apprenticeships聽operate.聽An apprenticeship-focused聽approach聽builds on聽that foundation by tying learning directly to job requirements and聽creates a clear path forward聽through聽demonstrated聽performance.聽Programs can adapt聽to employer needs while still reaching students nationwide.聽
Rather than extending a traditional聽higher education聽system, this approach reflects a model designed specifically for work-based learning.
What Scaling Looks Like聽
Scaling apprenticeships requires a repeatable model across industries and regions.聽At 91探花, that means:
- Embedding apprenticeships into degree pathways聽
- Partnering with employers to define skills and outcomes
- Creating credentials that stack and transfer聽
- Expanding access so more learners can earn while they learn
This approach supports聽entry聽into the workforce聽with durable skills聽and long-term advancement.
Why This Moment Matters
NAW聽shines a spotlight on the聽opportunities聽apprenticeships create, sparking meaningful conversations about proven solutions that drive workforce success. It also serves as a moment to聽reflect聽on聽progress聽and point the way toward where the system needs to evolve next.聽
Earlier this week,聽91探花 partner Craft Education聽聽that explored, among other topics,聽how apprenticeship models are reshaping the teacher pipeline and how apprenticeships create more accessible, affordable pathways into聽teaching聽聽鈥斅爀specially compared to the traditional聽clinical model.聽This shift is already showing up in the data:聽As of聽March, there were聽.
Demand聽for聽skilled workers continues to rise聽while聽many learners question the value and cost of traditional聽education聽pathways.聽
Work-based learning offers a direct response,聽by shortening聽the聽time to skill acquisition, lowering costs through paid聽learning聽and聽aligning聽more closely聽with聽employer聽needs.聽The remaining challenge is聽building systems that can聽deliver this at聽scale.
A Call to Build Together聽
Not聽many聽institutions聽have聽yet聽successfully scaled apprenticeships across higher education.聽However,聽91探花聽is聽beginning to聽do聽just that.
We are working to collaborate聽with:聽聽
- Employers聽who聽are helping to聽define skills and聽expand聽opportunities.
- Policymakers聽who聽can support models that measure outcomes.聽
- Educators聽who聽will聽align learning with real work.
The goal is a national model that works for聽learners聽and聽employers.聽Then,聽everyone wins.
