Washington, DC — November 21, 2024 — The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) today announced a new project that will enhance the important role community colleges play in expanding apprenticeships into emerging fields by improving their ability to serve as registered-apprenticeship sponsors. The project was previewed last week at a White House summit dedicated to career pathways. As registered-apprenticeship sponsors, community colleges can effectively provide socioeconomic mobility opportunities for low-income students in high-quality careers such as cybersecurity, information technology, clean energy, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing.
Built on research from New America, and funded by a $2 million grant from Ascendium Education Group, ACCT and New America will work over the next four years with 20 community colleges to strengthen their capacity for sponsoring new apprenticeship programs. For more information about the project, or how to participate, click here, or contact ACCT Center for Policy and Practice Associate Vice President Steve Jurch at sjurch@acct.org.The project is designed to align with national investments to create good-paying jobs that do not require a four-year degree, with a focus on regional hiring needs and formalizing long-term community college partnerships with employers.
The Institute for American Apprenticeships (IAA) will bring experience and expertise to the development of tools and resources, and provide ongoing technical assistance to community colleges throughout the project. IAA has developed and implemented registered-apprenticeship programs to serve nearly 2,000 apprentices in 22 different nontraditional, apprenticeable occupations for more than 30 regional and national employers.
“Community colleges are uniquely positioned to integrate the paid learning of apprenticeship with in-demand skills and credentials, said ACCT President and CEO Jee Hang Lee. “This project's approach will create systemic change within institutions that can be leveraged to directly improve opportunities and outcomes for learners from low-income backgrounds.”
“This project offers an incredible opportunity to support community colleges in developing apprenticeships that provide new pathways to economic mobility for students,” said Iris Palmer, Director of Community Colleges at New America. “By equipping institutions with the tools to manage and scale these programs, we can help colleges make apprenticeships an integral part of their offerings, benefitting students and employers alike.”
The project will provide tools and capacity-building resources that deepen knowledge of the apprenticeship model and guide the design and implementation of internal institutional processes to develop, administer, and scale registered-apprenticeship programs. Some of these include:
- Topic-specific planning guides for institutional process design;
- Instructional video vignettes, templates, example Standards;
- Action plan template for developing institutional standard operating manual; and
- Employer engagement guide focused on partnership development principles and processes within the context of apprenticeship.
For more information about this initiative, contact ACCT Center for Policy and Practice Associate Vice President Steve Jurch at sjurch@acct.org.
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