These College Classes Are Going to Work

To quickly build a skilled workforce, two Kansas community colleges and Panasonic created an accelerated 8-week apprenticeship, funded by the company and featuring tailored classroom and practical training. The program aims to fast-track workers into Panasonic's new EV battery factory while providing clear career pathways through stackable credentials.

Community colleges such as Delaware Technical Community College and Lorain County Community College offer short-term certificate programs that are more accessible to adult learners and students with families. In 2022, the Delaware college awarded roughly 4,500 certificates and credentials.

Los Angeles Community Colleges are now offering subject-matter courses taught in students’ native languages, including Spanish, Russian, and Korean. The tuition-free vocational classes allow students to earn certificates in a trade or work toward a GED, all while learning in the language they’re most comfortable speaking.

Many students who are funneled into remedial courses don't end up completing their community college degrees. For the past decade, I-BEST has offered students a hands-on approach, connecting academic work with direct job skills training to make classroom content less theoretical. Called "the most-copied idea to come out of Washington’s community-college system," I-BEST has increased students' likelihood of learning a credential by nine times.

When adults want to return to school, they face many challenges including the experience of long waitlists for classes, and poor relevance to the job skills they need for future employment. The Washington state community college system has started a program known as Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) that instead teaches in two parts: academic content and basic soft skills.

Virginia's FastForward program helps students access job training programs and earn credentials faster at a lower cost, with participants paying only one third of the amount. Students who complete one of the eligible programs see their wages increase by an average of $14,869.

SEEDS, an Indian NGO, collaborated with local Mising masons to redesign their traditional bamboo stilt houses with flood- and earthquake-resistant upgrades. This included concrete bases, chemically treated bamboo, and flexible joinery, which has resulted in longer-lasting dwellings, schools, and community shelters.

As society debates the value of a traditional college degree, states, employers, and even colleges are opting to focus on apprenticeships that allow students to learn on the job and gain real-world experience while also being compensated for their work. Nationwide, there are about 680,000 registered apprentices working in fields ranging from information technology to aquaculture to fashion.

LandLogic Model trains mental healthcare providers to use farmers’ relationships to their land to identify and treat depression, anxiety, and other emotional issues. Virtual and easily adaptable training models have helped the LandLogic Model support this notoriously hard-to-reach population.

Shasta College partners with timber companies to help train apprentices for the industry, providing pre-apprenticeship coursework and helping to facilitate state and federal funding that offsets the cost of on-the-job training. So far, about 50 people have completed the pre-apprenticeship program, while 15 have completed the full apprenticeship.