Programs in which college students combine education with work has grown in popularity the past few years. Degreed apprenticeships are an old yet new approach for developing employees. A report released by New America’s Center on Education & Labor found that about 350 institutions nationwide offered nearly 600 degreed apprenticeship programs integrated with associate, bachelor’s, or master’s degrees, preparing students for 91 different occupations. The issue though is that access to these programs remains limited.
The more popular programs for degree apprenticeships are K–12 teaching, registered nursing, and accounting. With teaching and nursing program shortages, the degreed apprenticeships are a popular approach to fill openings and grow employees as they gain the skills necessary to do these jobs. Working generally with higher educational institutions, degreed apprenticeships combine paid work experience, on-the-job training, employer-aligned classroom instruction and recognized credentials with an associate’s, bachelor’s, or master’s degree.
The report found that programs that prepare K–12 teachers made up 156 of the nearly 600 degreed apprenticeships identified, while registered nursing programs accounted for 51. Other positions represented include electro-mechanical and mechatronics technologists and technicians, electricians, and industrial engineering technologists and technicians.
The issue of degreed apprenticeship comes to a head with the growing skepticism of having an tertiary education, the cost of which becomes a prohibitive barrier for potential students. And non-degreed apprenticeships, trades, are starting to match or exceed professionals with degrees. A plumber or electrician can make six figures in their 20s. However, according to a Payscale report in 2024, college graduates earn 37% higher salaries than non-graduates in 2024, consistent with the trend observed since 2010, indicating that there hasn't been a decline in the pay premium for college degrees. Also, the report noted that in jobs where both college graduates and non-college graduates are hired, there can be wide pay disparities of more than 30%, suggesting possible inequities that unfairly favor those with a degree.
Most degree apprenticeship opportunities are concentrated at the associate-degree level. Two-thirds of the programs awarded associate degrees, 29% awarded bachelor’s degrees, and 4% awarded master’s degrees, according to the report. Most associate-level credentials were associates of applied science degrees. “Community colleges have been really involved in degree apprenticeships, many of them for quite some time,” Ivy Love, a senior policy analyst at New America, said. She noted that although some universities offer degree apprenticeships as well, community colleges’ “workforce orientation” gives them more familiarity with the model, and two-year institutions are more likely to have close connections to employers in technical fields.
Although growing in popularity, degree apprenticeships are not funded as well as K-12 programs or other like opportunities. Employers can make a difference by teaming up with their local community or junior college to design these programs which could reduce the stress of finding the right person for positions today. For example, in manufacturing, there are an estimated 400,000 jobs which cannot be filled because of the skills and knowledge needed to be successful in the role. What makes apprenticeships more appealing is that they generally pay higher salaries and because of the integrated approach lead to greater retention of the workforce.
Source: Inside Higher Ed 1/26/26. Payscale 7/10/24