What if the campus of the future isn’t actually a campus?
Across the country, the workplace is emerging as the new college campus. In response to rising costs and shifting demographics, Reach University, its National Center for the Apprenticeship Degree (NCAD), and partners are advancing Apprenticeship Degrees that integrate college learning directly into the workplace.
Data confirms that work-embedded learning is no longer a niche alternative to the traditional college classroom, but a growing solution designed around the needs of today’s learners. Currently, nearly 40 percent of college presidents, and even more community college leaders, plan to expand work-based degree offerings within the next three years.
By the Numbers
- Scalable Success: This partnership-driven model reduces enrollment costs to nearly one-fifth of the national average of $3,000 to $5,000.
- Beyond the Trades: While many institutions are only beginning to plan for apprenticeships and Apprenticeship Degrees, this model has already proven that work-embedded learning works for high-touch, essential roles like K-12 teaching.
- Instructional Quality: Moving the campus to the workplace does not sacrifice rigor; instead, it enhances the degree experience by blending on-the-job practice with mentorship and credit for work.
The evidence for this transformation is growing. In a recent deep-dive by Colleen Flaherty of Inside Higher Ed, the data shows that graduates of apprenticeship and Apprenticeship Degree programs witness significant wage increases without creating excessive student debt, the "10-year taxpayer return on investment in apprenticeships was $7.80 for every $1 invested," and that "every $100 an employer invested in apprenticeship generated $144.30 in total benefits."