A new state law requires public higher education institutions to establish ways of awarding academic credit to students who participate in registered apprenticeship programs.
“These are the niches that Rhode Island will be filling, but it hasn’t been organized,” said Rep. Joseph M. McNamara, D-Warwick, who sponsored the Apprenticeship Pathways to Earning a Bachelor’s Degree Act that passed in June. “This is part of a movement across the country to formalize this form of education … programs based on the advanced technical skills that apprenticeships provide. What were at one time simply vocational skills have shifted to a need for knowledge of management and technology.”
Advocates of the multiyear project say it could change the way thousands of students experience post-secondary study, paving the way for them beginning in the 2024 academic year to complete most or all of their coursework far from the lecture halls.
The law gives the University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College and the Community College of Rhode Island until Jan. 1 to present their plans for “nontraditional pathways” to implement apprenticeship-for-credit programs.
They are now working to meet the deadline, but representatives from URI and CCRI did not respond to requests for comment on where they stand in the process.
Jenifer Giroux, RIC vice president of corporate relations and professional studies, declined to detail what its apprenticeship program may look like. In an emailed statement, she noted that the college has already partnered on apprenticeships-for-credit initiatives in health care and nursing.
“Much like this previous work, we are working to identify alignment between current approved apprenticeship programs and our academic programs,” she said. “In support of apprenticeships and other pathways into RIC, we are reviewing ... current course requirements, inter-session and summer offerings, and bootcamps.”
The legislation mandates that the colleges prioritize applying credit to academic majors that have both low completion rates and are in high demand by Rhode Island employers.
After receiving the proposals from the colleges, the R.I. Board of Education will conduct a four-month review. A workgroup will convene no later than Sept. 1, 2024, and will include representatives from the R.I. Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner, the R.I. Department of Labor and Training, the DLT’s State Apprenticeship Council and local trade unions.
So-called “earning while learning” programs have existed in European countries for decades. In the United States, the combination of student loan debt, skills gap and aging workforce has led to high vacancy rates in many industries and has accelerated the push for creative changes.
Andrew Cortes, founder of Building Futures and chairman of the State Apprenticeship Council, says smaller examples of these programs have been around since 1937, but the option “is incredibly underutilized.”
“Right now, it happens on kind of a one-off basis. Its time is due. This is a way to engage learners we are not currently reaching,” he said. “Especially with student debt becoming such a crippling factor for recent graduates.”
In written testimony submitted to the House Education Committee, Wayne Salisbury, acting director of the R.I. Department of Corrections, said an apprenticeship program for the incarcerated “remains an area of focus” and the legislation “offers another incentive for our population to pursue apprenticeships and renews our commitment to providing such opportunities behind the walls.”
Cortes says prisoners at the Adult Correctional Institutions can already combine a handful of general education courses with an apprenticeship to complete an associate degree.
“There is a lot of this activity already happening at the ACI,” he said. “And to link that to direct employment upon release makes a ton of sense.”
But challenges remain. According to the left-leaning think tank New America, linking apprenticeships to college degrees can be costly to colleges.
“College-connected apprenticeships in the United States reach across two educational systems that were never designed to work together,” New America said in a policy report. “Our federal policy infrastructure is currently ill-equipped to bridge this gap [but] thoughtful state policies provide a variety of approaches to support the costs of training apprentices at colleges.”
At RIC, the college’s policy framework is being led by its Office of Professional Studies and Continuing Education, according to RIC spokesperson John Taraborelli.
“We will have a policy in place by January, per the legislation,” he said.
Notwithstanding the name of the bill, Cortes says it’s unlikely any programs born out of the process will lead to a student completing 100% of their coursework outside of the classroom.
He says he was surprised to see the legislation gives the colleges nine months before they engage with the workgroup. Though the schools have the best understanding of what a certain amount of work is worth in credits, there is still a “nebulous gray area” for how to factor in prior on-the-job learning.
“I almost wonder if the universities will need help from the workgroup in order to formulate these policies,” he said. “What we get at one university might not be what you get at another.”
McNamara, who chairs the House Education Committee, acknowledges the policies that come out of the law are still far from being formulated.
“It’s going to take some time,” he said.
