To better understand the challenges and opportunities facing community colleges that want to expand apprenticeship opportunities to their students, New America conducted a year-long study. We created an advisory committee to guide this work and spoke to apprenticeship, workforce development, and community college leaders about the community…

The nine counties of the San Francisco Bay Area enjoy the greatest advantages of the innovation economy. The Bay Area accounted for nearly $1 trillion in economic productivity in 2018; the only metropolitan area with a higher per-capita gross domestic product was oil-rich and comparatively tiny Midland, Texas. Unemployment in most Bay Area…

Community colleges have a long history of developing and delivering training that is responsive to the needs of regional employers, both large and small, and providing students with affordable pathways to postsecondary credentials of value. Building high-quality apprenticeship programs requires expertise in both areas. This brief presents an…

Early childhood educators have a unique opportunity to foster the development of cognitive, behavioral, and social skills. But the work is not easy. Effective educators need to master a complex set of skills, which requires high-quality educational and training programs rooted in child development and practicums in early childhood classrooms led…

Over two-thirds of all Illinois residents live in Chicago's metropolitan area. The third largest city in the United States and also the third most economically productive, the Windy City benefits from unrivalled industry diversity. Like any other city, however, Chicago faces the policy challenge of supporting well-paid employment opportunities for…

Existing state policies to support the costs of apprentices' classroom training at colleges are a patchwork. Some states have implemented effective subsidies to support credit-bearing apprenticeship offerings without any cost to the apprentice; other policies are well-intentioned but counterproductive. Across the country, though, many states…

Americans' opinions about higher education are complex. Understanding this complexity is important for learning how to talk about the value of educational pathways after high school and crafting thoughtful policy solutions to meet the needs of today's students. This is the reason we engage Americans every year, asking questions other surveys do…