Spurred on in part by the labor shortages caused the pandemic, a growing number of employers are eliminating their degree requirements in favor of a skills-based approach to hiring. "Skills-based hiring" focuses on the actual skills and qualifications someone brings to the job instead of just the degree they've earned. For job seekers,…

Apprenticing in a skilled trade is an opportunity that has not been fully accessed by women. Per 2019 figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women make up only about 12% of the nation's apprenticeships, despite comprising half the U.S. workforce. Additionally, female apprentices are concentrated mostly in social service occupations, as…

Fueled by exponential advances in technology, the world will change more in the next few decades than in all of human history, futurist Thomas Frey says. Community college leaders will have to think beyond traditional structures such as semester-length courses and two-year degree programs, designing micro-learning experiences that better match…

Police training programs at community colleges are a vital cog in ensuring that local law enforcement agencies have a steady supply of recruits who have not only the weapons training, legal knowledge and other traditional skills but also professional skills like critical thinking, in an age when police behavior has come under focused public…

By 2030, experts expect one in five American workers to have an immigrant background. And there are already 44 million immigrants in the United States. Most arrive with unmet workforce training needs. Even those with advanced degrees from their own countries can face language and cultural barriers that can leave them stuck in jobs that squander…

Community colleges are attempting to bridge America's widening blue-collar skills gap through workforce development programs promising living-wage jobs that don't require four years of college. While trade, construction and manufacturing companies are starving for talented workers, these fields also suffer from an image problem, one fueled by…

In a recent essay in "Time" magazine, Dr. Walter Bumphus, president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), underscored the need for community colleges to partner with industry to help close the skills gap and position students to meet 21st-century employment needs. Much attention is on small businesses, which have…

The skills gap--the disparity between job openings and job seekers in an employment category--is wider in some sectors and parts of the country than others. The disconnect between community colleges and employers perpetuates the skills gap. Despite the current push among educators, politicians, and employers to increase completion rates, that…

Community colleges have long taken pride in their ability to adjust to changing workforce needs. They adjust when local plumbers union requires a new certification. They also adjust when a biotechnology manufacturer seeks workers to staff its state-of-the-art research facility. But what happens when a new industry materializes almost overnight?…

At this moment, roughly 12 million Americans are unable to find work, with more than 40 percent of that number unemployed for six months or more. At the same time, current estimates put the number of job vacancies in this country at 3 million per month. The most popular explanation for this apparent paradox, the one put forth by former President…

In his State of the Union Address in January, President Obama said he visited "many business leaders who want to hire in the United States but can't find workers with the right skills." Not hard to imagine, considering the U.S. Department of Commerce reports that only one in every 18 workers in America currently works in a science, technology,…

Community colleges are using grants and workforce partnerships to train a new generation of technology workers. In September, the Obama administration awarded $450 million in grants to nearly 270 community colleges that have partnered with more than 400 employers nationally. It was the final installment of a four-year, $2 billion competitive grant…

As health care providers, patients, and employers adjust to the changes related to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which promises to extend medical coverage to thirty million previously uninsured Americans, community colleges are gearing up to keep pace with rising economic and societal demands for medical and allied health…

A safe, efficient, and effective transportation system is critical to the growth and stability of the U.S. economy, America's ability as a nation to compete in increasingly competitive global markets, and as a commuter network that provides access to jobs and recreational facilities that are important to quality of life for all Americans. The…

Few industries are as critical to the U.S. economy as transportation. Skilled automotive, railroad, and airline technicians shuttle the goods and people that drive every aspect of domestic and international commerce. The transportation sector offers some of the most exciting opportunities for workers to address critical issues of this time:…