In our fractured political environment, it’s hard to get consensus on anything. But there’s a bright spot of agreement when it comes to creating opportunities for individuals without a college degree, and preparing workers through noncollege routes.

Governors across the U.S., both Democrat and Republican, have removed degree requirements for state jobs. The Biden administration, as well as such states as California and New York, are making significant investments in apprenticeships and other nondegree training programs. And businesses from Google to McKinsey are “tearing the paper ceiling” and rolling out new programs that enable employees to learn while they earn.

These new investments and policies reflect two things: first, the current talent crunch, with two open jobs for every job seeker; and second, a reevaluation by business leaders of what it means to be job-ready.

According to Multiverse’s most recent survey of business leaders, half of employers say that working for two years or less gives students the same level of preparation as a four-year degree. A similar number of employers say that they would equate the value of their own degree to two years of work experience. Nearly 60% of leaders said that they learned their most valuable skills at work, not in the classroom. Employers don’t even think that students leave higher education ready for work: On average, business leaders felt that college graduates in entry-level roles need 11 months of on-the-job learning to become fully effective. The same survey also found that while many entry-level jobs may not require a college degree, having one still affords applicants a significant advantage.

Recognizing skills learned on-the-job isn’t new; apprenticeship is one of the oldest forms of education. For instance, many employers actively recruit departing military service members because of their skills. Learning by doing can remove barriers for those who may not be able to afford higher education, or who prefer more active modes of learning to classroom education. And yet, on-the-job learning remains unfortunately uncommon. Today, apprentices make up less than 1% of the U.S. labor market.

So what’s going on? If companies and policymakers seem to like college alternatives so much, why isn’t learning by doing a bigger part of our national talent strategy?

Part of the challenge is definitional. People understand, or think they understand, what a college degree means. While the academic learning sector (both K-12 and higher ed) in the U.S. is well-defined, the applied learning sector—where skills and competencies are acquired by doing, often on the job—largely lacks the same level of shared understanding and definition.

It’s also a question of resources. In a country where apprentices receive around 2% of the funding that American taxpayers spend on college students, it’s hard to imagine apprenticeship taking off without some major changes. Due in no small part to that lack of political and policy support, small businesses, where so much job growth happens, have an incredibly hard time launching apprenticeships or other work-based learning programs. Consequently, they too must rely too much on traditional proxies.

Fulfilling the promise of applied learning in the U.S. will depend on addressing both of these challenges.

First, the country needs a better shared understanding of what applied learning is and why it matters. This is first and foremost a question of marketing. It will require businesses to tout the successes of apprenticeships and other work-based learning models as well as policymakers to highlight promising programs at the local, state, and national level. In principle, this shouldn’t be hard to do. At a time when so many Americans are already skeptical of the value of college, there’s never been a better time to make the case for an approach that involves learning and getting paid at the same time.

The next step, of course, is to invest in what works. The state of California has been a bright spot here, with hundreds of millions allocated to apprenticeship programs in so-called nontraditional fields like tech. I believe more states should follow its lead and create funding streams that can lead to sustainable, long-term, work-based learning programs. Some estimates suggest that just $4 billion in funding at the federal level could put one million more apprentices on a path to economic opportunity.

Major companies, too, are demonstrating what success can look like. Consider the case of Yum! Brands (parent company of Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut), whose apprenticeship program has both contributed to its rapid growth and helped the company fulfill its internal goals around creating career opportunities for Black and Latinx workers. I also believe that as the need for technology skills continues to grow outside of the tech industry, more companies will need to embrace applied learning to keep up with the pace of change.

There’s no doubt that applied learning is growing in popularity, and not a moment too soon. But whether the United States makes good on that momentum is another question. That’s up to the business community, as well as federal and state policymakers—who, if they invest in expanding these programs and helping workers and families understand and navigate them, might just build a work-based learning system that actually works.



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