A Columbus Community College Bets Big on Apprenticeships

A Columbus community college is dramatically expanding its apprenticeship programs, which pair classroom instruction with paid, on-the-job training in fields like advanced manufacturing, IT, and healthcare. The model offers a debt-light alternative to the four-year default.

Apprenticeships answer a complaint heard from both students and employers: that traditional education can be expensive and disconnected from actual jobs. Earning while learning, and learning what an employer actually needs, addresses both at once.

College leaders frame the expansion as meeting students where they are rather than steering everyone toward a single path. The challenge, they acknowledge, is building enough employer partnerships to give every interested student a placement.