Concerns about high tuition rates and student loans push more students to consider trade schools and apprenticeship programs.
Key details
UK-based company Miultiverse is partnering with major companies to expand student’s options for career education.
While apprenticeships and trade schools are typically associated with skilled trades such as welding, HVAC, or auto mechanics, Multiverse’s programs range from business operations to software engineering.
“Our mission is to create a diverse group of future leaders. To achieve this, we provide high-quality professional apprenticeship programs that combine work, training and community,” the company’s website says.
Since its founding in 2016, Multiverse has worked with 200 companies to train 5,000 professional apprentices.
The company has partnered with Verizon and Visa as well as startups like fitness company ClassPass and Box, a cloud-based content management company.
The White House is pushing a more traditional approach to apprenticeships through initiatives in the Department of Labor. Some of those initiatives include an apprenticeship ambassador program and condensed cybersecurity apprenticeship.
The incentives are an effort to grow next-gen industries. Other pushes from the Biden administration such as the semiconductor bill and Inflation Reduction Act will increase the need for skilled laborers who will build the infrastructure outlined in the bills.
Why it’s news
It’s an ever-changing job market, and skilled and semi-skilled workers are in high demand. Many of these jobs do not require a college education.
Plus, high student loan debt is causing many high-school graduates to reconsider the college path.
While politicians continue debating how best to handle the student loan crisis, some students could save themselves time and money through trade schools and apprenticeships.
The numbers
The number of people registered as an apprentice increased 9% this year, bringing the total to more than 241,000, Axios reports. While that number is lower than pre-pandemic figures, it does show a rising interest.
Towne Ford service director Jay Lucernoni says automotive technicians are particularly needed.
“The numbers as far as the technician shortage goes as far as nationally are anywhere from 200,000 to 400,000 openings for skilled technicians,” he told ABC News.
Students who choose trade school can enter the workforce more quickly than students who attend college. Many of them can even earn more than their counterparts in college, too.
Lucernoni says that students can start making anywhere from $25,000 to $30,000 their first year and expect to earn more after five years. Master technicians, he explained, can earn anywhere from $80,000 to $100,000 a year—all without a college diploma.
Notable quote
“We have allowed college admissions officers to become the gatekeepers of access to the best jobs in the labor market,” says Multiverse CEO Euan Blair. “Despite the fact that there’s not a correlation between academics and job performance, despite the fact that colleges themselves have not been doing a great job on equity or cost on the people that go through that system.”
