Work-based education seeing a resurgence

A warehouse manager in Waco went from earning about $9 an hour to earning more than $140,000 a year, thanks to an associate degree.

In College Station, a student with a developmental disability worked at an animal hospital through a college program tailored to her needs.

And in Austin, a call center worker was paid by her employer to go to college so she could be promoted to a medical assistant position.

In these instances, the students pursued associate degrees, alternative college programs and industry certifications that offer Texans the chance to expand their career options and their salary potential in a state hungry for more qualified workers.

More than half of jobs in the state require a credential higher than a high school diploma but lower than a bachelor’s degree, according to a report from July 2022. It’s one reason the state is aiming for 60 percent of Texans ages 25 to 64 to have a certificate or degree by 2030. But just 45 percent of Texans have the right training for these middleskilled jobs.

These college and career programs are far more varied than they used to be. Today,

Texans across the state are learning everything from computer-aided design and drafting to piloting aircraft through associate degree or certificate programs — and they’ll likely make more money because of it.

Initiatives helping students enter the workforce quickly aren’t new, but there is a new focus on equity. To better serve

students, particularly those from underprivileged backgrounds, higher education leaders are moving to create shorter or earlier career and technical education opportunities that meet industry standards while offering high school and college students pathways to bachelor’s and advanced degrees.

This is a marked difference

from the history of vocational programs, in which students of color and women were often placed into high school job training classes that offered no pathway to college.

A movement to help all students go to college emerged in the 1990s, said Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, a senior fellow at the National Skills Coalition, a policy and advocacy organization. But with increasing awareness of student debt in the

2000s and greater interest among students and employers in technical education, vocational programs reemerged and evolved into what is now known as career and technical education.

The rise of these programs partially stems from industries and jobs increasingly requiring specialized licenses or credentials — often without a college degree. For students, these programs are attractive because they enable them to get handson practice and, in some cases, paid job experience as they work toward a credential. This can be particularly beneficial for working adults or parents with less time and resources to seek a four-year degree, Bergson-Shilcock said.

Bachelor’s and more advanced degrees generally have a greater financial payoff, but people with two-year associate degrees and certificates in highly technical and in-demand fields, such as engineering technologies, can earn more than people with bachelor’s degrees in some lower-paying industries.

Texas has long invested in work-based education, but “that ramped up over the last couple of legislative sessions as the

Evan L’Roy/Texas Tribune Jule Preiser, a fourth-semester robotics student at Texas State Technical College in Waco, works on a troubleshooting assignment in October 2022 to develop problem-solving skills.