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Building Classrooms & Careers: �Apprenticeships for Students and Educators

August 2026

Krystal Ripa, Ph.D

Director of Workforce Development

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What are the common goals of primary, secondary, and higher education?

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The Office of Partnerships and Workforce Development

We evaluate workforce needs and educational opportunity;
We meet with businesses across industries to understand their unique needs;
We plan how our offerings align with their business needs;
We onboard these partners to support their professional and organizational development;
We manage these relationships to serve the workforces of NY and the nation.

Who are we?

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SUNY’s Leading Online University!�
17,500 + students�
102,000+ alumni; 96 countries, 50 states�
Fully accredited, SUNY degree�
Consistently ranked No. 1 in SUNY for overall student satisfaction, academic advising, course availability, quality of instruction and other quality indicators.

What is Empire State University?

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The Model Making Us Workforce Ready

Three Buckets:

Non-Credit Platform (COMING SOON!) – Skill Trades, Technical Skills
BRIDGE to Credit – Professional Learning Evaluations & Individualized Credit for Prior Learning
Structured and Individualized Degree Programs

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The Rising Storm: The Realities of Our Population Related to the Workforce

The Paper Ceiling

The Report

The "Missing Workforce"

~70+ million U.S. workers are Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs) but are locked out of jobs due to degree requirements.

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the QR Code Above

4.6 million Americans are out of the labor force due to addiction or incarceration

The majority are prime-age workers (25–54)—the core of the workforce pipeline

Lightcast (2024)

As we frame this conversation, I want to ground us in insights from The Rising Storm, developed by Lightcast using real-time labor market data. At its core, the report examines a growing disconnect between how we design education pathways, how employers signal demand, and how skills are actually developed and recognized in the labor market. What it makes clear is that many of the challenges we talk about in workforce development are not new—but they are accelerating and becoming more structural.

One of the most striking findings is what the report calls the “paper ceiling.” There are more than 70 million workers in this country who are skilled through alternative routes—through work, training, military service, or other experiences—but who are locked out of opportunity because they do not hold a bachelor’s degree. In many cases, these are roles they are already capable of doing, yet degree requirements continue to act as a barrier rather than a true signal of readiness. This highlights a fundamental misalignment between skills and credentials, and it creates a significant opportunity for institutions like ours to better translate learning into recognized academic pathways.

At the same time, the report points to what we might think of as a “missing workforce.” Roughly 4.6 million individuals are currently sidelined from the labor market due to addiction or incarceration, and the majority of these individuals are in their prime working years. This is not a marginal issue—it represents a substantial portion of the talent pool that is disconnected from both education and employment systems. When we think about workforce development, this challenges us to consider not only how we prepare learners, but also how we re-engage those who have been excluded.

Layered on top of these challenges is a broader demographic reality: the workforce itself is shrinking. We are entering a period where more individuals are aging out of the workforce than are entering it, which means that labor shortages are not temporary—they are structural. Even if we optimized every traditional pathway, we would still face constraints in workforce supply. This shifts the conversation from simply producing more graduates to fundamentally rethinking who we are serving and how we are creating access.

Taken together, these trends suggest that the issue in front of us is not just a talent shortage, but a challenge of talent access, recognition, and alignment. Skills are increasingly the currency of the labor market, yet they are not consistently measured, credentialed, or communicated in ways that create mobility. Traditional degree pathways, while still essential, are no longer sufficient on their own to meet the complexity of workforce demand.

For SUNY Empire, this creates a clear and compelling opportunity. We are uniquely positioned to build pathways that translate skills into credentials, connect those credentials into degrees, and design learning experiences in partnership with industry that reflect real demand. Perhaps most importantly, we have an opportunity to intentionally re-engage learners who have been overlooked or excluded and to ensure that our systems are not reinforcing the very barriers we are trying to remove.

Ultimately, in the context of a shrinking and evolving workforce, expanding access to talent is not just aligned with our mission—it is central to the future of economic mobility.

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Shifting Education Mindset: �Defined On and Off Ramps

Stackable Pathways: Redefining Access, Progression, and Mobility

Workforce development prioritizes stackability over linear progression

Movement across sectors requires flexible on- and off-ramps

Credentials serve as entry, exit, and re-entry points into education and employment

Pathways are shaped by:

Industry demand (regional + national)
Learner starting points and goals

Success is measured not only by completion, but by mobility, relevance, and re-engagement

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Apprenticeships are not just an education strategy; �they’re a workforce investment model.

Real Work, Real Pay, Real Learning: Apprentices earn while they learn, combining structured classroom instruction with hands-on experience. They graduate not only with skills but with a paycheck and a pathway.

Employer-Led, Industry-Driven: Curriculum and training are built directly from employer needs. That alignment ensures apprentices are job-ready from day one.

Stackable Credit and Credentials: At Empire, we align the classroom component (Related Technical Instruction, or RTI) so apprentices can stack credit toward certificates, microcredentials, or degrees – there is no lost time or effort.

A Force for Equity: Apprenticeships turn the traditional model on its head. Instead of paying to learn, people earn to learn—an engine for economic mobility and community wealth-building.

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The Basics: Apprenticeships

Full-Time Work, Part-Time Education

Registered and Non-DOL

Stackability to Degree/Credential Options

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Apprenticeships:�Teacher Workforce

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College of Education

Stackable Programs

Teacher Assistant Educational Studies

Early Childhood Education

Special Education (All Grades) and 7-12 Education

Certificate & AA/AS or B/BS

BS

Master's Degree

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Clinical Models

Hands-On Learning so you’re job ready Day One

Mentored Teaching: Become a Teacher of Record using the Transitional B Certification.

Earn while you Learn!

Residency: Get a full year of experience under the guidance of a tenured teacher in your content area.

Traditional Student Teaching: Two placements of 8-weeks in different classrooms under the guidance of a tenured teacher in your content area.

Apprenticeship: During your clinical experience you may serve as an apprentice, giving you access to financial supports while completing your degree.

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The TA Residency “Flip-Flop”

To utilize this option, the Resident and their host school must agree to meet the following criteria:

The classroom the TA supports is the proper grade band for the teaching certificate the TA/Resident is seeking,
The lead teacher is certified in the proper grade band and content area for the teaching certificate the TA/
Resident is seeking,
SUNY Empire issues a Residency Certificate (this allows the resident to lead instruction and serve in a dual role as TA and lead teacher)
During the immersion, the TA and lead teacher would simply “flip-flop” roles. The lead teacher would take on
the role of TA (while continuing to provide guidance and mentorship) and the TA/Resident would providership) and the TA/Resident would provide 100% of instruction and planning serving as the lead teacher. serving as the lead teacher.

No need to take a leave of absence and the Resident/TA still receives the full immersive experience of leading a classroom.

Innovative Solutions to Help Students Succeed

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Apprenticeships:�Student Opportunities

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Responsive to Workforce Needs

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, New York Area Employment Data, 2025 (bls.gov)

NYS Department of Labor, Industry Employment Reports, 2023–2024 (content.govdelivery.com)

NYS Office of the State Comptroller, “Where New Yorkers Work,” 2024 (osc.ny.gov)

Healthcare & Social Assistance – This is the largest employment sector in New York, accounting for nearly 1 in 5 jobs statewide in 2023. Home health and personal care aides are among the most numerous occupations.
Education & Health Services (combined category) – Education & health services together employed over 1.2 million workers in New York in late 2024, with consistent gains year‑over‑year.
Professional & Business Services – One of New York’s top employment sectors, with over 970,000 jobs reported statewide, including business/administrative roles that align with supervisory and operational occupations.
Administrative & Support Services – Part of this broader category had over 500,000 jobs statewide in 2023, highlighting demand for office, operations, and support roles relevant to adult learners.

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Responsive to Regional Employers:

Possible Through Partnerships

Examples of Apprenticeship Titles:

CNC Sawyer
Community Health Worker
Computer Support Technician
Dairy Specialist
Direct Support Professional
Electrical Maintenance Technician
HR Associate
Marketing Coordinator
Medical Assistant
Wastewater Systems Operation Specialist
Workforce Development Specialist

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Using this model will require effort and partnership to accomplish!

BUT there are resources!

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Other Ideas & Efforts

Better higher education connection/support to BOCES programs, standardized when possible.

Increased used of CLEP/credit by exam.

Local resources with existing Professional Learning Evaluations (SUNY Attain Labs).

On-The-Job Training is standardized. Can how we award college-level credit for it be, too?

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Krystal.ripa@sunyempire.edu

Open Discussion