German American Conference

The United States has never had more individuals enrolled in college than today, but with this phenomenon comes a student debt price tag of over $1.5 trillion. This is occurring even as many higher-paying middle pay employment sits empty, with employers struggling to find talent to do the job. Lastly, people of color, women, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are increasingly disengaged from these opportunities, with education and business/industry struggling to connect to this high potential group.
Apprenticeship is increasingly seen as a viable workforce and economic development tool within the United States and may offer solutions. This panel will explore the expansion movement within the United States, with specific focus on how these efforts have been undertaken at the national, regional, and local levels and what is being done to impact these disadvantaged communities. 
The panel will have expertise assembled from across the United States and Germany. During this discussion we will focus on the benefits gained, challenges revealed, and remaining work to be done within the United States. We will also discuss new challenges that Germany now faces in filling some of their traditional apprenticeship programs. Overarching will be an eye toward the Future of Work and what it means for highly skilled work moving forward.
The work thus far within the U.S. to implement more dynamic, state and regional wide apprenticeship system has been remarkable. As a result, new and diverse apprenticeship programs have formed, with hundreds of thousands of new apprentices, and collaborations between education and business and industry across all sectors. Can apprenticeship be the new 4-year degree? Can it provide solutions to long-standing education and workforce development challenges facing the nation? These answers and more will be discovered.