Apprenticeship Expo Highlights Efforts to Boost Interest in Career Education

Drawing an estimated 1,300 students and 400 community members, the Inland Empire Apprenticeship Expo, hosted by Moreno Valley College on Nov. 19, offered students career opportunities and prospective employers. The successful annual event is just one among countless efforts in Riverside and San Bernardino counties to boost interest in apprenticeships and career education, supporting students, employers, colleges, and ultimately lifting communities and the region.

“The Expo offers a great opportunity to share career registered apprenticeship opportunities in the region and highlight the career and technical programs available at Moreno Valley College,” says Rosalinda Rivas, organizer of the event and Apprenticeship Director at the college. “The event has grown each year, and we look forward to expanding its impact on the region’s workforce base.”

According to the California Apprenticeship Registration Dashboard, in Riverside County alone, there are currently 6,399 active apprenticeships.

“Apprenticeship careers provide individuals with free tuition, paid work-based learning opportunities, and on-the-job mentoring,” Rivas says.

Extensive apprenticeship programs across the region have done much to attract students to lucrative careers that do not require a 4-year college degree and the debt that often comes with it — jobs such as first responders, healthcare workers, IT specialists, and so much more.

In addition to community college-based programs, other efforts such as the LAUNCH Apprenticeship Network also pitch in to promote these paid hands-on learning opportunities. Formed in 2018 by the Inland Empire/Desert Regional Consortium (IEDRC), LAUNCH leverages the region’s community colleges, K-12 districts, and two county Workforce Development Boards to make apprenticeships easy and effective for Inland Empire businesses and career-builders.

The IEDRC oversees a number of other initiatives that promote career education by connecting colleges and students to employers and making education programs responsive to employer needs.

Employer Engagement Managers at the IEDRC, for example, expand relationships with employers to help students secure jobs and apprenticeship opportunities. In addition to maintaining open communication with employers for job placements and student training, the managers interface with employers at regular meetings, networking events, and industry roundtables to understand employer needs and how to tailor educational programs accordingly. More than 200 employers have worked with the region’s community colleges over the past couple of years.

Two other key programs spearheaded by the IEDRC include the K12 Strong Workforce Program and READY Career Education marketing campaign. The former is a state-funded initiative strengthening the pathways for students from secondary to post-secondary education. The READY campaign promotes career education through marketing and outreach efforts, events, interactive tools such as the READY Program Finder on the READY website (readysetcareer.org/program-finder), and even promotional wraps on vehicles.

New state-of-the-art facilities are popping up on campuses across the region to attract students to career education, facilities like the new Career and Technical Education Complex at Barstow Community College, or the new Educational Event Center at Victor Valley College, or the recently opened STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Center at Mt. San Jacinto College.

All of these efforts, among many others, have led to tremendous success in attracting and graduating significantly higher numbers of students into career and technical education fields in the Inland Empire/Desert region.

According to the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, the number of career education students earning degrees or certificates has steadily risen since 2014-15. Some types of completion awards even tripled by 2021-22.

The number of students earning nine-plus career education units has steadily risen from 16% in 2016 to 20% in 2022. Those attaining apprenticeship journey status jumped from 27 students in 2014-15 to 112 in the 2021-22 year.

Never has the work of recruiting career education students and connecting them to jobs in demand been more important. With the region continuing to grow, this work will be critical to the region and its communities for many years to come.