Calbright is a future-oriented college, offering exclusively online courses for in-demand jobs and re-imagining higher education so that it works for more people. But Calbright has also been making one of the oldest ways of connecting education and skilled employment – paid apprenticeships – a key element of our work in the 21st century economy.
Apprenticeships “aren’t just a nice to have, it’s a need to have” for many people trying to access better careers, Calbright’s President and CEO Ajita Talwalker Menon said at the annual meeting of the California Workforce Association in 2024. “It requires us to push the boundaries of what’s possible with different kinds of models and to be able to evolve apprenticeship-based learning opportunities.”
California policy leaders agree, with Governor Gavin Newsom setting a goal of establishing 500,000 new paid apprenticeship opportunities by the year 2030.
Calbright is already connecting adult learners to these opportunities, with paid apprenticeships available through many of its courses now.
At the end of 2024, Calbright was approved by the California Division of Apprenticeship Standards to register its IT Support, Data Analysis, and Cybersecurity programs as “pre-apprenticeships,” allowing Calbright to connect students in those programs to apprenticeships with leading companies.
As part of that approval, Calbright began a series of partnerships that have already led to students getting paid to work in the kind of jobs they’re studying for, earning both money and real world experience.
Internships and Apprenticeships – Where Calbright Students are Getting Paid To Apply What they Learn
Calbright’s first partnership started with TechSF, a nationally recognized and registered apprenticeship program in the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development . Calbright is now working with TechSF to create pathways for its students to career-enhancing, paid opportunities as they earn industry-recognized certificates. In turn, the partnership allows Bay Area companies to tap into job-ready California adult learners trained by Calbright College in the essential skills needed in today’s fast-paced tech industry.
The second partnership Calbright established is with education technology leader NexusEdge, the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, and customer platform HubSpot, to create the California Workforce Accelerator – a tech-driven public-private partnership allowing businesses to integrate the training needed to succeed in their industries directly into classroom instruction.
As part of its pilot program, Calbright students in some programs are eligible for “micro-internships” at HubSpot, paid opportunities where they receive training in digital marketing and AI tools from industry experts and are then placed with HubSpot customers to do hands-on projects.
“The California Workforce Accelerator will revolutionize how we connect students with the skills that employers demand today,” said Michael Younger, Vice President of Workforce, Strategy, and Innovation at Calbright. “By integrating employer-guided learning into our classrooms, our students will not only learn in-demand skills but also earn credentials that lead to real job opportunities. This initiative aligns perfectly with our mission to provide accessible, flexible, and future-focused education that prepares Californians for the workforce of tomorrow.”
The third apprenticeship partnership Calbright is leading is with Riipen, a work-based learning platform. Through Riipen, students in Calbright’s Project Management certificate program are able to work directly with businesses on real-world projects, gaining valuable and relevant experience while building a “virtual portfolio” of completed work showing what they can do.
These apprenticeship partnerships, and more to come, are 21st century new-economy versions of the classic apprenticeship model that has partnered generations of workers and businesses. And we come back to it because it works: Students, workers, and businesses all benefit when people are able to apply the skills they learn, earn paid experience, and work together to help businesses thrive.
Hundreds of Calbright students are already taking advantage of the many apprenticeship opportunities.
