Fifty three percent of U.S. jobs are middle skill, meaning that they require some form of postsecondary education and training beyond high school, but not a four year degree. Only 43 percent of U.S. workers are trained at this level, however.
One key strategy for filling middle-skill positions is work-based learning programs like apprenticeship and career and technical education (CTE) with a worksite component — programs that blend worksite and classroom learning to prepare workers with the skills employers need. Such programs are often heralded as the gold standard of workforce training.
NSC scanned the fifty states and the District of Columbia to identify the policies that states have in place to support work-based learning that includes paid employment.
