Charlie Horton’s Legacy
The name Charlie Horton means nothing to most of you reading this. But he meant a lot to me, and he was a great friend of the trades, so I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce him to you. Charlie was the founder of industry-leading trade magazines Supply House Times and Plumbing & Mechanical […]
A Pause That Refreshes
Even the stormiest clouds can have silver linings. I can’t think of many good things coming out of the Covid pandemic, but there is one that may be applicable to some of you reading this. College and university campuses across the country have shut down. Some are trying to conduct business as usual with online […]
The Trades in High School
A growing number of high school students aren’t waiting until they graduate to start training for a career. You’ve probably heard all about high school advanced placement courses that let you earn college credits before actually being enrolled. Now, it’s becoming easier to find entire high schools that are focused on helping students prepare for […]
DOL Boosts Apprenticeship By $100 Million
Recent news caught my eye that has large meaning for the trades. On February 18, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded nearly $100 million to 28 public-private apprenticeship partnerships to support the large-scale expansion of apprenticeships through the federal government’s Apprenticeship: Closing the Skills Gap grant program. These grants reflect a renewed awareness of […]
The College Slump: Why Attendance is No Longer Growing
It was an amazing growth streak. Colleges and universities in the United States had steady and solid growth in attendance figures for an amazing 375 years. According to information assembled by the Wall Street Journal the number of students who attended college has risen from only thousands back in 1636 – the year Harvard opened […]
Hunger Pangs: Students Go Hungry to Pay for College
You’ve probably heard college graduates talk about how they made it through those years eating lots of instant noodles or other cheap and easy-to-make meals. Some joke that as a result, they’ll never eat these types of food again. The unfortunate truth is that it might be necessary to budget for food if you’re planning […]
The Same Job as Your Mom or Dad: What are the Odds?
Does what your parents do for a living have an impact on the choice you’ll make for a career? In some cases, the question just doesn’t work. Your parents didn’t have the opportunity to become a social media influencer or a cybersecurity officer When it comes to other types of jobs, though, it turns out […]
The U.S. Needs More Apprenticeship
A nationwide shortage of trade workers had led many businesses and politicians to support more trade education and apprenticeship programs. I addressed this in a previous blog. What is meant by apprenticeship? The term is loosely used to describe a variety of on-the-job training (OJT) programs, but true apprenticeship involves a more formal structure of […]
The Surprising Truth About College Completion Rates
College dropout rates are higher than you think. The number of students who haven’t completed the courses require to graduate are higher than you might believe, as well. If there’s any good news to this scenario, it’s that both dropout and non-completion rates are improving. Still, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center reports that only […]
Is The Dream Of A College Degree Killing The Dream Of Homeownership?
The high cost of a traditional four-year college degree has created a growing student loan problem. The struggle to pay off this debt after graduating from college has a trickle-down effect that is becoming so evident in certain areas that it’s drawn the attention of the federal government. At the start of 2019, the Federal […]