A New Path Between Trades and Degrees

For decades, higher education and career and technical education have largely been treated as separate pathways. But a new partnership in New York aims to blur that distinction by allowing students to build both academic and workforce credentials along the same educational pathway.

The University of Mount Saint Vincent last week announced a partnership with Apex Technical School to establish a skilled trades training program on its Riverdale campus in the Bronx. Beginning with electrical training, the program will allow students to pursue industry-recognized credentials while opening doors to associate and bachelor’s degrees through articulation agreements.

The model is intended to reduce barriers between vocational and higher education, giving students greater flexibility to enter the workforce while continuing their education.

Susan Burns, president of the University of Mount Saint Vincent, said the partnership reflects the university’s belief that students shouldn’t have to choose between learning a trade and earning a college degree.

“It doesn’t have to be one at the exclusion of the other. It’s a yes-and,” Burns said. “Yes, pursue the trades and let us value that in providing [college] credit for those trades, and let’s put you on a path to complete at least initially an associate degree with the opportunity to complete a baccalaureate degree as well.”

Bridging two roads: Apex, a vocational and trade school, is a member of Fedcap, a nonprofit that provides workforce development and educational services. Burns said students who complete any Apex program—whether at the UMSV campus or another location—will receive automatic admission to the university, forging a path from technical certification to a college degree.

“The beauty of this partnership is that there’s not just one path, and that’s what’s so exciting,” Burns said. “We need to respond to what the students are asking for, and not just tell the student what it has to be, and then really give them the path that is what is most preferable to them.”

Through joint articulation agreements, Apex graduates may earn up to 30 college credits, allowing many students to enter UMSV already halfway through an associate degree while reducing both the time and cost required to complete it.

Students already enrolled at UMSV will also be able to complete Apex’s skilled trades training while pursuing their degrees, allowing them to graduate with both a college credential and industry-recognized technical training.

Jim Malatras, chief strategy officer and senior vice president for education at Fedcap, said the UMSV–Apex partnership recognizes the rigor of technical education by allowing students to apply what they’ve learned toward a college degree rather than start from scratch if they decide to continue their education.

“We have separated types of programming from one another—workforce programs from traditional higher education programs from other programs—which creates a sort of different class system within our postsecondary structure, conveying a certain message to an individual,” Malatras said. He noted that while technical training provides valuable skills, the partnership is built on the idea that combining career preparation with higher education can create additional avenues to economic and social mobility.

Malatras said the goal is to help students recognize that the skills they develop through technical education have academic value and can serve as a stepping-stone to further education.

“We want to show them and empower them and say, ‘Your value and what you’re learning here at Apex does have college equivalency and you can move on to that next step,’” he said.

Expanding student options: Burns said the partnership is designed to serve a range of students, including adult learners who have earned a trade certification but may not have viewed college as an option, as well as workers already in the trades who want to advance into leadership roles or start their own businesses.

The model could also benefit traditional-age college students who are uncertain whether a traditional degree is the right fit, as well as workers whose careers are being reshaped by artificial intelligence and broader economic changes and are looking to build new skills.

“They’re looking for another opportunity to earn some kind of degree that allows them not only to have a specific trade training, but also the opportunity to have some business background to better understand in a short credential that there are not only trades available to them, but there are opportunities beyond that,” Burns said. “To have that kind of additional understanding, additional knowledge of how to take their trade to another kind of career phase for themselves, is important.”

Malatras said the partnership reflects a shared belief that career and technical education and traditional higher education are not competing models, but complementary components of a modern education system designed to prepare students for success throughout their lives.

“Part of what we’re really attempting to break down here is the traditional barriers of this static approach,” Malatras said. “What we are trying to do is find new ways of engaging those communities on their terms in the systems we know that work, as opposed to ‘Here’s the rules of the system, here’s the admissions process, this is how you do it.’”

Looking ahead: UMSV and Apex are currently awaiting program approval from the New York State Education Department and applicable regulatory and accrediting organizations. However, Burns said, students will be able to begin enrolling and participating this fall.

As the program develops, Burns said, the university will track measures including persistence, credential completion, transfer into degree programs, graduation rates and employment outcomes. But she said the ultimate measure of success will be whether the partnership helps improve students’ economic mobility and career trajectories.

“What is the change in their career trajectory? What are the opportunities that they’ve taken because of the combined partnership?” Burns said. “So it’s that qualitative [approach] beyond the numbers that we will capture to measure our success.”

“We need to meet learners when, where and how they need us, and this is a beautiful illustration of that,” she said.

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