A Toyota program to train high-school graduates as they attend college has attracted the attention of other companies in Texas.
Businesses and politicians in other states, too, have caught on to the approach that combines skilled trades training with a college degree.
The Toyota Advanced Manufacturing Technician Program is a partnership between Toyota and local colleges where students earn an associate’s degree while working, according to News 4 San Antonio. Students work three days a week, then attend class two days a week. Toyota pays “a living wage,” students earn a degree without accumulating debt, and Toyota can hire students full-time after the program.
Other companies in the San Antonio area have expressed interest in similar STEM programs to develop skills they need to stay competitive.
The work-study program isn’t restricted to Texas, either. Toyota has similar programs established in Mississippi, Kentucky, and Indiana, among other locations.
Touted by Toyota as “one answer to help the U.S. sustain global leadership in manufacturing, and to protect the contribution of manufacturing to the national quality of life,” the logic is simple. American manufacturing is more productive than it has been in decades, but young Americans face a “skills gap.” If Toyota can’t rely on higher education to prepare graduates with the necessary skills, then Toyota will do it.
The programs create “a reliable and consistent pipeline of global quality technical talent” for manufacturers.
The “skills gap” is being solved by manufacturers creating a supply of trained workers to fill demand. That gap extends to the skilled trades as well, including plumbers.
Politicians have started to catch on. In Virginia, Governor Terry McAuliffe wants to reform K-12 education “with a stronger focus on career readiness and hands-on learning.”
Concerns about high levels of student debt and underemployment have finally breached high-level public officials. After private businesses took the lead, students could be taught options exist beyond a debt-heavy college degree.
