There’s a lot changing in career education right now. Employers need skilled workers. More students are exploring alternatives to a traditional four-year degree. Career schools face new opportunities and competition.
We recently sat down with Dr. Jason Altmire, President and CEO of Career Education Colleges and Universities (CECU), to talk about these changes and Trade Up, the book he coauthored with his colleague Riley Burr. Here’s what he shared.
Every book has one story that captures what it’s really about. What’s that story for Trade Up?
We write about how important this moment is to the future of the country. As a nation, we are expanding technology and building infrastructure at a pace unlike any other in history. But employers simply don’t have enough workers to meet the growing demand. For years, American higher education has encouraged students to pursue degrees that don’t necessarily align with the jobs most in demand.
Our book examines this disconnect and the need to fundamentally change how we talk about the skilled trades and inform students about where the opportunities are. We compare this moment to 1957, when the Soviet Union beat the U.S. into space with the launch of Sputnik. The event embarrassed the country and changed how Americans thought about education. It led to a major shift in the subjects schools emphasized and a national commitment to science, technology, and mathematics.
That commitment ultimately helped the United States win the space race by landing a man on the moon. Today, we face our own Sputnik moment. America needs to rise to the challenge once again by promoting, funding, and supporting careers in the skilled trades.
Did anything you discovered while researching Trade Up genuinely surprise you or change your mind?
What surprised us most in researching the skills gap, AI displacement, and workforce shortages was the sheer number of organizations already trying to address these challenges. Philanthropies, businesses, communities, schools, and policymakers are all investing significant time and resources in workforce development.
What’s also surprising is that we haven’t made more substantial progress. We have some of the brightest minds and deepest pockets in the country committed to workforce development, yet the skills gap continues to grow.
For career college leaders reading this, what’s one reason to feel optimistic about the future?
Despite the magnitude of the challenge, career education leaders should be encouraged by how much more visible the skilled trades and other career education programs have become in the public eye. Rather than discouraging students from pursuing career education, more people than ever before are encouraging it as a viable pathway to upward mobility and economic success.
What’s a trade or profession you didn’t fully appreciate before writing Trade Up, but do now?
Nursing stands out. We understood the nursing shortage before writing the book, but our research revealed just how serious the problem has become. There are currently 190,000 open nursing positions, representing 10% of the entire nursing workforce.
While much of the media attention focuses on blue-collar trades, the nursing shortage is just as acute. If we don’t expand the pipeline of people entering the profession, the consequences could be equally significant for America’s future.
After researching Trade Up, what do you think will look very different about career education 10 years from now?
I wouldn’t even wait ten years. Change is happening quickly, and school leaders need to be prepared to adapt their strategic plans. The number of organizations involved in workforce development and the amount of money being invested to close the skills gap, has grown dramatically. As a result, trade schools will face more competition for students.
Businesses are increasingly building and funding their own training programs, potentially bypassing trade schools altogether. Philanthropies and government agencies are investing heavily in community colleges, which are expanding their career education programs and upgrading their facilities.
High schools are also developing state-of-the-art career and technical education programs that allow students to graduate and move directly into the workforce. At the same time, apprenticeship opportunities are growing rapidly through the U.S. Department of Labor, trade unions, and other organizations.
Private trade schools need to prepare for this increasingly competitive landscape. Students now have more pathways into skilled careers, and they will want to understand the value of attending a trade school compared with the alternatives.
You were a record-setting high school athlete until a knee injury ended that path. Did that experience shape how you think about the different routes to a successful life?
Everyone faces adversity, and often those experiences lead to decisions that shape the direction of our lives. For me, that period of my life was an especially difficult time. I was young and focused on goals that were suddenly taken away by an injury. It took years of hard work and perseverance to get back on track, both mentally and physically.
That experience forever changed how I viewed success and the paths available to me. It taught me that it’s possible to overcome obstacles, set new goals, and work toward them even when they require long-term planning and sacrifice.
Many of our schools serve nontraditional students who are dealing with serious challenges in their own lives. Yet they persevere and find a way forward when it would be easy to give up. I admire their courage and determination, and I’m in awe of their will to succeed.
That’s why I love graduation ceremonies most of all. You can see the pride on students’ faces. Even without knowing everything they’ve been through, you can often see that they have overcome adversity. Anyone who has been through difficult times recognizes that look, sometimes from seeing it in the mirror.
It’s what makes graduation so special and why I love working with our schools and students. Our schools change lives.
Preparing Your School for What’s Next
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