The Degree That Pays You Back: How Employer-Sponsored Apprenticeships Are Rewriting Higher Ed
Public confidence in the four-year degree is declining as employers report graduates lack job-ready, durable skills. Employer-sponsored apprenticeships are emerging as an alternative model that combines earn-while-you-learn structures with stackable credentials. This shift is pressuring traditional higher education institutions to rethink how they deliver and credential workforce-relevant learning.
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Key takeaways
Confidence in the ROI of a traditional four-year degree has declined significantly among Americans.
Employers consistently cite a gap in durable, job-ready skills among college graduates.
Employer-sponsored apprenticeships offer an earn-while-you-learn model that may redefine the value proposition of higher education.
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Higher education is under pressure. Over the past few years, public confidence in the value of a four-year degree has declined significantly, with fewer Americans expressing a strong belief that traditional higher education delivers a worthwhile return on investment. At the same time, employers consistently report that graduates lack job-ready skills—particularly the “durable skills” needed to thrive in professional environments. As industries search for diverse, work-ready talent, and students question the ROI of traditional college pathways, employer-sponsored apprenticeships are emerging as a promising model to bridge the gap.
What if employers didn’t just recruit graduates, but co-created their education from the start? And could an apprenticeship-driven, employer-funded model offer a viable blueprint for the future of higher ed?
Those are the questions at the heart of this episode of Signals in Higher Ed. Host Darin Francis and guest host Ron Stefanski sit down with Dr. D’Wayne Edwards, President of Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design, to explore employer-sponsored apprenticeships in design. The conversation examines how a revived HBCU in Detroit is aligning curriculum directly with corporate partners, transforming students into “future professionals,” and redefining what experiential learning can look like at scale.
What you’ll learn…
- How co-creating curriculum with brands turns education into a multi-week or multi-year job interview.
- Why traditional design education has failed to build a sustainable, diverse talent pipeline.
- How a performance-based, employer-funded model delivers measurable hiring results.
Dr. D’Wayne Edwards is a pioneering footwear designer and executive whose 30+ year career includes serving as Design Director for Brand Jordan at Nike, where he became the youngest design director in company history and one of only six designers to create an original Air Jordan model. He holds more than 50 design patents, has designed over 500 footwear styles across multiple categories generating more than $1.5 billion in global sales, and has earned international recognition including the Red Dot Award and Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business. As the founder of PENSOLE and President of PLC Detroit, he has built industry-driven talent pipelines and led the reinstatement of Michigan’s only HBCU, making it the nation’s first design-focused historically Black college.
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About the author
With 20 years of experience at the intersection of higher education and edtech, Darin Francis brings a wealth of knowledge and a deep passion for driving meaningful change in the sector. Having led teams, crafted go-to-market (GTM) strategies, and worked closely with institutions, Darin is uniquely positioned to help edtech companies navigate the complexities of U.S. and Canadian higher education. Darin Francis, based in Detroit, MI, US, is currently a Managing Partner and CEO at Harbinger Lane Consulting.
