Kern CCD Receives $3.4M in Funding for Apprenticeship Programs

The Kern Community College District Board of Trustees, voted yesterday to accept more than $3.4 million in funding from the California Community Colleges’ Chancellor’s Office to support the development of apprenticeship programs in nursing, public health, industrial technology, and business.

The funding is part of the California Apprenticeship Initiative New and Innovative Grant Program which seeks to create or bolster apprenticeship opportunities in priority and emerging industry sectors or areas in which apprenticeship training is not fully established or does not exist.
“For decades, apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs have been the gold standard for preparing Californians for employment,” said Romeo Agbalog, President of the Kern CCD Board of Trustees. “With these funds from the Chancellor’s Office, we’ll expand our apprenticeship opportunities into other areas of the labor market that are in high demand like nursing and others, and that offer higher wages and benefits.”

The funding includes $1.1 million in funding for a Registered Nursing apprenticeship program and $1.5 million in funding for an Industrial Machinery Mechanics apprenticeship at Bakersfield College. The district also received funding to pilot apprenticeships for public health informatics technicians, perinatal and neonatal nurses, and staff services analysts. This funding will enable Kern CCD to provide apprenticeship opportunities for an additional 232 students per year.

In July 2022, the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS) and the Labor & Workforce Development Agency released Advancing Apprenticeship in California: A Five-Point Action Plan to expand the state’s number of apprentices to a half-million by 2029.

“Governor Newsom has laid out an ambitious goal of adding 500,000 apprentices in the state by 2029,” said Interim Chancellor Tom Burke. “This funding from the state Chancellor’s Office will enable us to meet that goal while expanding work-based opportunities for our students.”
The California Community College Chancellor’s office has prioritized apprenticeship program development as part of Vision 2030 | California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office (cccco.edu), a framework that will advance student success, access, support and socio-economic mobility with equity.

The Kern Community College District (Kern CCD) serves communities over 24,800 square miles in parts of Kern, Tulare, Inyo, Mono, and San Bernardino counties through the programs of Bakersfield
College, Cerro Coso College and Porterville College. Governed by a locally elected Board of Trustees, the district's colleges offer programs and services that develop student potential and create opportunities for our citizens.