Dr. Prentice Chandler and Lisa Barron, Austin Peay State University

Dr. Prentice Chandler, Dean of the Eriksson College of Education at Austin Peay State University, and Dr. Lisa Barron, professor, discuss their apprenticeship program. The program is the first federally registered program of its kind and has been adopted as a model for other programs in the state of Tennessee. Through the use of grants and federal apprenticeship workforce dollars the program is tuition free and compresses a typically 4-year bachelor of science into 3 years. There are 200 current students in the cohort style program consisting of both local cohort groups and cohorts made from consortiums of rural partners. Reliance on community colleges throughout the state is vital to the success of the program that was pioneered in 2018.