Is It Time for Universities to Welcome the Trades?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the students who start college full of hope, only to leave before finishing. Maybe they discover the traditional academic path isn’t for them. Maybe life circumstances change. Maybe they’re drawn to work that’s more hands-on and directly tied to building, fixing, or creating.

The recently published ‘Some College, No Credential’ report puts a number to this—over 40 million Americans have started college but left without earning a degree. Meanwhile, millions of skilled trades jobs are unfilled. To me, these two realities aren’t separate problems. They’re two halves of the same story.

A Different Kind of Campus Experience

What if being a student didn’t mean choosing between campus life and career training? What if students could live in the dorms, eat in the dining hall, join clubs, and still spend their days learning to weld, wire, plumb, or frame?

I call it the Trades + Campus Life model—a vision where students split their time between a university community and a trade school, union training center, or registered apprenticeship. Their technical training could count toward a degree or stackable credential, and along the way, they’d learn leadership, communication, and money management skills that serve them for life.

Why Universities Should Care

This isn’t about lowering standards or replacing degrees. It’s about expanding what success looks like and keeping more students engaged, connected, and supported. For universities, this model could:

• Improve student retention by offering more pathways to stay on campus.
• Connect directly with regional and national workforce needs.
• Maintain housing and student life revenue by keeping students in the community.
• Demonstrate that the institution values all forms of education that lead to thriving careers.

Why Students Win

For students, it means:

• Entering high-demand, well-paying careers faster.
• Reducing financial risk through shorter programs and earn-while-you-learn models.
• Staying part of a supportive campus network while pursuing a different kind of learning.

A Call to Higher Education

The skilled trades are not a fallback. They are not “less than” college. They are college-worthy—and they deserve a place on our campuses.

If colleges and universities commit to integrating trades training into residential life, we can close two gaps at once: the gap between enrollment and completion, and the gap between open jobs and qualified workers.

Is it time to build a future where students don’t have to choose between belonging and building their future with their own hands?