COVID-19 has dramatically increased disengagement among recent high school graduates. The number of young people from the high school class of 2020 who enrolled in college this year saw an unprecedented decline from previous years. At the same time, the unemployment rate among youth spiked during the pandemic. Today, over 4 million 16-to-24 year olds are neither working nor enrolled in school.
In response, Accelerate U at National Louis University has partnered with Propel America to develop a “job-first higher education” model, a first-of-its-kind, affordable, flexible pathway to an immediate in-demand job and credit toward a bachelor’s degree from a four-year institution. The pathway, called “Accelerate America,” offers young adults the opportunity to–with just a Pell grant and in as few as six months–start a living-wage job, gain college credit that can be applied toward future degrees, and receive career training, coaching, and support that equips them with the skills to be successful in their job, with a plan for ongoing education and career advancement.
Accelerate America currently offers the Medical Assistant training pathway in Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and New Jersey in addition to Accelerate U’s local offering of the same program in Chicago, Illinois. By 2024, the program aims to offer three high-wage, high-demand pathways in five states that will stack into associate and eventually bachelor’s degrees.
For more information about Accelerate U at NLU or the “Accelerate America” partnership with Propel America, please email us at accelerateu@nl.edu.
