Some students will choose to attend a community college, though not necessarily for a pathway to a four-year degree.

Instead, they’re going to be apprentices— training for one of the more than 17,000 open middle-skills jobs (which require training or certification but not a college degree) for which Orange County employers are offering healthy salaries and benefits. Jobs like piloting drones for mapping or search and rescue operations.

It’s a concept that goes back centuries – reimagined for the 21st century—and a model that the Orange County Community Foundation (OCCF) has embraced through our workforce development initiative, The Future is Working.