 When I talk to kids today, they all have that dream to earn that higher education degree and for some of them the path for how to do it is really intimidating. The cost of getting a degree, the time required, exactly how everything unfolds can be a challenge. A degree apprenticeship offers students a unique opportunity to earn either an associate's degree or a bachelor's degree that incorporates that work-based learning experience so that learning isn't just in the classroom. They think about apprenticeship in a different way, not just as more of those trades. The degree apprenticeship offers a student a way to earn wages and make money while they're earning their degree. It also gives them a path and career-connected experience that makes that degree relevant for them. They have the opportunity to get that work-based training, but also they're able to go in and get some of the theoretical and technical skills. My quality degree apprenticeship would bridge the classroom and the applied space where they could see the things that they're learning from a professor or a teacher being applied in the workplace very quickly. Degree apprenticeships benefit students because they're able to spend time in the workplace developing the experience that's so essential for their future while also being able to spend time in the classroom earning the degree that's going to open doors and opportunity for them. To not just have a classroom-based experience or a work experience but this idea that it's integrated and that you could learn something one day and actually apply it another day. There's a lot of perception about a disconnect between higher education and employers' needs and apprenticeship really bridges that divide. A degree apprenticeship is a tremendous opportunity. If I'm actually getting paid to go to school, I can support myself, my children, my family while I'm getting my degree. So I think that there's opportunity and some stability there that maybe I might not see in a traditional college program. It can help to build a pipeline of professionals from those populations who don't normally get access to these types of opportunities. From the employer perspective, you have a well-trained worker who is situated in your organizational culture as well. You've made an investment in this particular individual. There's several examples around the country of really high-level apprenticeship programs stepping into these fields that get very good earnings outcomes. If you're looking to create a degree apprenticeship with existing curriculum and trying to match that up to the needs of the industry, there may be some knots you have to untangle. Let's build this into a system that we have but that provides more flexibility, provides more options for folks and really starts to think of these two systems as being joined rather than separate silos within their state. We're seeing employer partners, education partners come together. I may still have costs that haven't been considered by my employer or my institution. We need to be thinking about those pieces and looking at why. And maybe it's because childcare is an issue or transportation is an issue. So those populations who think, I'd love to go to school but I have to make money. I have to take care of my family. So being able to say, well, you're going to get paid and you're going to learn and someone's investing in your future. These are all really key things that I think will speak to some of those populations. We shouldn't say to people, well, come back at a point in which your life is less complicated. It's education saying, you know what? We are complicated. We're all complicated. And so we're looking at how do we put in place supports that make it possible for us to have a beautiful learning experience with a complicated group of people who have a lot to share and a lot that can enrich the environment. I think it's an access point in a way that traditional degrees just haven't been. Apprenticeship has been challenging elegance solution to some of the challenges that we're faced with. It's a long way to say, we really love apprenticeship, we're face learning and so do governors.