WASHINGTON, D.C. – Marcus Bruce leaned against the tables where he and his carpentry students paused to answer questions from local middle schoolers on a recent tour of the University of the District of Columbia’s workforce campus.
The young students didn’t hold back:
“What happens to student loans? Will they take it from your check if you don’t pay?”
“Will your family have to pay back your student loans if you die?”
For Bruce and the other instructors at UDC’s Workforce Development and Lifelong Learning campus, the questions from the students reflect a generation already weighing the costs of higher education alongside the promise of quicker pathways into the workforce.
“If you look all around this city, you’ll see they’re building everything,” Bruce told the students. “Having a trade is an awesome and beautiful thing, and guess what? They’ll always need people with skill.”
As faith in traditional four-year degrees is falling, enrollment in trade schools has increased.
Apprenticeship programs and enrollment in two-year, trade-focused college programs have risen almost 20% since 2020, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. With many university graduates stuck in debt and unemployed, trade schools and programs are offering alternatives. Blue-collar jobs can provide more stability and salaries to match, Bruce and others say.
UDC’s workforce development program is free to Washington residents and has offered an alternative to a traditional four-year college experience for nearly 17 years. Construction is among the six pathways in the trades program. The university’s workforce training programs have expanded steadily, and the waitlists for courses have grown each semester.
Nationally, the construction industry has a projected need of 2.2 million new workers, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Bruce and his colleagues want to ensure students from the city’s public schools benefit from the potential opportunities locally and beyond. Across the nation’s capital, construction companies have planted their flags on sites of future development projects such as housing, grocery stores and outdoor shopping destinations.
Tysean Lawson-Bey, the construction pathway director, and his team are recruiting young Black people from local schools.
“My team and our efforts are to recruit young folks to try to clean up the D.C. metropolitan area and to give these young folks something to do,” Lawson-Bey told Capital B. “We make really strong efforts to go into these schools to start the recruitment early.”
Some of the students in the construction pathway, in addition to the five other pathways, are coming straight from DC Public Schools, and they’re hitting the ground running while saving thousands by bypassing the traditional route of a four-year degree.
The middle schoolers who grilled Bruce and other instructors were part of a program sponsored by the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services.
Targeting the youth in surrounding neighborhoods
A native of uptown Washington, Lawson-Bey said southern parts of the city still carry a lingering bad reputation, even though the neighborhoods have improved.
The workforce program is in Southeast Washington, nearly 10 miles south of the university’s main campus. The population is more than 80% Black, and median household incomes are lower than in the city’s northern areas, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Lawson-Bey sees this more as an opportunity to fill a need.
“We’re really training them. They’re getting top-notch instruction, and they just need an opportunity,” Lawson-Bey said.
Since taking over as the construction pathway program director three years ago, he’s made a point to go directly into high schools, recruiting students to pick up a trade.
That’s how Darrell Cook found UDC’s program.
In high school, he took advanced placement courses, but by his senior year, he knew he didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a major at a four-year university he wasn’t sure about.
His teachers, counselor, and family members urged him to seek some kind of higher education, even if it wasn’t the traditional four-year college experience. That’s when his college and career counselor told him to look into trade programs at the University of the District of Columbia.
At just 19, Cook is making significantly more than people older than him, Lawson-Bey said. Since enrolling in the construction pathway program in 2024, Cook has earned certifications in HVAC, CPR, and pool maintenance, making him more marketable to local employers.
“That young man is the top of the class,” Lawson-Bey said. “He’s making, like, $35 an hour. He’s 19 years old. Yeah. So he’s the model. He’s working right now but constantly getting offers.”
While students like Cook are having no problem finding jobs, Lawson-Bey knows not everyone has had the same success, so he’s taking a more holistic approach. He’s constantly recruiting community partners and instructors to strengthen the program and pushing corporate companies to see the potential in his students.
He thinks many companies are scared to come to the area because of its bad reputation. But he’s hoping companies are watching the program improve and prepare students.
After this summer session, several students, including Cook, will complete the construction pathway.
“Once the industry finds out we’re here, we won’t have these problems,” Lawson-Bey said.
Pushing through despite financial pressures
UDC’s workforce development program is funded by the city, and that brings its own challenges.
Earlier this year, the DC City Council passed a $22 billion budget for fiscal year 2027, but it slashed the school’s funding by $10 million. (The council restored $6 million in June.)
But as funding suffers and instructors push to improve certification scores, Lawson-Bey said the need for the program extends beyond fresh high school graduates. For some students, they’re enrolling to keep their government assistance. For others, it’s a chance for a career transition without the financial burden.
Constance Walker said the program was not only a way to pivot her career path, but it provided her a support system during one of the most challenging times in her life.
Walker, 32, enrolled in the construction pathway after she experienced homelessness and job loss. Born and raised in Washington, she lost her car and quickly had to settle into traveling to and from the Southeast campus while also being a single parent.
The mother of two daughters said she looked at other programs, but the classes required her to attend in person for six to eight hours. At UDC, her in-person courses are just three hours.
Still, she said communication is what kept her on track. While enrolled at UDC, the university provided Walker with a SmartTrip card to access public transportation throughout the city and a $250 grocery card while she was unemployed.
“There were a few times I was struggling to stay focused,” she said. There were some days she had to skip class, Walker continued, because she didn’t have a babysitter or had to bring her daughter to class. By communicating, Walker was able to stay enrolled and finish her program in less than a year.
This upcoming session, she’ll be an instructor for the construction pathway, giving back to a program that was there during a dark time in her life, she said.
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