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Vermont State University and CCV outline stackable credentials, online bachelor's and apprenticeship to grow teacher pipeline
Summary
Officials from Vermont State University and the Community College of Vermont described new stackable credentials, a paraeducator certificate, a 60-credit associate, a fall-2026 online bachelor's with dual licensure and an apprenticeship coordinated with the Agency of Education and Department of Labor, funded in part by the Kohler Foundation.
Leaders from the Vermont State Colleges system and the Community College of Vermont told the House Education committee on May 12 about a coordinated, systemwide strategy to expand and diversify the teacher workforce through stackable credentials, an online bachelor’s program and a state-registered teacher apprenticeship.
Dr. David Kupferman, dean at Vermont State University, said the system will launch an online bachelor’s degree in elementary education (K–6) with dual licensure and a special-education endorsement (K–8 for special ed) beginning in fall 2026, offered through VTSU online in seven-week terms. “This new elementary education teacher apprenticeship pathway has been in development for the past 18 months or so,” Kupferman said, describing a learn-while-you-earn model that allows people already working in schools to take coursework without leaving their jobs.
Dr. Leslie Johnson, associate academic dean at CCV, described two new CCV programs that will feed the pathway: a 30-credit paraeducator certificate aligned to state paraprofessional standards and a 60-credit Associate of Arts in Liberal Studies with a specialization in education, both beginning in fall 2026 and designed to stack into the bachelor’s program at VTSU.
Kupferman said the apprenticeship will be coordinated with the Agency of Education (AOE) and the Department of Labor (DOL) and supported by financial assistance from the Kohler Foundation. He noted that AOE and DOL’s registered apprenticeship has its own set of regulations and that CCV and VTSU will provide the coursework component; participation in the apprenticeship requires district recommendations and specific in-class hours that go beyond the degree coursework.
Program structure details given to the committee included four practicums (two 60-hour and two 240-hour practica) and a 13-week student-teaching semester; all practicum and student-teaching placements will occur in the student’s current employing school when applicable so candidates do not need to leave work to fulfill field requirements.
Officials highlighted efforts to make credentials accessible for nontraditional students: CCV serves many part-time, working and first-generation students (CCV leaders said the average student age is about 26, 90% attend part time, 74% work full or part time, 52% were first-generation in 2025 and 53% received Pell grants). Kupferman said online tuition rates for the program will be reduced compared with campus-based in-state rates to support accessibility.
Both institutions emphasized collaboration across the Vermont State Colleges system and with external partners including AOE, DOL, VSAC and other funders. Presenters told the committee they hope the coordinated pathway will help address teacher shortages by creating multiple entry points — from paraeducator certificate to associate degree to online bachelor’s and apprenticeship — that are stackable and aligned to state standards.
The presenters thanked the state for bridge funding and private philanthropic partners that supported program development; they said some prior short-term funding (for example, McClure Foundation support) helped earlier cohorts but that durable institutional or state mechanisms for student financial support remain a challenge.
