Mike Feinberg on Why Skills-Based Training Could Become a Growing Focus in Higher Education

More than three-quarters of employers — 81% — feel they should base hiring decisions on candidates’ skills, not the degree they have, according to a survey conducted by the nonprofit American Student Assistance organization.

College can come with a hefty price tag; between 1980 and 2020, the average cost of an undergraduate education, including tuition, fees, and room and board, rose 169%, according to a Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce report.

As a result, a number of high school students may now be looking for other options, according to Mike Feinberg, co-founder of WorkTexas.

“Kids and parents [were] told if you want to be successful in this world, you have to go to college,” he says. “In the ’90s, the cost was the size of a car loan — now it’s a home mortgage.”

A Different Take on Entering the Workforce

In 2020, Mike Feinberg introduced a new alternative to traditional two- and four-year institutions — WorkTexas, a free secondary and postsecondary program that gives students a chance to learn the specific skills needed to obtain certain jobs while simultaneously earning a high school degree.

Adults also can gain career-related skills by taking evening courses held at two locations in Houston.

Initially, the nonprofit program offered welding, carpentry and construction, auto tech, and residential and commercial electrical certification-related instruction. The curriculum has since expanded to include courses that provide plumbing, HVAC, building maintenance, commercial truck driving, child development associate, medical assistant, crane and rigging, culinary skills, and distribution, logistics, and warehousing management.

WorkTexas has partnered with more than 100 organizations that provide insight into what specific proficiencies they need, which has helped the program tailor its instruction. 

“The technical skills are about 30% of what the employers want,” Feinberg says. “The other 70% all say the exact same thing, ‘We need more welders who can lay a bead, electricians who can bend conduit — but what we really need are people who get to work on time; people who value working hard and being nice; people who can work on a team.’ We're teaching soft skills as well.”

When participants complete the program, WorkTexas’ partner organizations also supply employment opportunities.

“You go to various community colleges, trade schools, training organizations whose billboards are on the highways and ask them, ‘Are you successful? How do you know you’re doing a good job?’” Feinberg says. “And they say, ‘Well, 97.8% of our students earn a certificate.’ How many of those people got jobs? They don’t know. We didn’t want to fall into that trap — we are employer-focused, and our mission is to help people get jobs, keep jobs, and advance in careers.”

To achieve that goal, the WorkTexas program is structured to include long-term assistance that extends far beyond participants’ time in class.

“We're not just looking at how the students are doing with us this year,” Mike Feinberg says. “We make a commitment to follow our students for at least five years to help them not just get the job. We’re interested in what that looks like, in terms of career contentment, and especially in terms of earning power and creating sustainable lives for themselves, their families, and future generations.”