Reach University

“I’m 52, and after all this time, I finally have my teaching degree. I’m a teacher.” 🎓🎉

Please join us in celebrating Reach University alumna, Sheila Brewer! Sheila has spent 28 years working in the Lincoln Consolidated Schools system in Arkansas.

For a decade, she served as a special education (SPED) paraeducator, working closely with the students she loved, but without the credentials to call herself a teacher.

Through Reach’s Apprenticeship Degree program, Sheila earned her degree and teaching credential debt-free, all while continuing to receive her paycheck. At 52, she graduated and is now teaching special education at the very same high school where she worked as a para!

Her advice to anyone on the fence about going back to school?

“Just keep going. You'll get to the end, and you'll have the degree to show for it.”

Read more about Sheila’s inspiring story on our blog! 👇

https://reach.edu/blog/sheila-brewers-reach-journey

Paraprofessional at 42, Teacher at 52: Sheila Brewer’s Reach Journey Sheila Brewer's journey from paraprofessional to teacher at 52 highlights the transformative power of Reach University's Apprenticeship Degree Program.

For many working adults, the path to a new career must be designed to fit real life — not require them to put it on hold.

There are jobs to keep, families to care for, bills to pay, and communities already depending on them. The Apprenticeship College of Health's (ACH) debt-free degree pathways are built with that reality in mind.

Through ACH, candidates can build toward behavioral health careers while continuing to work, gain experience in care settings, and move forward without stepping away from the responsibilities they already carry.

Learn more about ACH: https://healthapprenticeship.org/earn-a-degree/

Healthcare Training Fund

🎓 Congratulations to our Reach University graduates at Bossier Schools!

Bossier Parish recently recognized Winter '25 and Spring '26 Reach grads for earning their degrees while continuing to serve students across the district. ✨

Through the Apprenticeship Degree, these graduates earned college credit for the work they were already doing, stayed employed throughout their program, and completed a rigorous liberal arts degree without taking on student loan debt.

Their achievement is a powerful example of what Apprenticeship Degrees make possible for working adults — and the dedication, perseverance, and impact these teachers bring to their communities every day.

And save the date! The celebration continues on July 16 at 6:30 p.m. CT, when Reach's Class of 2025–2026 will be honored at Commencement for their remarkable accomplishments.

Congratulations, Reachers and Bossier Schools! More milestones await. 🎉🎓🔥

🎓 Hats off to two of our own Reachers!

Ngozi Maduagwu and Jaime Allala are Candidate Success Advisors at Reach University — and this week, they completed impressive milestones of their own!

Both spend their days encouraging candidates to keep going, show up, and earn their degrees. This week, that's exactly what they did.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Maduagwu on earning her Doctor of Philosophy in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Liberty University, and Jaime on earning his Master of Science in eLearning from California State University, East Bay.

Congratulations, Dr. Z and Jaime! We are so proud to learn and grow alongside you. Your achievements are a powerful reminder that the pursuit of growth and lifelong learning never ends. 🎉

Four Stanford Law School classmates. One big idea for the future of higher education.

A new story looks at how Joe E. Ross, Afam Onyema, Ari Simon, and Melanie Wachtell Stinnett, all members of the Class of 2007, have reunited at Reach University to help working adults turn their jobs into degrees.

Built around an apprenticeship model, Reach is rethinking what higher education can look like for people already serving schools, hospitals, and their communities. Its premise is simple: a degree should not require leaving work, taking on heavy debt, or stepping into a model of college that was never designed for so many of today’s students. Read more: https://brnw.ch/21x308E

📣 Working adults already serving their communities — educators, behavioral health professionals, and aspiring leaders of all kinds — deserve degree pathways built around their lives, experience, and potential. ✨

That’s why we’re so excited to welcome the inaugural cohort of the Apprenticeship College of Health (ACH)!

Across Washington state, aspiring substance use disorder professionals are preparing for behavioral health careers that will strengthen the communities they already know and care deeply about — while building toward accredited Apprenticeship Degrees grounded in work-embedded learning and real-world experience.

Please join us in welcoming the first of many behavioral health learners to the Reach community! 🧡

We’re honored to welcome this inaugural cohort and grateful to our innovative employer partners helping make this pathway possible.

Healthcare 1199NW Multi-Employer Training Fund

Some of the most powerful future teachers are already serving students every day — they just need a degree pathway built for the realities of their lives.

After years serving students in Louisiana schools, Paulesta Gilbert found a degree pathway that honored the educator she already was, while helping her become the credentialed teacher she had long worked to be.

At 58, she graduated from Reach University a semester early and stepped into her first full-time teaching role at the innovative Webster Parish Schools, bringing with her years of experience, persistence, and care for students.

“Delayed, but not denied.” 👏

Read Paulesta’s story:
https://reach.edu/blog/delayed-not-denied-how-the-apprenticeship-degree-helped-paulesta-gilbert-become-the-teacher-she-always-was