The close connections between industry and academe, in which students simultaneously train and study, are gaining ground in the United States. Inspired by Germany's model, states are encouraging community colleges and manufacturers to work together on training programs. This offers a possible solution to a problem that continues to vex the United States: a mismatch between what students are learning in the classroom and what employers say they need. Apprenticeships have long played a role in training American workers, and as recently as the Clinton administration there was a concerted surge of interest in adopting the German model. Once the province of traditional trades and under the control of organized labor, they are now being used in a number of states to train workers in middle- and high-skills jobs in health care, information technology, and the service industry, among other fields. Those working on adapting the dual system in the United States are hoping that the new generation of apprenticeships will shatter the stereotype that vocational education is only for students who cannot get into traditional higher education.