America Needs Apprenticeships at Scale
Four decades of missed opportunities, renewed momentum, and why apprenticeship matters more than ever
America has spent decades debating how to expand opportunity beyond the four-year college pathway. After nearly forty years studying apprenticeship systems in the United States and abroad, I have become convinced that apprenticeship offers one of the most powerful—and underutilized—tools for expanding economic mobility and strengthening the workforce.
Almost 40 years ago, my perspective on skills, mobility, and occupational mastery changed dramatically. That shift led me to devote much of my professional life to understanding apprenticeships and their potential to improve America’s economy and society.
At the time, I was working with colleagues to evaluate the Congressionally mandated Youth Employment Demonstrations Project Act (YEDPA). The experience convinced me that America’s strategy for helping young people build careers was deeply incomplete.
Policymakers focused heavily on “second-chance” programs, assuming most workers would somehow find their footing after leaving school. But by the late 1980s, it had become clear to me that the United States lacked a coherent system to help many young people successfully transition from school into rewarding careers.
For roughly one-third of young Americans, a four-year college degree provided a strong pathway. But what about everyone else?
As other researchers and I examined systems abroad—especially in Germany and Switzerland—we saw how apprenticeships could widen access to skilled, respected, and well-paying careers.
Although I had trained as a labor economist, I initially viewed apprenticeships skeptically. In the United States, they were often associated with restricted entry, nepotism, and exclusion, especially of Black workers.
But the more I learned, the more I came to appreciate why apprenticeships had succeeded in other countries and why they could succeed here as well.
The Push for Youth Apprenticeship
In an early effort to persuade policymakers to make apprenticeship a viable option for young people, Hillard Pouncy and I published The Compelling Case for Youth Apprenticeship in The Public Interest in 1990.
Our article coincided with growing national concern over America’s weak school-to-work transition system.
Stephen Hamilton’s influential book Apprenticeship for Adulthood highlighted the strengths of the German apprenticeship model. The Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce argued that the United States had “the worst school-to-work transition system of any advanced industrial country.” Meanwhile, the W.T. Grant Commission pointed to massive public investment for college-bound students and very little support for what it famously called “The Forgotten Half.”
The focus on youth apprenticeship was natural. In the early 1990s, unemployment among 16- to 19-year-olds hovered around 20 percent—roughly four to five times the rates in apprenticeship-rich countries such as Germany and Switzerland.
While apprentices abroad developed occupational skills and clear career identities, many American non-college youth cycled through unemployment or low-skill jobs with little future.
We believed youth apprenticeship could:
Expand the supply of skilled workers
Narrow the wage gap between college and non-college workers
Motivate students to work harder in school
Restore pride and self-worth through mastery of productive skills
Surprisingly, policymakers responded quickly.
The first Bush Administration sponsored youth apprenticeship demonstrations and proposed the National Youth Apprenticeship Act of 1992. The Clinton Administration followed with the School-to-Work Opportunities Act (STWOA), which passed Congress with bipartisan support.
Several states—notably Wisconsin and Georgia—created youth apprenticeship systems that still exist today. Wisconsin’s youth apprenticeship system has survived for more than three decades and now serves roughly 12,000 students annually, demonstrating that large-scale youth apprenticeship can succeed in the United States.
Yet despite President Clinton’s personal interest in apprenticeship, the movement ultimately lost momentum.
Labor unions worried that youth apprenticeship programs might weaken standards or undermine traditional registered apprenticeships. Some youth advocates feared “tracking” students away from college or forcing career decisions too early. Others doubted employers would provide enough apprenticeship opportunities.
By the time STWOA became law, the term youth apprenticeship had largely disappeared from the legislation. Eventually, the initiative faded, and the law expired by 2000.
The Interregnum
From 2000 to 2015, apprenticeship expansion received remarkably little attention from policymakers.
Outside construction, apprenticeship growth largely stagnated. Civilian apprenticeships actually declined from roughly 400,000 to 350,000 even as total employment rose by more than 12 million workers.
Federal support remained minimal, and the Department of Labor devoted relatively little attention to expanding apprenticeship opportunities.
Yet even during these quiet years, evidence continued to accumulate that apprenticeship could deliver exceptional results.
In England, apprenticeship participation expanded dramatically during the 2010s, at one point reaching roughly 850,000 participants. South Carolina launched Apprenticeship Carolina, an initiative that increased employer participation from roughly 90 firms to more than 700 between 2009 and 2014.
Both examples demonstrated the importance of intermediary organizations that persuade employers to try apprenticeship and help them organize successful programs.
At the same time, research from Washington State found exceptionally large earnings gains for apprentices compared with participants in other workforce programs. Apprentices even outperformed community-college graduates. Studies of over 900 U.S. apprenticeship sponsors also showed that many employers benefited substantially from apprenticeship investments.
The human case for apprenticeship became clearer as well. In his important book The Means to Grow Up, Robert Halpern argues that youth apprenticeships strengthen not only skills but also dispositions, self-knowledge, vitality, and a grounded sense of accomplishment.
Apprenticeship Returns to the National Agenda
Obama and the Start of New Federal Support
The Obama Administration recognized the importance of preparing workers for middle-skill careers. Initially, policymakers focused heavily on community colleges, creating the $2 billion TAACCCT grant initiative that funded 256 grantees across the country.
Only later did apprenticeship gain serious federal attention. In 2015, the Administration launched the American Apprenticeship Initiative, providing $175 million to 45 grantees over five years.
That investment was significant partly because federal apprenticeship funding had previously been tiny—roughly $30 million annually, barely enough to support modest staffing for state and federal apprenticeship offices.
Trump and the Push for Expansion
The first Trump Administration further elevated apprenticeship expansion.
At a widely publicized White House meeting, President Trump endorsed Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff’s “moonshot” proposal to create 5 million apprenticeships in 5 years.
Federal spending on apprenticeship rose substantially, exceeding $200 million annually for state offices and demonstration projects.
The Administration’s proposal for Industry-Recognized Apprenticeships generated controversy because critics believed it bypassed existing federal and state quality reviews. Whether justified or not, the controversy fractured the growing bipartisan consensus behind apprenticeship expansion.
Biden, Trump, and Continued Growth
The Biden Administration largely continued the expansionary trajectory.
Between 2021 and 2024, apprenticeship funding remained high, while the CHIPS Act, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and Inflation Reduction Act all encouraged apprenticeship development.
Governors, employers, and educators increasingly embraced apprenticeship as confidence in the costly “college for all” strategy weakened. Labor shortages in manufacturing, skilled trades, health care, and teaching further strengthened employer interest.
State legislatures responded aggressively. Between 2014 and 2023, the number of apprenticeship-related bills enacted by states roughly doubled. More governors highlighted apprenticeship in State of the State addresses. Several states streamlined registration procedures, created apprenticeship offices, or integrated apprenticeship pathways into high schools and community colleges.
California, Colorado, and South Carolina introduced substantial subsidies for apprenticeship sponsors.
The results have been meaningful. Between 2016 and 2025, civilian apprenticeships rose by roughly 77 percent—from about 330,000 to 586,000 participants.
In April 2025, President Trump issued an executive order setting a goal of 1 million apprenticeships.
Yet despite this progress, the United States still lags far behind other advanced countries. Apprentices account for only about 0.32 percent of the American labor force—well below the levels seen in Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, and Switzerland.
Why Apprenticeships Matter More Than Ever
The case for apprenticeship expansion has only strengthened.
Evidence of large earnings gains continues to accumulate. Although findings on employer returns are somewhat mixed, most employers that sponsor apprentices report strong satisfaction with the model.
College remains enormously valuable for many students. But the “college for all” model has lost credibility. Costs have soared, student debt has exploded, and many young people either do not complete college or graduate without strong labor-market opportunities.
Meanwhile, employers increasingly demand work experience even for entry-level positions—experience that apprenticeships naturally provide. Yet the share of young people working has been declining.
Young men, in particular, face growing difficulties. They are now substantially less likely than women to complete college, leaving many without a clear pathway into stable and rewarding careers.
For many young men, learning by doing, earning a wage, and producing something tangible are far more appealing than sitting in classrooms or writing papers.
The consequences extend well beyond economics. Without opportunities to develop mastery, competence, and occupational identity, too many young people lose confidence in their future. Economic disengagement contributes to declining mobility, falling trust in institutions, delayed family formation, and growing social alienation.
A strong apprenticeship system cannot solve all these problems. But it can provide millions of young Americans with clearer pathways into productive adulthood.
Looking Ahead
The United States has made meaningful progress. But apprenticeship remains far smaller than it should be in a nation facing labor mismatches, falling youth employment, declining confidence in higher education, and too few options for entering rewarding careers.
Achieving apprenticeship at scale will require sustained public investment, stronger intermediary institutions, and sound infrastructure for a modern apprenticeship system.
Our target should be 4 million apprenticeships—roughly 2.4 percent of the workforce—a rate comparable to what other industrial countries achieve.
Finally, apprenticeships are especially appealing to the public. They are inclusive, not exclusive; they reduce inequality by enhancing productivity, not through redistribution; and they combine learning with real paid work.
Public support may be stronger than many policymakers realize. Oren Cass cites survey evidence showing that 57 percent of American parents would prefer a three-year apprenticeship to a full college scholarship for their child.
America has spent decades searching for ways to improve economic mobility, strengthen workforce development, and create better pathways into adulthood. Apprenticeship is not a cure-all. But it is one of the few policies that simultaneously benefits workers, employers, and taxpayers.
The challenge is no longer proving that apprenticeship works. The challenge is building the institutions necessary to bring apprenticeship to scale.
In my next Substack, I will lay out a realistic strategy for expanding apprenticeship to 4 million participants and making apprenticeship a mainstream pathway into rewarding careers.
Looking forward to the next post!
excellent summary of an important initiative -- will hope it gains traction among policymakers-- jill nelson