Trump team offers apprenticeship incentives for high-demand trades

The Trump administration has created new incentives for apprenticeships to woo the nation’s dwindling pool of high school graduates to high-demand trades.

The Labor Department recently announced $145 million in “pay-for-performance” grants to develop registered apprenticeships in the fields of shipbuilding, transportation, defense, health care, semiconductors, telecommunications, artificial intelligence, information technology and nuclear energy.

The program builds on an executive order President Trump signed last year calling for 1 million apprentices to meet emerging workforce needs. It also follows a $35.8 million agreement that the administration inked with Arkansas last month to develop manufacturing apprenticeships.

“This groundbreaking federal program demonstrates the Trump Administration’s commitment to strengthening Registered Apprenticeships as the premier, high-quality solution to boost America’s skills development pipeline,” Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer said Friday in a statement.

Apprenticeship agreements between schools and employers let participants work in paid roles while completing an industry-recognized credential. Unlike internships, they last one to five years and typically lead to a permanent job.

While apprenticeships are less common in the U.S. than in other countries, enrollment has surged since the pandemic.

“What is driving the shift toward apprenticeships is, in part, the shift toward skill-based hiring and recruiting practices,” said Julia Phelan, an education consultant and former UCLA researcher.

A Labor Department analysis found that the number of active apprentices has more than doubled, from roughly 318,000 in 2014 to 680,000 in 2024.

Over the same period, the annual number of apprenticeship graduates jumped by 143% from about 46,000 to 112,000.

The American Staffing Association, a recruiting industry trade group, found in a June poll that 57% of adults would advise last year’s high school graduates to consider alternatives to a four-year college degree.

“Apprenticeships are one of the few initiatives that garner bipartisan political support,” Stephen Dwyer, the association’s CEO, said Wednesday.

Both the Biden and Trump administrations have promoted registered apprenticeships, which the government certifies as trustworthy paths to employment.

“This is a follow-up to the first Trump administration’s investment in increased funding for programs to support workforce development, including apprenticeships,” said Julian Scadden, CEO of Nexstar Network, a group of roughly 1,000 HVAC, plumbing and electrical companies, referring to the new grants.

The most popular apprenticeships include construction and nursing, two fields that have experienced worker shortages in recent years.

Higher education has braced for a 15% drop in the number of eligible college applicants this year, as a recession prompted fewer people to have children starting in 2008.

Economist Siri Terjesen, an associate dean at Florida Atlantic University, said these trends have pressured colleges to replace theoretical degrees with programs guaranteed to help students pay off their education costs.

“We’ve seen apprenticeship programs for many decades,” Ms. Terjesen said. “The new surge is driven by demand from students, from employers, and now increasingly from universities that seek paid work experiences for their students and a connection to employers who can provide on-the-job training.”

Questionable value

Job market insiders say high school graduates have increasingly questioned the value of a bachelor’s degree as living costs rise and artificial intelligence reshapes the job market.

They point to a spike in employers removing college degree requirements and adding “3-5 years of experience required” in entry-level job listings.

“Employers need trained employees now, not in four years, and apprenticeships deliver that,” said Lacey Kaelani, CEO of Metaintro, a New York City-based job search engine. “Our bet is that earning a full credential while working will become the norm, not the alternative, for the working class.”

Kami Gray, founder of Psychologie of Home, an alternative design business school for adults seeking to change careers, said colleges expanding apprenticeships are “responding to market pressure.”

“This is a structural shift, not a fad,” said Ms. Gray, who lives in Portland, Oregon. “Students increasingly want promises and delivery of employment, not just education.”

According to Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, nearly a third of annual job openings through 2031 will require a credential but no degree.

Heather Maietta, a career coach and professor at Regis College near Boston, said universities can no longer ignore the growing number of young people who avoid degrees that lack hands-on learning opportunities.

“Students want this, parents want this and employers want this,” Ms. Maietta said.

Predictions

Higher education insiders predict that campuses launching apprenticeships will have a better chance of thriving as the number of high school graduates declines nationwide over the next few years.

“The work world is changing,” said Kevin Krebs, founder of HelloCollege, an Illinois-based admissions counseling firm. “You can’t sit idly by until you’re 21 and suddenly decide you want a good job. That’s not how it works anymore.”

“I see a growing chasm between what’s in the syllabus and what’s in the boardroom,” said Ava Sirrah, an education consultant and New York University business instructor. “Many universities struggle with anachronistic curricula because faculty haven’t been in the workforce for decades.”

In an April 2025 fact sheet, the White House flagged a shortage of 447,000 construction workers and 94,000 durable goods workers in 2024.

It cited a Bureau of Labor Statistics estimate that the annual shortage of skilled tradesmen would grow steadily over the next decade to “close to half a million” workers.

The White House fact sheet also blasted previous administrations for promoting “college for all” as a “one-size-fits-all approach to workforce preparedness.”

Sarah Boisvert, New Mexico-based CEO of New Collar AI, said universities must “leave the old models behind” to attract the growing number of high school graduates who cannot afford four-year degrees. Her software company trains students to use 3D printers, laser cutters and other manufacturing tools.

“Colleges are typically still trying to tie apprenticeship training to degrees,” Ms. Boisvert said. “For many students, that is not an option because college is not for everyone.”