Past Grants and Contracts
Browse past funding opportunities and awardees to learn more about the types of apprenticeship projects, innovations, and ideas that have received federal funding, but are no longer active. View the press release for an award to learn about each award specifically or to select an awardee’s abstract (if available) to learn more about how the organization supported apprenticeship expansion efforts in a specific area or industry, and for insight on how new opportunities may be a good fit for your organization.
2020
Original Opportunity Notice: FOA-ETA-20-06
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) today announced the award of $42,296,247 in Youth Apprenticeship Readiness grants to 14 organizations to increase participation by youth, ages 16 to 24, in new or existing Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs).
These grants will allow educational entities—including traditional, alternative, and non-traditional schools; and programs that serve out-of-school youth, school boards, workforce boards, employers, workforce partners, and other apprenticeship intermediaries—to partner to develop and establish new apprenticeship models for youth or expand existing apprenticeship programs for youth.
Grant recipients will seek to expand opportunities to prepare 16 to 24 year old registered apprentices for careers in industries including manufacturing, information technology, cybersecurity, and healthcare.
Original Opportunity Notice: ETA-TEGL-15-19
The U.S. Department of Labor awarded $81,046,170 in grants intended to support activities that improve states’ ability to serve, improve and expand the Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP) model by strengthening the national apprenticeship system, promoting system alignment and partnership, and improving data sharing and data integrity.
The “Building State Capacity to Expand Apprenticeship through Innovation” grants support statewide RAP expansion through a two-tiered funding system that provides states with maximum flexibility to address local apprenticeship needs while enhancing the focus on employer engagement, performance, and positive outcomes for apprentices. Administered by the Department’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA), the Department awarded grants to 42 states and U.S. territories.
“Registered Apprenticeship Programs provide workers with the right skills needed in today’s labor market and can have a positive impact in fixing the skills gap that employers face,” said Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training John Pallasch. “This will be a great opportunity for young people who want to combine on-the-job training with relevant classroom education, while getting paid at the same time.”
“We thought it necessary to reward states who have demonstrated excellent performance in one of the Department’s key policy objectives,” Pallasch added. “The Department believes positive outcomes for those we serve must carry more weight as we look to award funding.”
The Department awarded funds to states and U.S. territories that applied for Tier I funding to help support the programs’ goals. In addition to Tier I funding, 12 states received additional funds under Tier II, ranging from $3 million to $9 million, based on the number and quality of Tier II applications received, as well as strong evidence of past performance in expanding RAPs; other factors included geographic, industry and Tier II goal distribution. With these additional funds, the selected states will go above-and-beyond supporting the state’s basic Registered Apprenticeship structures in the state. These activities include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Expanding registered apprenticeships in healthcare, mental health care, addiction treatment, or alternative pain management occupations providing support to individuals living in rural areas;
- Incorporating specific strategies to support or expand Registered Apprenticeship opportunities among all workers, including women, minorities, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and individuals with a criminal record;
- Supporting system alignment and partnership through the establishment or expansion of the role of the business service representatives/apprenticeship navigators with the promotion of apprenticeship to partner systems;
- Developing innovative technical assistance strategies/approaches for Registered Apprenticeship sponsors;
- Establishing an employer incentive plan to expand or scale Registered Apprenticeships;
- Identifying specific strategies to support engagement with small businesses in nontraditional industries in Registered Apprenticeships; and
- Launching or expanding sector strategies to expand RAPs to new industries and/or new or non-traditional occupations in existing sectors.
2019
Original Opportunity Notice: ETA-TEGL-17-18
The Employment and Training Administration awarded $73 million in State Apprenticeship Expansion grants to States to increase the number of apprentices in Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs) and to ensure that apprenticeship is a viable career path for youth, adults, and career seekers, as well as a valuable workforce development strategy for businesses. These grants also aim to support and encourage RAP diversification, including increasing the diversity of apprentices and growing apprenticeship across industry sectors and to support the integration of RAPs into state workforce development, education, and economic development strategies and programs.
Original Opportunity Notice: FOA-WB-19-01
The Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) grant helps to expand pathways for women to enter and lead in all industries.
In 2019, the WANTO grant program awarded $1,492,515 to three community-based organizations to increase women's employment in apprenticeship programs and nontraditional occupations.
Organizations receiving funds will provide one or more of the following types of technical assistance:
- Developing pre-apprenticeship or nontraditional skills training programs to prepare women for those careers;
- Providing ongoing orientations for employers, unions, and workers on creating a successful environment for women to succeed in those careers; and
- Setting up support groups, facilitating networks, and/or providing support services for women to improve their retention.
Original Opportunity Notice: ETA-OA-VAN
In March 2018, the Department of Labor announced approximately $20 million for a cooperative agreement with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) to support the Expanding Community College Apprenticeship (ECCA) Initiative. Through a partnership between Community Colleges and industry, the ECCA Initiative would allow employers / industry partners to identify and match with Community College new and existing apprenticeship programs. The project will train 16,000 apprentices.
Apprenticeship Expansion and Modernization Fund is designed to provide foundational and tailored outreach and technical assistance to prospective and current registered apprenticeship program sponsors and other stakeholders to facilitate the development, implementation, and growth of registered apprenticeship programs. It also serve as innovation incubators by managing the development and dissemination of tools and strategies that hold promise to accelerate the expansion of registered apprenticeship across the nation.
Original Opportunity Number: FOA-ETA-18-08
The U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration (ETA) awarded approximately $184 million in grants to 23 grantees for the Scaling Apprenticeship through Sector-Based Strategies grant program in June 2019. The primary goal of this grant program is to accelerate the expansion of apprenticeships to new industry sectors reliant on H-1B visas, such as information technology (IT) and IT-related industries, advanced manufacturing, and health care. In addition, the grant program will increase the level of apprenticeship activity among employers within these industry sectors that have not traditionally implemented apprenticeship programs, particularly small- and medium-sized businesses.
Scaling Apprenticeship will promote the large-scale expansion of apprenticeships across the nation by supporting the training of thousands of apprentices in new or expanded programs and by assisting partners in their efforts to create and scale the new or expanded apprenticeship programs. This grant program will also increase apprenticeship opportunities for all Americans, particularly veterans, military spouses and those individuals currently underrepresented in existing apprenticeship programs.
Program Activities: This grant program will expand apprenticeship opportunities within H-1B industry sectors, particularly those that have not deployed apprenticeships on a large scale previously, and increase the number and types of workers participating as apprentices. To achieve these goals, projects will undertake activities within each of the following categories:
- Deploying apprenticeship training. Grant funds will be used primarily to support the training of thousands of apprentices in new or expanded programs. Training and training-related activities will include the academic and work-based training itself, as well as supportive services, such as childcare and transportation, designed to assist apprentices to participate and remain in an apprenticeship program.
- Taking apprenticeships to scale. Assisting partners in their efforts to create and scale the new or expanded apprenticeship programs is another critical component of the work under this grant program. Projects will establish new apprenticeship programs, create the training infrastructure/network necessary to deploy these programs, expand existing apprenticeships, and promote all grant-funded apprenticeship programs on a national scale.
Grants totaling $183,883,271 were awarded to 23 partnerships in local and state service areas across the country, and will ultimately expand to reach a national scale.
2016
In 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) invested in national industry and equity Registered Apprenticeship (RA) intermediary organizations to accelerate the growth of RA in the U.S. These national industry and equity intermediary contracts ended in December 2020. To learn more about the cumulative accomplishments of these partners, see our fact sheet.
Original Opportunity Notice: FOA-ETA-16-13
In 2016, DOL awarded a $50.5M grant to expand Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs) in the states, with an emphasis on high-growth industries and underserved populations. The investment marked the first time that the Federal Government provided funding to support States in efforts to expand and diversify RAPs to better respond to industry workforce demands. In many states, apprenticeship is a component of, but not fully integrated into State economic, workforce, and education talent development systems. These grants provided an opportunity to further align resources to innovate and expand apprenticeship.
In Spring 2018, DOL made approximately $50 million in continuation funding available to the 37 State Apprenticeship Expansion grantees to enable states to continue their work to expand apprenticeship with the goal of sparking an additional 10 percent growth over the following two years of the grant period of performance.
2015
Original Opportunity Notice: FOA-ETA-15-02
The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL, or the department, or we), announces the availability of approximately $100 million in grant funds authorized by Section 414(c) of the American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998 (ACWIA), as amended (codified at 29 USC 2916a), for the American Apprenticeship Initiative. This initiative is intended to provide a catalyst in supporting a uniquely American Apprenticeship system that meets our country's particular economic, industry and workforce needs. American Apprenticeships (also referred to as Registered Apprenticeships) are innovative work-based learning and post-secondary earn-and- learn models that meet national standards for registration with the U.S. Department of Labor (or federally recognized State Apprenticeship Agencies). Approximately $100 million is expected to be available to fund approximately 25 grants. Grant awards will range from $2.5 - 5 million. Grant awards will be made only to the extent that funds are available.