Apprenticeship for Young People

• Young people engage in work-based, experiential learning and can further their education through related instruction, often provided by community and technical colleges.
• Schools find new ways to engage students, connecting them to career pathways during their secondary education, increasing the potential for career success.
• Businesses gain access to a talent pipeline of entry-level workers that can address talent shortages in the workplace.
• Out-of-school youth and young adults can utilize Registered Apprenticeships as an alternative pathway to gain experience, industry-recognized skills, earn wages while learning, and re-engage in education and career development outside traditional classroom settings.

Through partnerships with businesses, high schools, community and technical colleges, and other workforce systems, communities around the country can develop apprenticeships for young people that make a difference while supporting economic and workforce development.  In 2025, 415,560 young apprentices were served, a dramatic increase over the past 10 years. The apprentices were particularly concentrated in the construction, public administration, and educational service industries.

Most pathways fall into one of two types of models:

1. Pre-Apprenticeships prepare students to enter a Registered Apprenticeship. An effective pre-apprenticeship is one that, through partnerships with one or more Registered Apprenticeships, enables participants who have successfully completed their pre-apprenticeship to enter directly into a Registered Apprenticeship. Effective pre-apprenticeships should include articulation agreements for earning advanced credit/placement for skills and competencies acquired.
    
   • Students receive instruction directly related to their apprenticeship field, in addition to their required high school coursework, which counts towards high school graduation.
   • They participate in on-the-job learning activities, beginning at age 16, which can count toward entry into an apprenticeship.
      
2. Registered Apprenticeships that begins in high school, community college, or through dual enrollment, including CTE programs, allow young people to start their Apprenticeship while still a student.
    
   • Students take courses at their high school or their community or technical college, in addition to their required high school coursework, which counts toward high school graduation or perhaps even towards a 2- or 4-year degree.
   • Students may complete their Registered Apprenticeship during high school or continue after graduation, depending on the apprenticeship's duration. For dual enrollment students, the Registered Apprenticeship continues and may be completed at the college.
   • The work portion of the apprenticeship is flexible and is done when school is not in session or through a formal work-study program.
      

Over 90% of Registered Apprenticeship completers are retained as employees. This chain of experiential learning and classroom instruction, connecting high school, CTE, and dual enrollment programs with pre-apprenticeships, which then connect to Registered Apprenticeships, and finally to employment is what many refer to as a skilled workforce pipeline or career pathway.

• The Arkansas Certified Pre-Apprenticeship initiative is supported by a U.S. Department of Labor State Apprenticeship Expansion Formula, Round 3 (SAEF3) grant. In addition to a pre-apprenticeship handbook, Arkansas offers a program finder map designed to easily find CTE-connected pre-apprenticeships.
• The Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Work-Based Learning and Apprenticeship team received a U.S. Department of Labor State Apprenticeship Expansion Formula, Round 3 (SAEF3) grant to expand pre-apprenticeship pathways in manufacturing, construction, healthcare, and IT through CTE-aligned Registered Apprenticeships. The Indiana pre-apprenticeship website offers a breakdown of certified pre-apprenticeship criteria by type in addition to a guide/toolkit for pre-apprenticeship partners.

• Models of Youth Registered Apprenticeship Expansion: Evidence from the Youth Apprenticeship Readiness Grants
  • This report describes the experiences of the DOL-funded Youth Apprenticeship Readiness Grantees (YARG) and organizes the grantees into a typology of youth apprenticeship expansion models. 
• Youth Apprenticeship in the United States: Apprenticeship Evidence-Building Portfolio
  • This report describes the state of youth apprenticeship in the United States, reviews existing state youth apprenticeship systems, and describes the organization and partnerships of the Youth Apprenticeship Readiness grantees.

• Fair Labor Standards Act Factsheet: Information for Interns and Students Working for For-profit Employers
• Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction: Apprenticeship Awareness Toolkit
• Maryland Apprenticeship Connector: Pathway to Your Apprenticeship
• Urban Institute: Mentor Guide for Youth Registered Apprenticeship Programs
• Urban Institute: What High School Educators Can Do to Promote Youth Apprenticeship
• Harvard University Presentation on Expanding Youth Apprenticeships
• Walton Family Foundation and Gallup: Voices of Gen Z studies