Apprenticeships are a hands-on and affordable route into enjoyable, high-paid, and stable careers with no need for expensive, classroom-based college degrees.
The Biden-Harris administration has invested over $244 million into Registered Apprenticeships through two grant programs designed to “modernize, diversify and expand the Registered Apprenticeship system”. The funds will make skilled trade apprenticeships accessible (and more attractive) to greater numbers of people, including minorities, in line with labor standards and equal opportunity laws. Indeed, apprenticeships — as a route to lucrative, long-term skilled trade careers — are already increasingly popular alternatives to expensive, debt-laden four-year degrees. In fact, upon completion of an apprenticeship program, workers earn up to $240,000 more throughout their lifetime (or even $300,000 more with benefits included) than they would otherwise, the U.S. Department of Labor reveals.
Minorities to train in high-growth skilled trades
$195 million of the new funds have gone into the Apprenticeship Building America initiative, which aims to increase apprenticeships across in-demand industries, such as, clean energy, IT and cybersecurity, and advanced manufacturing. Over $80 million will specifically support minorities, which includes people with disabilities, women, and justice-involved people, in apprenticeships, while another $30 million will aid youth and young adult apprentices more widely. Thanks to this legal and financial protection, people from underrepresented groups will find it easier to learn skilled trades and enter lucrative, stable careers. This framework builds upon regulations laid out in the 1937 National Apprenticeship Act, which governs the formal Registered Apprenticeship system. Title 29, CFR Part 30 of the Act defines equal employment opportunity standards and prohibits discrimination based on race, color, gender, sex, disability, or religion in apprenticeship programs.
Notably, minorities are less likely than white people to attend and graduate university as they’re typically up against greater financial barriers, research from The Center for American Progress reveals. Plus, minorities who do get a college education generally have more expensive loans and are saddled with higher amounts of debt. Skilled trade apprenticeships, on the other hand, are a low-cost and accessible alternative for minorities. In fact, the number of Asian women apprentices, for example, has increased by 302% between 2014-2023, and by 349% for Latina women. The number of Black women apprentices has also risen by 222%.
Apprentices and skilled tradespeople earn higher salaries
Skilled trade careers — entered either through apprenticeships or on-the-job training — are also often extremely well-paid. For example, elevator and escalator installers and repairers (people who install, fix, and maintain elevators and escalators) earn a median annual salary of $102,420, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals. A four-year apprenticeship sponsored by an employer, union, or industry association is the most common route into this career.
Alternatively, boilermakers (people who install and maintain boiler systems) earn an attractive median annual salary of $71,140. Again, apprenticeships are usually how people get into this trade. Plus, there’s expected to be at least 1,000 job openings for boilermakers every year over the next decade. In comparison to apprentices, the average university graduate earns a lower starting salary of roughly $56,000. Yet, despite this, 97% of college graduates say they’d be unhappy with a salary of under $70,000 at their first job.
Begin lucrative careers debt-free
Skilled trades can also help people avoid the high tuition costs associated with Bachelor’s degrees. The average annual tuition and fees for full-time undergraduate students at public institutions averaged roughly $27,100 between 2022-23, the National Center for Education Statistics reveals. This figure becomes even higher at private institutions ($58,600). But, as apprenticeships are typically sponsored by employers, unions, or industry associations, trainees can avoid debt altogether. In fact, “87% of apprentices are employed upon completion of apprenticeship programs, with an average beginner salary above $50,000”, Bloomberg reports. The combination of high salary and zero debt makes a career in the trades industries an increasingly attractive option.
New Bill to make apprenticeships accessible to low-income parents
The Apprenticeship Opportunity Act was also recently introduced in Congress in an effort to increase participation in apprenticeship programs via improved cash assistance for trainees. As apprenticeship programs can involve an initial period of unpaid classroom training, some trainees (such as, those with families and dependents) may find it a challenge to afford to complete the program. The Act aims to “create exemptions for apprenticeship income from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) eligibility criteria”. So, this means that states who receive fixed TANF block grants would no longer base eligibility for cash aid on starting wages earned over the first year of the apprenticeship. The Act would therefore make it easier for parents to enroll in apprenticeship programs and transition into new careers, and continue to provide for their families at the same time.
Apprenticeships and skilled trade careers are an increasingly attractive alternative to traditional career pathways. And it’s easy to understand why. Apprenticeships are a hands-on and affordable route into enjoyable, high-paid, and stable careers with no need for expensive, classroom-based college degrees.
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