In the context of a tight labor market with more jobs than workers to fill openings, and as young people increasingly seek alternatives to college, apprenticeships have become more important than ever. While the “earn and learn” model of apprenticeship seems to be the obvious choice to address labor market needs, it remains underutilized because of varying levels of available funding. This brief examines the costs of scaling apprenticeships, how states are advancing apprenticeships with strategic investments, and findings from a study of apprenticeship funding in Colorado. We also make recommendations for sustained federal and state funding to scale registered apprenticeship, including the development of a state-level funding tool.

Why This Matters

Despite considerable investments in apprenticeship at the federal and state levels, the funding landscape is complicated by shifting administrative priorities, difficulty locating funding, complex eligibility criteria, the need to braid funding, and underspent money. For apprenticeship in the US to be considered a talent pipeline for the nation’s workforce, we need strategic investments.

Key Recommendations

• Prioritize sustained and strategic funding: Given the varying costs of apprenticeships, there is a need for more sustained and strategic investments, rather than one-off grants and contracts, at both state and federal levels.
• Improve cross-agency collaboration: Federal and state governments need to work together to invest in a range of grants to meet programming costs without duplicating efforts. This not only would encourage cross-agency collaboration but also meet the needs of apprenticeship programs in a holistic manner.
• Match funding to needs: To tackle underspent funding, agencies need to better match available funds to the programs that need it. This can start with greater marketing efforts around funding opportunities and technical assistance to help applicants navigate eligibility and criteria requirements.
• Develop a tool to navigate funding: A state-level tool housing public and private apprenticeship or training funding opportunities within one portal would benefit the field immensely by matching programs with eligible funding streams and simplifying the search for funds.

How We Did It

This brief draws on literature on state funding and interviews with key stakeholder groups, including intermediaries, employers and sponsors of registered apprenticeship programs, educators, and state-level agency staff in Colorado.