The Trump administration unveiled a new category of federally sponsored apprenticeship programs for all industries except construction, which was instead specifically limited to the existing apprenticeship program model.
The new Labor Department rule creates “industry-recognized apprenticeship programs” that can be developed and run by private entities and are intended to help address the millions of job openings in skilled trades that businesses are struggling to fill. The programs will be a separate category from the existing “registered apprenticeship” programs funded by the government, which are largely run by state agencies.
“This new rule provides a flexible, market-led approach for expanding apprenticeships to industries that historically haven’t relied on them for worker training.” said Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “The rule calls on business associations, community colleges, and others to lead the way in developing and recognizing apprenticeship programs for the jobs needed in our changing workplaces.”
An administration official said the new program is meant to encourage participation from a variety of industries and workplaces. “We really wanted to turn them loose to work with their industry partners,” said a senior department official.
Expanding apprenticeships has been a major, long-running effort by the Trump administration, which has argued that higher education was overemphasized by previous administrations. The administration has argued that a skilled, noncollege job is often a better option for many joining the workforce because they can pay well and allow workers to avoid incurring a large amount of debt early in life through college loans.
The Labor Department provides grants to establish the programs, which have been federally regulated since the 1930s under the National Apprentice Act since many involved highly skilled and potentially dangerous fields. The Trump administration’s fiscal year 2021 Labor budget includes $200 million for apprenticeship programs, up $25 million from last year and $45 million from when the Trump administration took office.
The grants are used to create paid, learn-while-you work education programs. Completing an apprenticeship is graduating in that field and provides credentials in that field even if the person goes to a different employer.
Completing an apprenticeship is equivalent to graduating with a degree in that field, providing credentials even if the person goes to a different employer.
The new rule has been controversial, with congressional Democrats charging that the new apprenticeship programs would draw funds away from the existing programs. Administration officials dispute that, noting that ultimately Congress sets the budget for the department and can earmark funds for particular programs.
One industry that won’t be involved is construction. “In the final rule, we decided a better course of action was to be as clear and straightforward as we could and call it a ‘construction carve-out,'” the official said. The reason for the carve-out was because the new programs were meant to reach nontraditional industries for apprenticeships.
The new apprenticeship programs are targeted at occupations such as communications, information technology, and cybersecurity, said the official, so they decided the exception made sense.
“Areas where traditionally there haven’t been apprenticeship programs is where we wanted to focus,” the official said. “We didn’t want to take anything away from the construction industry, which seems to be using the registered model quite well.”
Currently, 65% of registered apprenticeship programs involve the construction industry, which is heavily unionized and whose unions are typically involved in managing the programs. The unions like the existing programs, and the administration decided there wasn’t any need to upset those arrangements, the official said.
Programs under the new rule can be set up by unions, but other entities can create them too.
The final rule goes into effect on May 11, 2020, and the department will begin accepting applications to create programs on that date.
