Youth apprenticeship, which allows young people to learn a trade while earning a living wage, is an underutilized option for high school students. This report from New America explores opportunities and challenges for growing high-quality youth apprenticeship in the U.S. and outlines five key findings:
- Youth apprenticeship is aligned with mainstream thinking about key problems facing American education and industry, including how to smooth transitions between education and the workforce.
- Americans are open to youth apprenticeship for high school students, but awareness is low and caveats remain related to program quality.
- Without a single definition for youth apprenticeship, the current national landscape shows a diverse collection of programs nowhere near a coherent system.
- There are historical reasons for today’s fragmented and limited landscape. Past efforts to expand youth apprenticeship offer important lessons for future ones.
- States are leading a new wave of efforts to expand youth apprenticeship
The report also describes future directions for the youth apprenticeship field and provides a comparative analysis of different youth apprenticeship models and programs.
