Apprenticeships can supercharge career opportunities for youth

At a recent Brookings event on youth apprenticeships, 20-year-old former apprentice Frankie Mansaray interviewed Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) in a fireside chat. Mansaray (who also co-authored this piece) pointed out that youth apprenticeships represent a rare opportunity for bipartisan cooperation, and asked the senator what it is about youth apprenticeships that gets support from both political parties. 

“Apprenticeships are really just a larger reflection of our kids, which is a larger reflection of our future,” Sen. Hickenlooper noted. “It’s not Republican or Democrat, how we make sure we have more opportunities for more of our kids. It’s not Republican or Democrat, how we make sure that we have a workforce to continue to lead the world in innovation and new ideas. This is something that Republicans, Democrats alike can support.” 

Highlighting this bipartisan agreement is President Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of education, Linda McMahon, who has expressed support for youth apprenticeships. Her confirmation hearing comes at a time when many young adults across the nation feel left behind in pursuit of the American Dream. They feel overwhelmed by the prospect of incurring significant amounts of debt before launching their career; uncertain about whether getting a college degree is worthwhile; and concerned about how inflation will affect their economic prospects.  

Even when youth have both “soft” and “hard” skills as well as strong interpersonal abilities, the opportunities to apply them in meaningful roles are limited. Young Americans have become pessimistic about following the advice of those in positions of power, only to find that the promised outcome of securing a good job doesn’t materialize. 

The problem is not a lack of jobs. As baby boomers retire and labor force participation declines, employers across the U.S. are increasingly struggling to fill open positions and retain qualified employees. Although often framed as a “skills gap,” we have argued that this scarcity lies not with deficits in the individual but with the lack of opportunities to get into good jobs. Put another way, the U.S. has plenty of talent but struggles to activate it—an inability to get talent on the field.  

Former apprentice Jubei Brown-Weaver, who moderated a panel at the Brookings event, described his apprenticeship in cybersecurity at Accenture as “monumental.” Brown-Weaver learned about the highly selective apprenticeship program through a trusted mentor and administrator at his high school. Now 19 and a full-time package app developer, he is earning a good salary, building a professional network, and saving for retirement—all of which he would not have imagined given that he described himself as not always paying attention in class. He appreciates his good fortune but wishes there were more such opportunities, noting that a good friend with the same interest in cybersecurity is working a minimum wage retail job and facing very different career prospects. 

“I heard so many stories,” Sen. Hickenlooper said at the event, “of kids that were being lost or who had dropped out and really lost their way…so many of those kids were the smartest kids, right? They weren’t necessarily bookish, but they were the ones who were curious…But the brightest kids, we were losing. And that’s something this country can’t afford.” 

In most of our peer countries, apprenticeships become an option when someone is still in high school and part of the formal education system, with hands-on learning options to advance through the postsecondary level. This helps engage bright students who are bored in the classroom, like Brown-Weaver. But in the U.S., apprenticeships come in much later, around age 28 or 29—typically after someone has already tried something else and it didn’t work out. Additionally, apprenticeship options tend to be limited to fields such as construction or plumbing. 

Providing earlier opportunities for hands-on learning across a wide range of careers in the U.S. can not only reach disengaged students, but can also help high schoolers make more informed choices about higher education, and even finance it. Both Mansaray and another former apprentice at the Brookings event, Leah Sloan, opted to go to college, and said that their apprenticeship helped them navigate the decision about where to go to college, what to study, and how to pay for it. For example, Mansaray could afford tuition payments out of pocket, thanks to her apprenticeship earnings and subsequent work experience. 

However, youth apprentices still feel pressure to choose one path or the other. If we value work experience as part of youth development, current secondary and postsecondary education systems need to recognize workplace learning with academic credit, ensuring students have choices and options at every stage. Parents will also need to buy into apprenticeships as an “options multiplier” rather than as a path away from college, and young people need to be prepared and empowered to make choices about their future. 

One way to do that is by building degrees into apprenticeship programs, especially in professions that typically require a degree, such as teaching, architecture, or nursing. “Degree apprenticeships” are apprenticeship programs that blend classroom learning with work-based learning, leading to an accredited degree—meaning it is integrated into the formal higher education system. Building this “earning” component into the college experience makes higher education more affordable while also providing another learning venue. Learning doesn’t only happen in the classroom; former apprentice Leah Sloan noted that she is covering material in her college classes that she already learned in her apprenticeship with Freddie Mac.  

As Lateefah Durant, vice president of innovation at CityWorksDC and a co-author of this piece, noted at the Brookings event, “It’s a question of what do you believe and what do you value?” She pointed to the need for educators and policymakers to change the systems and structures to align with those values. 

The three former youth apprentices at the event hope that more apprenticeships will be available to their peers—and also that their peers take the chance to imagine themselves in spaces they never thought possible. Mansaray thinks that her story can be an example and inspiration to those who may not see the value in apprenticeships.  

She shared with Sen. Hickenlooper that she approaches conversations with her peers by emphasizing what they have in common: “I tell them, ‘We were dealt the same hand, but I was able to use this opportunity to change my hand.’” 

The transformative potential of apprenticeships in getting more talent on the field represents both an economic imperative and a moral obligation. It’s time to expand these opportunities to more young Americans, and reach them earlier with a wider menu of options.