Apprenticeship has been—and continues to be—a uniquely bipartisan issue. Since 2015, the federal government has invested almost $1 billion in apprenticeship programs, and we want to see that level of investment continue, especially in the post-COVID recovery. Since 2016, Congress has provided bipartisan apprenticeship funding—from $90 million in 2016 to $175 million today. We know that the current Congress is very interested in continuing and expanding apprenticeship and has recently proposed a revision of the National Apprenticeship Act, including up to $400 million in additional funding.
President-Elect Biden was heavily involved with apprenticeship during his tenure as vice president in the Obama administration, and I anticipate he will drive efforts to further scale and diversify apprenticeship programs. He understands the need for skills and training to advance workers to the middle class and beyond.
JFF was pleased to see that Biden’s campaign proposal to strengthen manufacturing highlights our Industrial Manufacturing Technician apprenticeship that we developed in partnership with the AFL-CIO and other partners as a model to emulate. In addition, Biden’s campaign specifically proposed investment in education and training in the workforce, so we expect to see further investment in apprenticeship and other models. Some of these investments include the public workforce system and increased collaboration between regional partners, community colleges, workforce boards, and others to encourage collaboration to expand apprenticeship.
I’d also like to see a continuing emphasis on growing high-quality youth apprenticeships and an ongoing focus in the IT, manufacturing and health care industries. Additionally I hope to see a continuing focus on pathways to apprenticeship, particularly through high-quality pre-apprenticeship and youth apprenticeship programs, to improve access and opportunities for more underrepresented Americans to take advantage of apprenticeships.
Congress has been advancing a reauthorization of the National Apprenticeship Act of 1937. This is important because there have been very few tweaks made to this legislation over the years, and it’s time to modernize and double down on the system. The revision would include funding for state apprenticeship agencies, more funding for the National Office of Apprenticeship and a couple of major grant programs, a focus on youth apprenticeship, and support for intermediaries. So there’s a lot of different funding possibilities that they are thinking about.
I also want to highlight the presidential transition memo JFF released today that outlines key policy priorities needed to support an equitable economic recovery, including several around work-based learning in particular:
- Supporting rapid skill building and credential attainment through initiatives such as apprenticeship
- Reauthorizing the National Apprenticeship Act to support its expansion in high-growth fields and occupations
- Expanding work-based learning opportunities, including apprenticeship, to every high school and college student