Grading the growth of apprenticeships

“It’s been a year since President Donald Trump issued an executive order aimed at getting to 1 million apprentices in the United States. Apprenticeships for America (AFA) has rated the administration’s actions to date to reach that apprentice goal. The current number of apprentices is about 700,000. Last year, AFA issued a report with detailed recommendations on how to achieve this goal. The nonprofit’s new report card looks at four key practices they recommended that the administration needs to take and grades each one: Pay-for-Performance (PFP) funding Appropriately scaled funding A developed intermediary system A smarter regulatory and statutory environment The overall grade from AFA is a “B+.” “On balance, we think the administration has made impressive progress in this first year,” says AFA Executive Director John Colburn. “Alone, their actions to date will likely move the total apprenticeship count only at the margins, but the structures and strategies they have put into place are directionally right for growing apprenticeship.” Breaking it down PFP funding The administration gets high marks (A-) in the area of Pay-for-Performance (PFP) funding, according to AFA. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) in January 2026 announced the $145 million Pay-for-Performance Incentive Payments Program to fund up to five cooperative agreements testing Pay-for-Performance funding models for apprenticeship. DOL also has allocated $36 million to the American Manufacturing Apprenticeship Incentive Fund, which is a per-apprentice incentive fund for employers of manufacturing apprentices. AFA notes that “consistent, multiyear, per-apprentice funding is necessary to catalyze a market of solution providers to work with employers to grow apprenticeships.” Appropriately scaled funding AFA scores “appropriately scaled funding” lower – a grade of “C” – noting that the United States invests about one-tenth the per-apprenticeship spending as the United Kingdom or Germany. Current U.S. spending is $285 million a year on apprenticeship, but that number should be at least $5 billion. A developed intermediary system The administration gets a grade of “B” for its work creating an intermediary system. The PFP grant program will spur more intermediaries to enter the apprenticeship field, AFA says. Intermediary organizations are important to scaling apprenticeships because they run apprenticeship programs for employers and help connect education systems with the workforce. The U.S. intermediary field is still developing, and AFA estimates the nation needs around 5,000 intermediaries to properly scale apprenticeships across the economy. A smarter regulatory and statutory environment The Trump administration gets at “B+” for efforts to more quickly expand apprenticeships. This has happened primarily through DOL’s sub-regulatory guidance on the Registered Apprenticeship system “to improve flexibility, reduce burdens for employers, and improve timeliness of registration,” AFA says. Overall, Colburn says, “if the Administration maintains and builds on this trajectory, and if we can improve the funding base for apprenticeship, we think the President’s goal is attainable.” AFA is hosting its 2026 Summit in Washington, D.C., May 19-21. The post Grading the growth of apprenticeships first appeared on Community College Daily .

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