Study of Apprenticeships

In August 2023, a publication by the Urban Institute looked at how financial incentives were used by states to promote apprenticeships. These could be in the form of tax credits and subsidies, to help employers offset the costs of operating a Registered Apprenticeship (RA) program, which also helps a student pay for their education.

State apprenticeship administrators reported on the benefits of incentives, which include fostering collaboration between states and recipients, increasing the number of apprentices, attracting underrepresented populations to apprenticeship, and expanding apprenticeship into nontraditional industries and occupations.

Two states are targeting incentives at intermediaries as a strategy for expansion. The administrators also discussed challenges related to incentives.

Administrators noted that employers often do not take advantage of incentives for a variety of reasons, which include a lack of awareness of incentives, challenges with recruiting certain types of employers, insufficient funding for marketing, and the challenges of upfront, one-time funding to target apprenticeship in-completion and ongoing costs in multiyear programs. To address challenges with apprenticeship completion or delays in starting up new apprenticeships, three states reported repositioning their funding models to allow for reimbursement upon completion of certain milestones.

#lsiwins, #techstevedore