Division of Apprenticeship Standards — Educators
Apprenticeship Fills the Gap
- 1.5 million new California job openings will be generated during the 2014-2016 period. 789,500 are expected to be new jobs coming from industry growth and 800,900 jobs due to replacement needs.1
- By 2020 only 24 percent of California's jobs require a bachelor's degree or higher.2
- Labor market experts predict that 75 percent of new jobs will require a high level of technical literacy and that’s what apprenticeship offers.
Apprenticeship is not just a job-it’s a career opportunity
What is apprenticeship?
- Apprenticeship is a system of learning while earning, and “learning by doing.”
- It combines training on the job with related and supplemental instruction at school.
- The apprenticeship training system is unique in that its basic foundation is a partnership between industry, education and government.
- Classes may count toward a college degree.
What kinds of opportunities are there for apprentices?
- There are more than 1,000 apprenticeable occupations in the United States, and over 700 apprenticeable occupations active in California.
What can schools do?
- Increase awareness of the skilled trades in K-12 education.
- Encourage school counselors to guide students that are likely apprenticeship candidates, to explore careers in skilled and technical trades and crafts.
- Bring pre-apprenticeship programs and career technical education programs into the schools.
- Ask an apprenticeship consultant to speak with school counselors and staff in the classroom and at job fairs.
Why should K-12 Schools care about apprenticeship?
- Seventy-five percent of freshmen entering high school in California in 2007 and only 70 percent of Hispanic students and 62 percent of African American students graduated with their class in the 2010-2011 school year.3
- Of the total freshmen, 43 percent enter community colleges or state colleges and universities. Only 16 percent receive a BA or BS degree within six years.4
- An effectiveness assessment and cost benefit analysis conducted in 10 states found that over a career of 36 years, participants who completed a Registered Apprenticeship program had average earnings gains of nearly a quarter million dollars, increasing to $301,533 with employer benefits added. The July 2012 study released by the U.S. Department of Labor further concluded that the social benefits of apprenticeship far outweigh the costs.
- California Occupational Employment Projections Between 2014-2016, California Employment Development Department, www.edd.ca.gov.
- Georgetown University Public Policy Institute Center on education and the Workforce State Report — Recovery: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements through 2020.
- California Department of Education. (2012, June 27). State Schools, Chief Tom Torlakson Reports Climb in Graduation Rates for California Students. News Release. Sacramento, California. Retrieved from www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr12/yr12rel65.asp.
- Enrollment data for first-time freshmen in Fall 2003 provided by the University of California and California State University systems