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For decades, Americans believed a college degree was the key to achieving a successful career and comfortable life. And for a while, it was: college graduates typically earned more than non-college graduates and had better job security. While that’s still generally true today, the tide seems to be turning as fewer Americans enroll in college thanks to the sky rocketing tuition costs. In fact, many employers have been rolling back their college requirements for several years now.
But if college isn’t the only — or even the most attractive — path to a career, what are the other options?
Ryan Craig answers that question in his new book, Apprentice Nation: How the “Earn and Learn” Alternative to Higher Education Will Create a Stronger and Fairer America . He argues that “America needs apprenticeships more than ever. Not only out of high school, but starting in high school, and out of community colleges, four-year colleges, and even graduate programs.” His book outlines how he thinks the US can expand apprenticeship programs beyond the trades and into the general workforce.
Below is an excerpt of his book.
George Washington apprenticed as a land surveyor, Paul Revere as a silversmith, and John Adams and Thomas Jefferson became lawyers via apprenticeship. But America is a very different country today. While apprentices have increased in number over the past generation, as a percentage of the workforce (0.32 percent), the United States is below where we were after World War II and only at one-eighth the level of the United Kingdom and Australia. Meanwhile, the Central European giants of apprenticeship—Germany, Switzerland, and Austria—do ten to fifteen times better.
What happened?
Originally, American colleges like Harvard and Yale were schools for training clergy. Then, starting in the days of Adams and Jefferson, college became a way for the emerging merchant elite to demonstrate their sons were special (“Our sons are college graduates; they shan’t be working on a farm or in a mill”). Fast forward 250 years to a time when nearly everyone thinks their children are special, and it’s no wonder America has swallowed the college-for-all pill. So while the word “apprentice” comes from the Latin apprendere (to learn), college became the sole respectable pathway from high school to a good first job.
College-for-all worked, for a time. But starting about twenty-five years ago, things began to change.
College-for-all worked, for a time. From the 1960s to the turn of the century, America’s colleges were mostly affordable and did a reasonable job preparing students for jobs. And for the attractive careers of the future (think of Mad Men in the sixties or L.A. Law in the eighties), a college degree signaled sufficient cognitive skills, problem-solving skills, communication skills, persistence, and the go-along-to-get-along-ness required in a modern workplace. The cherry on top was that it felt good. The ethos of college—equipping young people to fulfill their potential in whatever direction it may take them—is the ethos of America. But starting about twenty-five years ago, things began to change.
While tuition and fees were growing every year at double the rate of inflation, digital technology transformed the economy. Suddenly the “good jobs” college grads were hoping to land were different than they had been a generation before. Hiring was undergoing a similar seismic shift. The result today is a crisis of underemployment that accompanies college’s crisis of affordability. So while there are millions of great jobs that claim to be entry level, more college graduates than ever are working in non-college jobs such as retail or food service, and student-loan forgiveness has become the dominant higher-education policy debate.
Today’s good entry-level jobs ask for a lot. But topping the list are specific digital and business skills that are much harder to learn in a classroom than by doing. In job descriptions, employers list skills few candidates have. This is the “skills gap.” Employers also want experience; there are many ways to become a Trailhead-certified Salesforce administrator, but not many employers are looking for a newly minted Salesforce admin with no relevant work experience. In addition to the skills gap, there’s an experience gap. Is there a way to close the skills and experience gaps simultaneously?
Apprenticeship has the potential to solve lots of other problems, including socioeconomic immobility, frustration at being shut out from economic opportunity, geographic mobility, workforce diversity, and—yes—student-loan debt.
How about earn-and-learn experiences that pay a living wage while delivering formal skills training and experience? That’s apprenticeship. Apprenticeship also has the potential to solve lots of other problems, including socioeconomic immobility, frustration at being shut out from economic opportunity, geographic mobility, workforce diversity, and—yes—student-loan debt.
Combining paid work with relevant training levels the playing field for Americans from underprivileged backgrounds, along with underrepresented minorities; first-generation, LGBTQIA+, rural, and religious Americans; and even MAGA Republicans.
It turns out everyone loves apprenticeship. In a recent survey, 92 percent of Americans had a favorable view. California governor Gavin Newsom wants five hundred thousand apprentices in the state by 2029 (a sevenfold increase). Mayor Eric Adams wants to increase the number of
apprentices in New York City by an order of magnitude by 2030. Another survey found that given the choice between a full-tuition college scholarship and a three-year apprenticeship leading to a good job, most parents would opt for the latter. (Most, but not all—if both parents have graduate
or professional degrees, they’d still send their kids to college. But we don’t need to worry too much about those kids.)
These days, not everyone is loving college as much. In the past three years, college enrollment has dropped by 1.4 million. What are young Americans doing instead? As we’ll see, they’re not becoming apprentices. Instead, they’re working frontline jobs or attempting to become social media stars. But these paths aren’t likely to build the human capital they need to launch stable, successful careers. What they need are jobs where they can gain in-demand skills and experience. And given the unprecedented political, global-health, and economic uncertainties that have dotted and spotted their youth, they’re more willing than prior generations to commit to a multiyear training pathway as long as it’s a sure thing, even if it means making less for a period of time. Young Americans would prefer to smooth things out: have the lows not be so low, and the highs not so high. As New York Times columnist David Brooks has noted, only 32% of 8th and 10th graders say they “take risks sometimes.” Covid and helicopter parenting have fostered our most risk-averse generation. Many are willing to give up on the American Dream; they’d settle for Canada.
In terms of options for career launch, earn-and-learn alternatives like apprenticeships fit Gen Z to a T. The problem with a capital P is that there aren’t nearly enough of them. America needs apprenticeships more than ever. Not only out of high school, but starting in high school, and out of
community colleges, four-year colleges, and even graduate programs.
America needs apprenticeships more than ever. Not only out of high school, but starting in high school, and out of
community colleges, four-year colleges, and even graduate programs.
Why are we punching below our apprenticeship weight? Because we’ve done comparatively little to grow apprenticeships beyond their cozy home in construction. In Europe and Australia, it’s common to find apprentices in financial services, healthcare, and technology. That’s no accident, but rather a result of government policies and incentives to establish a viable alternative to school-based, tuition-based, debt-based postsecondary education. Current funding for apprenticeship is a fraction of what we spend on “train and pray”: federal, state, and local governments continue to pour nearly $500 billion each year into college, while total spending on apprenticeship is under $400 million. That’s a ratio of over 1,000:1. If we compare a single apprentice to a college student, we find that the apprentice receives less than 3 percent of what taxpayers spend on the student.
Imagine a nation where forgiving $400 billion in student loans isn’t the federal government’s top higher education priority. It’s no exaggeration to say the American Dream would be renewed in an Apprentice Nation.
Imagine a nation with apprenticeships across all sectors of the economy. Imagine a nation with as many large-scale apprenticeship programs as colleges and universities (four thousand). Imagine a nation where apprenticeship is as prevalent and respected as college, where every Ameri-
can has not only a direct, clear, and reliable pathway to a lucrative career but also a paid pathway that doesn’t involve financial risk. Imagine a nation where forgiving $400 billion in student loans isn’t the federal government’s top higher education priority. It’s no exaggeration to say the American Dream would be renewed in an Apprentice Nation.
Despite consensus around the benefits of expanding apprenticeships, the road to making that a reality isn’t simple. If America is to dramatically expand apprenticeships beyond construction and become an Apprentice Nation, we’ll need a new approach to workforce development, and we should expect changes to how we learn and how we get hired. But the prize—socioeconomic mobility and competition that will make our colleges more responsive to student needs—is worth the effort. Apprentice Nation is a road map for how to get there, along with what’s at the end of the road when we do.
Excerpt from Apprentice Nation: How the “Earn and Learn” Alternative to Higher Education Will Create a Stronger and Fairer America. Reprinted with permission.