As part of its New Boom series on millennials in America, NPR focuses on apprenticeships in this story by Chris Arnold.

"As the economy continues to recover, economists are seeing stark differences between people with high school and college degrees. The unemployment rate is nearly twice as high for Americans with a high school diploma as for those with a four-year college degree or more. But economists say that doesn't mean everybody needs a four-year degree. In fact, millions of good-paying jobs are opening up in the trades. And some pay better than what the average college graduate makes.” 

To read the entire story, visit this link.

For more information on apprenticeship opportunities in Alaska, visit http://www.jobs.state.ak.us/apprentice/. 

American Apprenticeship Grants - Applications accepted through April 30, 2015

From the US Department of Labor - 
"The Department of Labor is inviting public-private partnerships to apply for grants to develop and implement innovative, high-quality registered apprenticeship programs. Up to $100 million in grants will be financed by a user fee paid by employers to hire foreign workers into the United States under the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program. This grant competition will help more Americans become apprentices, a proven path to quality employment and the middle class: 87 percent of apprentices are employed after completing their programs and the average starting wage for apprenticeship graduates is over $50,000. The American Apprenticeship Grants competition will focus on public-private partnerships between employers, business associations, joint labor-management organizations, labor organizations, training providers, community colleges, local and state governments, the workforce system, non-profits and faith-based organizations."

For full details and the application package, please see the grant program website at http://www.dol.gov/apprenticeship/grants.htm.

By Scarlett Wilson, Published September 21, 2014

So you’ve just finished year 11 and you’ve been thrown into the big wide world – which can be a pretty scary time to say the least. It can be difficult to decide what to do after you finish your GCSEs and it doesn’t help that there are some many options to choose from. But a pretty common question is; “Do I go to college or do an apprenticeship?”

This can be a stressful time, because you’ve got to try and make your mind up about what you actually want to do in life. It’s important to think carefully about your decision – you don’t want to be back to square one in six months because you’ve decided you don’t want to be an apprentice anymore. Remember that this this is your life so you’ve got to think carefully about what suits you!

We’ve come up with some pros and cons of choosing an apprenticeship over college. Hopefully this will help you make the right decision.

Read the entire article here. 

How would you like to receive a paycheck while being trained in a high-skill occupation that has a starting salary around $50,000? If that sounds appealing, you might want to consider participating in a Registered Apprenticeship program. Read more from the US Department of Labor Apprenticeship Bloghttp://social.dol.gov/blog/apprenticeship-101-earn-while-you-learn/