Obama announces $600M to support apprenticeships

Today’s post was shared by US Labor Department and comes from www.mid-marketpulse.com

Before apprenticeships can help narrow the country’s growing skills gap, Americans will have to bridge a much deeper cultural divide: a deep-seated bias toward college.“Millions of parents and kids see apprenticeships and really valuable on-the-job learning opportunities as vocational consolation prizes best suited for those who are not cut out for a 4-year degree,” said Mike Rowe, host of the Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs” series in testimony before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee.

New federal initiatives from the White House and Capitol Hill are challenging that perception. Yesterday the White House announced $600 million in grant programs to support job-driven training programs like apprenticeships.

A $500 million competition will award grants to community colleges that partner with businesses to provide collaborative job training programs that can be expanded on a national scale.

To increase apprenticeship programs, a second competition will provide $100 million for American Apprenticeship Grants in high-growth fields such as information technology, high-tech services, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing. According to the White House, 87 percent of apprentices are employed after completing their programs, and earn an average starting wage over $50,000.

“It’s never been more important for our folks to be trained for the jobs that are there — and for the jobs of the future,”…

[Click here to see the rest of this post]