An apprenticeship is a job where your employer pays you while training you, and if the program's registered, you'll finish with a credential that employers recognize across the country.
The trade-off is time. Most programs last years, and you'll work a full-time job while you take classes on top of it.
An apprenticeship pairs paid work with classroom instruction. A sponsor pays your wages and provides the training. That can be a single employer or a partnership between businesses and a union. You learn the work by doing it next to journeyworkers (the fully trained people in the occupation), and your pay grows as your skills do.
A registered apprenticeship is one that's been approved by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) or a state apprenticeship agency, and federal rules set a floor for it:
Unregistered programs exist too, and some are good. They don't carry those federal protections, though, so it's fair to ask any program you're considering whether it's registered.
Sorting programs that pay you from programs you pay for gets tedious fast. In our training catalog, look for the "Pays You" label: it marks apprenticeships and other programs that pay you while you learn.
Yes! You're paid from your first day on the job, though your first paycheck won't match the one you're training for. Registered programs set apprentice pay as a percentage or dollar amount of the journeyworker wage, then raise it in set increments as you log hours or demonstrate new skills.
How long you'll train depends on the occupation and on how the program measures progress:
Across occupations, formal apprenticeships usually last about four years, though some take as little as 12 months and others as long as six years. Four years sounds like a lot, we'll admit. A bachelor's degree also takes four years, and it sends you a bill instead of a paycheck.
We've broken down how long apprenticeships take in five popular trades, including pay and costs for electricians, plumbers, HVAC techs, carpenters, and welders.
If you've done related work, it can shorten the clock. Electricians with military or construction experience may qualify for a shortened apprenticeship based on that experience and testing. And a sponsor that credits your experience can't leave your pay behind: it has to match the step you skip to.
The idea that apprenticeships belong to hard hats and union halls is outdated. About half of registered apprentices work in construction, which means the other half don't. GAO reports registered programs in fields like cybersecurity and shipbuilding.
Our own catalog shows the same spread. Unions sponsor 63% of the apprenticeship programs on SkillUp, short-term training providers account for 19%, and community colleges account for 16%. The providers our users connect with most are Apprenti, Year Up, and the Urban Technology Project. We've written more about how apprenticeships have grown beyond the trades.
If construction is where you want to be, our skilled trades hub lays out pay and training for each trade.
Start with the money. Could you live on a first-year apprentice wage for a year or two while your pay catches up?
If the answer's yes, you're trading a few lean years for a credential, a raise schedule that's written into your agreement, and no tuition bill. If it's no, that doesn't rule you out. An Earn and Learn role or a shorter certificate can bridge the gap while you build savings. Then think about how you learn. If you'd rather figure things out with the tools you have than read about them first, you'll probably like the structure. If you'd rather sample a few fields before you commit, an internship or a short course lets you do that without signing up for years.
We'd love to help you find the one that fits!
Apprentices earn a share of the journeyworker wage that increases in set increments, so your pay depends on the trade and how far along you are. Once they finish, apprentices earn an average starting salary of $86,000, according to the DOL.
Most formal programs take about four years, with a range of roughly one to six years depending on the occupation. Electrician and plumber programs typically take four to five years, and our trade-by-trade timeline guide has the numbers for five common trades.
Usually, no. On SkillUp, 90% of apprenticeship programs are free, and the rest cost under $10,000.
Yes. Each program sets its own entry criteria, and work or military experience you've already got may count toward your hours.
Yes. You're hired as an employee, paid for the hours you work, and trained on the job.
You have a tab open on a welding program that costs $18,000. Nothing on the page says whether that covers your tools.…
