As concerns grow about whether young people are prepared to enter the workforce, states increasingly are turning to registered apprenticeship programs (RAPs) as a pathway to train new workers and fill shortages in critical sectors, such as education and healthcare.
A 2025 report on workforce readiness by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found that “few hiring managers say high school graduates are ready for the workforce.” Through apprenticeship, employers play a direct role in articulating the skills they need, helping better align workforce skills with demand. Approached this way, apprenticeship offers states a workforce tool that can improve job matching, increase retention, and ensure that public workforce investments translate more directly into employer‑relevant skills and long‑term employment outcomes.
“Apprenticeship is one of Maryland’s most effective tools for connecting residents with meaningful careers and helping employers shape the workforce they need to grow,” said Maryland Department of Labor Secretary Portia Wu earlier this year.
Apprenticeships have long played a pivotal role in shaping of our country’s workforce. The state of Wisconsin established the nation’s first state Registered Apprenticeship system in 1911, but many influential figures from our nation’s colonial era began their careers as apprentices. Notably, Benjamin Franklin apprenticed as a printer; Paul Revere as a silversmith; and George Washington as a surveyor.
More recently, with many regions facing acute labor shortages in essential sectors such as teaching and healthcare, states are embracing apprenticeships as a way to both fill employer vacancies and train workers in critical fields. In 2025, more than 400,000 teaching positions, about 1 in 8, across the country were vacant or staffed by educators who were not fully certified.
Seeking to expand its teacher pipeline and address shortages, Tennessee turned to registered apprenticeships under the Grow Your Own (GYO) model, which recruits and trains local talent to remain in their communities as teachers. In January 2022, Tennessee became the first state to receive U.S. DOL approval for a permanent K–12 Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Program (RTAP), with Clarksville‑Montgomery’s Teacher Residency serving as the first approved program. The RTAP is a partnership between LEAs and EPPs, with the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) serving as sponsor. From their first day, apprentices are employed in school settings and earn wages while they complete their training, progressively gaining the competencies needed to become licensed teachers.
The model quickly took off: By the end of 2023, 645 people had enrolled, 61 had completed the program, and 524 were actively enrolled. By the end of 2025, RTAPs had been approved in almost 70 counties, with more than 90 LEA partners and 14 EPPs. The program has an 86% completion rate and produced more than 250 licensed teachers. This success helped Tennessee registers more teacher apprentices than any other state from 2022 to 2025 and underscores how statewide teacher apprenticeship models can help states address shortages and build a scalable, homegrown workforce.
The behavioral health field, likewise, faces similar workforce issues, with an anticipated shortage of nearly 88,000 mental health counselors and 114,000 addiction counselors by 2037. As of December 2025, 40% of the U.S. population lives in a Mental Health Professional Shortage Area, a problem that is especially severe in rural counties.
In California, where more than 11 million people live in Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas, the state turned to apprenticeship to help address its behavioral health workforce shortage. In 2023, California created the Catalyst for Wellness in Community (CWC) Apprenticeship Program, a partnership between the Catalyst Center and the Chabot–Las Positas Community College District. The CWC Program is the state’s first behavioral health apprenticeship, designed to increase the number of qualified behavioral health professionals. This three‑year DOL‑registered apprenticeship combines college coursework, aligned with California behavioral health competencies, with on‑the‑job training and paid work experience in community-based behavioral health organizations across Northern California. Apprentices earn an associate’s degree for transfer in Social Work, more than two years of work experience, and stackable certificates. The program has enrolled 24 apprentices across two cohorts and plans to expand to a third cohort, with designs on scaling this work to include public-sector and government partners in hopes of further strengthening the talent pipeline and staving off future workforce shortages.
The week of April 26-May 2 marks National Apprenticeship Week. And as states advance toward the U.S. Department of Labor’s goal of 1 million active apprentices by 2026, National Apprenticeship Week offers a platform to show how apprenticeship can help states better respond to their distinct workforce challenges. To learn more about the apprenticeship infrastructure in your state, reach out to [email protected].