Why Apprenticeship?
Earn while you learn.
An ApprenticeshipNC allows you to earn while you learn a highly skilled trade. You’ll graduate with a professional certification or two-year college degree debt free.
Apprenticeship pays.
In addition to free training and invaluable work experience, all ApprenticeshipNC apprentices get progressively increasing wages through the course of their apprenticeship.
A high-skilled job.
The average starting salary after graduation from an apprenticeship is $50,000. An apprenticeship will build your skills in an in-demand job.
Youth Apprenticeships
While most of these apprenticeship programs require apprentices to have a high school diploma or a GED certificate, there are apprenticeship programs that select current high school students. As such, specifications vary by occupation and program. Before choosing an appropriate occupational program, discuss your interests and professional goals with parents/guardian and school/vocational counselors.
How to Get Started
Students looking for an alternative to a four-year college degree should consider apprenticeship training. As opposed to spending significant financial resources preparing for a career, students in an apprenticeship program are paid a progressively increasing wage as they learn the occupation.
How It Works
To prepare for an apprenticeship program, students should work with teachers or counselors to plan the coursework needed to obtain basic skills such as math, reading comprehension and science. Those skills are necessary to compete in an occupation through this program. Most apprenticeship programs require apprentices to have a high school diploma or GED certificate. Specific qualifications vary by occupation.
Students who are interested in the apprenticeship program should consider the following things:
- Participants are paid on an increasing hourly rate by employers during training
- Programs provide on-the-job learning and job-related classroom or technical instruction
- Training results in an industry-recognized credential that certifies occupational proficiency
How to Apply
All participants interested in being an apprentice must first be employed by an apprenticeship sponsor. If you would like help finding a sponsor employer, you can reach out to your local Career & Technical Education counselors or the local NCWorks Career Center, or look at some of the open enrollment programs available.