There is one way to avoid paying for college-don’t go. With all the emphasis on going to college, this seems unthinkable. And when you compare the lifetime earnings of college graduates to those who only have high school diplomas, it seems financially foolish. However, the growing number of apprenticeship opportunities offers an alternative that’s not considered by most students.
Furthermore, apprenticeships potentially offer good salaries without the debt accumulation experience by too many college graduates. So if you aren’t certain college is for you or can’t make it work without an unreasonable amount of student loans, take some time to read the resources below.
What is an Apprenticeship?
Just a basic overview of what is an apprenticeship from a career planning perspective.
Apprentices, as those who receive this specialized training are called, are usually paid while they receive their training. As they become more proficient, their salaries even increase. Most apprenticeships are four years long with 144 hours per year spent in the classroom and 2000 hours annually receiving on-the-job training.
Not your father’s apprenticeship
Good article for parents trying to decide how apprenticeships compare as a college alternative.
Companies and colleges are more engaged and involved. Students are provided better service and attention. Technologies are providing colleges the improved ability to teach skillsets with increasingly transferable value. Integration of computers and technologies have added other benefits that could not be achieved five or 10 years ago.
5 things you didn’t know about apprenticeships
Addresses some of the not so true assumptions many people have about apprenticeships.
quite a number of apprenticeship programs that do help participants get corresponding degrees,” she said. In fact in some programs, workers can earn college credit and their employer will foot the bill.
Careers with Registered Apprenticeships
Start here when you want to see exactly what kind of apprenticeships are available. Unfortunately, you have to enter a specific state to search for actual programs when it might be better to just allow you to search by state. You can find a list of state resources here.
Apprenticeships, long common in blue-collar industries, are coming to white-collar office work
A look at the growing number of office apprenticeships and some of the issues that are holding them back.
Many newer apprenticeship programs are technology-oriented — training people for positions such as internal tech support or software programming. But they’re also training human resources analysts, insurance customer support agents, account managers and more.
Importing Apprenticeships
Are apprenticeships meant to be an alternative to college or a different form of college? The answer can have implications for long term earnings.
The Swiss and U.S. governments entered into a formal agreement in 2015 to cooperate on supporting apprenticeships and other forms of vocational and educational education and training, at which time 18 Swiss companies announced plans to develop or expand apprenticeship programs in the U.S.