Expand and Integrate Earn and Learn Experiences

High-quality earn-and-learn opportunities provide paid, on-the-job training alongside mentorship and related instruction, which may include youth and registered apprenticeships, internships, and service-year programs. Demand for earn-and-learn experiences has been growing rapidly as educators seek to provide learners with on-the-job training and learners recognize the importance of developing professional competencies while feeling squeezed to find paid work while in school. However, demand vastly outpaces supply in many communities across the country.

To encourage more employers to offer apprenticeships, policymakers should increase financial incentives to help offset high start-up costs and reduce regulatory barriers in the registration and approval process for apprenticeship programs. Employers should also partner with intermediary organizations for support and endeavor to provide more openings and mentorship to learners in their communities interested in taking on an internship or apprenticeship.

In Rhode Island, the governor announced a comprehensive Rhode to Prosperity initiative, which includes a focus on expanding registered apprenticeships by leveraging federal funding, approving apprenticeships in new occupations, and providing a central hub of information and technical assistance to strengthen public-private partnerships. Building on other registered apprenticeships in K-12 education, Rhode Island is one of the first states to launch a registered apprenticeship program for school principals. The state also continues to grow in clean energy careers, and the state government is leading the way with registered apprenticeships in public-sector roles.1

Another avenue to increase earn-and-learn opportunities at a lower cost and risk to employers is service-year programs or degree apprenticeships. Policymakers could similarly increase funding and reduce barriers for service-year programs while incentivizing registration of service-year programs as pre-apprenticeships or apprenticeships, allowing participants to earn an industry-valued credential. Service-year programs and registered apprenticeships can also be aligned with degree programs, allowing participants to earn college credit and accelerate their paths to career and college.

In a 2025 review, nearly 350 institutions of higher education were found to have integrated registered apprenticeships into their associate, bachelor’s, or master’s degree programs.2 An area of particularly strong growth has been registered teacher apprenticeship pathways.3 However, several key industries, such as occupational and physical therapy, that could have success with this model have not yet developed these programs.

Alabama’s nursing apprenticeship program was instituted via Alabama Act 2021-275. As of December 2025, eighty employers and twenty-eight colleges and universities in the state have created nursing apprenticeship programs.4 Apprentices, who are required to stay at the hospital at which they train for one year after completing the program, thus increasing staff retention rates, say that they learn more via the one-on-one time they receive as apprentices than they would learn in traditional clinic hours, which are completed in groups.