From Pilots to Policy: States Take Steps to Build Systems for Scaling Youth Apprenticeship

Across the country, states are demonstrating greater recognition of the promise of youth apprenticeship as a strategy to expand access to high-quality training connected to jobs and leading to promising careers. Although youth apprenticeships exist in nearly all 50 states, most lack the coordinated strategies and infrastructure necessary for large-scale, sustainable growth. However, two recent reports from state leaders in Utah and Delaware highlight a promising new trend: states are moving from experimentation to system-building in youth apprenticeship. Below we unpack key findings from the two reports and what they reveal about the challenges and opportunities in developing state-wide youth apprenticeship infrastructure.

Utah leaders recognized that the state’s efforts to expand work-based learning needed greater coherence and alignment. In 2024, Utah’s legislature passed Senate Bill 122, directing the Utah Education Policy Center (UEPC) to study how the state could create infrastructure to support a coordinated youth apprenticeship system, building on a handful of successful but disconnected pilot programs across the state.

Drawing on extensive background research and stakeholder interviews, UEPC’s report identified several barriers that have limited the growth and alignment of youth apprenticeship, including the existence of two separate statutory definitions of youth apprenticeship. The report further underscores several cross-system challenges: duplicative or unclear agency roles, misaligned funding streams, gaps in data and reporting systems, and limited coordination across education and workforce programs.

UEPC provided several recommendations for addressing these issues, with solutions organized around five interlocking change levers: governance, operational alignment, communication, strategic investment, and capacity building. The proposed strategies within each lever range from simple coordination efforts (e.g. align communications timelines) to more complex policy strategies (e.g. create employer incentives), providing a useful road map with both near and long-term goals for system building. Ultimately, the report lays out an ambitious vision for what’s possible in Utah, pushing state leaders to think beyond just supporting programs. As the authors note, “[b]y aligning efforts across education, workforce and industry and by centering implementation on shared goals and data-informed decision making, Utah can optimize and expand existing infrastructure needed to ensure youth apprenticeships are not just available—but impactful and enduring.”

Within an hour of being sworn into office, Governor Matt Meyer sent a clear signal about the importance of youth apprenticeship and career pathways with his first executive order, Committing to Increase Youth Apprenticeship and Earn-and-Learn Opportunities, issued on January 21, 2025. The order established a Department of Education-led working group to expand youth apprenticeships, particularly for roles within state government, and deliver a report within 30 days.

The final report, developed with input from Delaware’s education-to-workforce partners, identifies barriers that hinder students' connections with workforce opportunities, including limited agency coordination, underutilization of apprenticeships as a strategy, and insufficient school capacity. The report recommends strategies to improve system alignment, coordination, and sustainability, thereby expanding access to quality jobs, including state employment, for young people.

The report recommends the state take several key actions, including updating, educating, and encouraging Registered Apprenticeship training providers and employers to award advanced standing to apprentices in alignment with Delaware’s Credit for Prior Learning Policy Framework. Additionally, the report calls for dedicated work-based learning staff in every high school and increased state capacity to sustain and expand apprenticeship programs. The executive order and report highlight the state’s plan to respond to the industry demand for jobs in the Delaware state government by leveraging youth apprenticeship to help address a talent shortage.

Both reports underscore the vital role of state leadership—legislative and gubernatorial—in advancing this work. They affirm the importance of cross-sector cooperation in transitioning from pilot to policy through the integration of youth apprenticeship throughout state systems, including both K-12 and higher education. In Utah, the first step into system-building is now underway. Delaware is leveraging prior investments in Delaware Pathways and youth apprenticeship to build out a state system. The continued alignment of state leadership and cross-sector partners will be the driving force for both states in turning their youth apprenticeship visions into lasting statewide systems.