The U.S. departments of Labor and Education hosted an April 30 discussion with community college, university, and workforce-development leaders to spotlight and accelerate the expansion of degree-connected Registered Apprenticeships across the country.
The department’s Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training Henry Mack was joined by Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent and Acting Assistant Secretary Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education Nick Moore for the closed-door, invite-only roundtable discussion, “Building Pathways to Degree-Connected Registered Apprenticeships.”
Assistant Secretary Mack opened the event with remarks that underscored degree-connected Registered Apprenticeships as earn-and-learn pathways that can deliver postsecondary credentials and credits while also meeting employer demand. Under Secretary Kent and Acting Assistant Secretary Moore then highlighted the shared interagency commitment to scale these models as a cornerstone of reindustrialization.
Following the opening remarks, Acting Deputy Administrator of the Office of Apprenticeship Cierra Mitchell moderated a roundtable discussion where invited guests shared best practices and insights.
“This model doesn’t just challenge the college-for-all mindset. It replaces it with something better,” Mack said during the discussion. “Students no longer face an ‘either-or’ proposition between a paycheck today and a degree tomorrow. They earn both simultaneously, gaining real-world experience on a pathway designed around their lives, while employers gain workers who are ready from day one. Washington didn’t invent this solution – the leaders in this room did, and our job now is to scale it.”
“President Trump has set a target of reaching and surpassing one million active apprentices. Reaching that goal will not happen through the Department of Education or Labor alone. It requires colleges and universities to work together as connective tissue between employers and learners,” said Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent. “From our perspective, degree-connected Registered Apprenticeships do something no traditional degree program does by default: they convert paid, mentored work into recognized academic process, enabling learners to gain the on-the-job experience from day one.”
The event reflected the Trump administration’s commitment to preparing Americans for mortgage-paying careers, achieving the goal of reaching and surpassing 1 million active Registered Apprentices nationwide, and – consistent with America’s Talent Strategy – breaking down the silos between education and workforce systems to build a unified talent pipeline that serves workers and employers more seamlessly.
The department encourages interested parties to visit the National Apprenticeship Week website to learn more about how to get involved in Registered Apprenticeship as the earn-and-learn pathway to mortgage-paying careers. Registered Apprenticeship stakeholders are also encouraged to start planning for National Apprenticeship Week 2027, taking place from April 25-May 1, 2027.