NOTE: Indiana PHCC is an approved recipient of the Career Scholarship Account fund. Further, if the State of Indian would follow what our plumbing apprentice schools in Indiana have done, then Indiana PHCC is the model for what Indiana should be considering if they want to boost apprenticeship opportunities.
INDIANAPOLIS - As Hoosier education leaders lean deeper into a statewide model that emphasizes work-based learning, a new report from the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute cautions that while apprenticeships are widely considered to be a “gold standard” of workforce training, scaling the programs to meet current needs "will be challenging.”
Employer demand for workers continues to outpace Indiana’s supply of individuals looking for work, said IFPI President Stephanie Wells, who authored the policy brief. Like many other states, Indiana is now seeking to create robust youth and adult apprenticeship programming.
Those learning opportunities allow high school students—as well as adults re-entering the workforce and those who are currently employed but want to increase their skills—to earn necessary experience and credentials through firsthand career exposure that is directly tied to an industry or employer.
State and local organizations have repeatedly emphasized apprenticeship programs and work-based learning in recent years. Indiana lawmakers are also buying in, so far establishing new Career Scholarship Accounts—which provide $5,000 scholarships to pay for apprenticeships or career-related coursework—and funding initiatives like youth apprenticeship grants.
But achieving a lasting apprenticeship model that can adequately train up large numbers of Hoosiers won’t be an easy feat.
The IFPI brief, published last week, recommended that state lawmakers simplify the regulation and oversight of youth and adult apprenticeships to “make it easier for employers and intermediaries to navigate the system.” State-funded incentives to pay for workforce training and education, plus subsidies for apprentices’ wages through grants or tax credits, is also “especially recommended.”
