|
|
Getty Images
Education Dive
Labor Department aims to grow apprenticeships with new rule
Natalie Schwartz
March 12, 2020
Dive Brief:
The U.S. Department of Labor released final regulations this week
establishing a new system to evaluate apprenticeships that could make
it easier for employers and education providers to create their own
programs.
Starting in mid-May, the Labor Department will allow several kinds of
entities — including colleges, trade associations and employers — to
monitor and establish apprenticeship programs.
The new regulations could aid the Trump administration's long-running
goal of expanding apprenticeships in the U.S. But some observers worry
they could open the door for lower-quality programs.
Dive Insight:
The rules were spurred by a 2017 executive order directing the Labor
Department to set up a new system that would make it easier for third
parties, such as trade associations and nonprofits, to develop
apprenticeship programs.
These new Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAPs) mean to
increase the number of apprentices in fields that don't typically have
them, such as health care, cybersecurity and telecommunications, Labor
Secretary Eugene Scalia said in a statement.
IRAPs will include a paid work component and lead to an
industry-recognized credential. And they could be a boon for community
colleges, many of which have been aiming to expand their apprenticeship
programs.
However, some policy experts have advocated for the Labor Department to
expand and improve its current model for recognizing apprenticeships,
rather than create a new one. "There was a real opportunity to reform
the system that is," said Brent Parton, deputy director of New
America's Center on Education and Skills, in an interview with
Education Dive.
Under the current system, the Labor Department or a state
apprenticeship agency ensures apprenticeships are meeting quality
standards.
The new system, however, will let the Labor Department delegate some of
its oversight responsibilities to other parties that it will oversee,
called standards recognition entities (SREs). It isn't replacing the
old model but will be another way to create apprenticeship programs.
However, some obervers also say the new option doesn't have enough
safeguards. Parton said it is "sufficiently vague" to spur innovation
but could harm workers if they end up in poor quality programs.
IRAPs will have the flexibility to award credit for prior learning and
use competency-based education. The move drew praise last summer from
Walter Bumphus, president of the American Assocation of Community
Colleges, which represents more than 1,000 two-year institutions.
Yet some Congressional Democrats criticized the new system, arguing
that it could create inconsistent quality among apprenticeship
programs.
Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., the chair of the House's education committee,
noted in a statement that the model may set up apprenticeship programs
that aren't recognized from coast to coast. "The Department of Labor is
walking away from this clear record of success and wasting taxpayer
money by setting up an entirely untested and unproven system," he said.
Although the Labor Department previously proposed that it would
prohibit SREs from recognizing their own apprenticeships, the new
regulations allow them to do so. "It's the fox guarding the henhouse,"
Parton said.
The agency acknowledged this could create "actual or potential
conflicts of interest," but it contended certain application procedures
would help reduce that risk.
The Trump administration has made other moves to expand use of
apprenticeships in the U.S. Last summer, the Labor Department granted
nearly $184 million to colleges and their private-sector partners to
support training some 85,000 apprentices in the health care, advanced
manufacturing and information technology fields.
Colleges told Education Dive at the time that they planned to use the
money to launch new programs and give students stipends for books,
supplies and industry certification exams.
|
|
|
|
