American Apprenticeship Act

American Apprenticeship Act

This bill directs the Department of Labor to make competitive grants to assist states in, and to pay for the federal share of between 20% and 50% of the cost of, carrying out projects that defray the cost of instruction associated with pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs.

The bill defines: (1) "apprenticeship" as one registered under the National Apprenticeship Act of 1937; and (2) "pre-apprenticeship" as an initiative or set of strategies that provides training, that is designed to prepare individuals to enter and succeed in an apprenticeship program, and that includes a formal agreement enabling participants who complete it to enter an apprenticeship program with an employer, joint labor-management partnership, trade association, professional association, labor organization, or other entity and agreements concerning earning credit recognized by a postsecondary educational institution.

A joint team of employees from Labor and the Department of Education shall review, and make recommendations regarding approval of, grant applications.

A state that receives a grant shall use the funds to defray related costs of tuition and fees, textbooks, equipment, curriculum development, and other required educational materials.

Labor shall: (1) establish performance measures and an evaluation system for such grant program; and (2) identify in-demand occupations that lack the use of apprenticeships, analyze the use of the apprenticeship model in those occupations, and report on such analysis to states and Congress.