National Governors Association to work with Maryland, Montana, North Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and Washington to help them develop and implement policy agendas to advance high-quality youth apprenticeship opportunities.
WASHINGTON – Maryland, Montana, North Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Washington will participate in the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) Policy Academy to Advance Youth Apprenticeship. The Policy Academy offers participating states a yearlong opportunity designed to support and develop policy agendas that advance high-quality youth apprenticeship opportunities. Participating states also receive a $50,000 grant award to execute their project activities.
The NGA Center has served as national partner in the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship (PAYA), a collaborative initiative led by New America, since its inception in 2018. The Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship defines youth apprenticeship as a structured, work-based learning program designed to start when apprentices are in high school. During the policy academy, states may work to establish and socialize their own definition of youth apprenticeship while focusing on expanding opportunities for participation in high-quality youth apprenticeship programs. Areas of focus will include, but are not limited to:
- Establishing and strengthening youth apprenticeship governance through the alignment of state agencies, partner organizations, and employers.
- Aligning youth apprenticeship infrastructure with existing systems for career and technical education.
- Expanding youth apprenticeship to reach new, high-demand industries.
- Strengthening data systems to more effectively monitor and evaluate program quality and outcomes.
Governors’ efforts to develop high-quality youth apprenticeship programs provide a critical resource to connect young people with learning opportunities in high-demand industries. The new cohort builds on previous work by the NGA Center to provide technical assistance to states on youth apprenticeship. Prior iterations of this work have also included participation from Alabama, Colorado, Indiana and Kansas, detailed in the October 2024 publication Actualizing the Promise of Youth Apprenticeship: Lessons Learned from NGA’s Policy Academy to Advance Youth Apprenticeship.
Through their participation in the one-year Policy Academy, state teams from Maryland, Montana, North Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Washington will develop policy changes that advance high-quality youth apprenticeship, create and implement an action plan and engage in peer learning with other states working to advance youth apprenticeship through NGA Center facilitated opportunities. The project will kick off in September, with state teams working with the NGA Center through summer 2026.
