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DOL announces apprenticeship awards, new funding, seeks public comment

July 18, 2019

The Department of Labor recently announced awards totaling $183.8 million in Scaling Apprenticeships Through Sector-Based Strategies grants. Funded through H-1B visa fees, the grants will support the training of more than 85,000 apprentices. The grantees include 23 academic institutions and grant-matching industry consortia representing 18 states, and includes three SSTI members — the University of Cincinnati, Lorain County Community College and the State University of New York Research Foundation.

The department also seeks public comment on rules developed from the Presidential Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion’s final recommendations. The rule aims to establish standards recognition entities to streamline training, structure, and curricula for industry-recognized apprenticeship programs. These entities may include industry groups or associations, educational institutions, state and local governments, nonprofit organizations or unions. The department asserts that involving these industry-led and market-driven entities will increase the flexibility and agility in scaling this apprenticeship model. The comment period closes Aug. 26.

The department also announced a new round of apprenticeship grants with an estimated total of $100 million. SSTI members were informed of this funding opportunity in our June 25 edition of the SSTI Weekly Digest Funding Supplement. Click here to learn more about becoming an SSTI member.

dol, apprenticeship, grants