{"id":205115,"date":"2015-11-02T04:00:38","date_gmt":"2015-11-02T11:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/getrichslowly.org\/blog\/?p=205115"},"modified":"2019-11-14T22:55:09","modified_gmt":"2019-11-15T06:55:09","slug":"how-to-get-an-apprenticeship-and-avoid-student-loan-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getrichslowly.org\/how-to-get-an-apprenticeship-and-avoid-student-loan-debt\/","title":{"rendered":"What is an apprenticeship?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Given that student loan debt in the U.S. tops $1.2 trillion and the average graduate owed over $30,000 in 2015, it’s no surprise topics like how to start paying student loans<\/a> are necessary.<\/p>\n

However, if you’re still in school or are still saving <\/a>for college (or you have kids or grandkids in that category), there’s an option for reducing or eliminating the amount of student loans you take out: apprenticeship programs.<\/p>\n

<\/span>What is an Apprenticeship Program?<\/span><\/h2>\n
\"Apprentice<\/div>\n

The basic idea behind apprenticeships is that students\/apprentices learn by doing. While apprenticeships used to be a very common way for people to train for a wide variety of professions, as higher education became ubiquitous, the apprenticeship model fell out of fashion.<\/p>\n

However, both universities and employers are starting to recognize that practicing skills in a real-life setting reinforces classroom learning, makes students more employable upon graduation, and can reduce student indebtedness. #Win-win-win.<\/p>\n

<\/span>How Do Apprenticeship Programs Work?<\/span><\/h2>\n

There are two main types of apprenticeship programs:<\/p>\n

Trade Apprenticeships<\/h3>\n

Trade apprenticeships prepare you for careers for which a bachelor’s degree is not required. Though they used to be the most common form of apprenticeship, they have become less popular in recent decades as society focused on higher education over careers in the trades and vocations.<\/p>\n

Ironically, however, the promotion of college degrees by the government and institutions of higher education resulted in labor shortages in the trades. This has driven salaries up in many cases, since demand for those services has not been reduced.<\/p>\n

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s apprenticeship website<\/a>, careers in a variety of fields rely on the trade apprenticeship model. Here is a list of such careers along with the mean annual wage as of 2012 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics:<\/p>\n