In a post we shared a year ago, we discussed the importance of tracking post-program outcomes for alumni of initiatives that are working to close the gap between education and employment. Relatively few such programs track participants beyond completion, leaving a gap in knowledge about what program participants go on to do. Following the education and employment trajectories of youth apprentices after they complete is essential to demonstrating and differentiating the value and impact of apprenticeship as an approach to training. And while the gold standard alumni data on employment and education outcomes would come from public sources like unemployment records, this information remains, in most cases, fragmented and difficult for practitioners to access (though there are leaders, like the Data Quality Campaign, galvanizing efforts to change this). 

As we work toward more robust linkages of K-12, higher education and workforce data systems, we are grateful to Bloomberg Philanthropies and its evaluation partner, Delivery Associates, for helping practitioners like CareerWise fill gaps in our knowledge about our alumni. At the end of 2023, Delivery Associates surveyed 176 apprentices from our completed cohorts, yielding a 41% response rate. The survey asked alumni to share information about job placement, college enrollment and wages. 

Results largely underscored the findings of last year’s survey:

Alumni overwhelmingly report being on positive career trajectories:

• 100% of respondents either got a job and/or enrolled in postsecondary education after program completion
• 51% entered a job, 37% entered a job and enrolled in post-secondary education and 12% only enrolled in post-secondary education. 
• Of those who obtained a job, 84% are still employed and 83% in full time jobs. And, notably, 54% were employed, at the time of the survey, with their apprenticeship employer.
• Respondents are earning $28 per hour on average, compared to the median wage of $23.30 for householders 25 and under in Colorado.

Resources gained during the apprenticeship have lasting value:

• More than half of survey respondents found professional connections during the apprenticeship “significantly influential” in their career decisions.
• 51% reported that their post-secondary program is related to their apprenticeship pathway.

Thank you again to Delivery Associates and Bloomberg Philanthropies for continuing to support essential learning about the contribution of youth apprenticeship to young people’s long-term success. By repeating and continuously improving this effort annually, we will start to build a more robust picture of how youth apprenticeship can be a catalyst for economic mobility and of how the benefits of youth apprenticeship can be more equitably distributed.