Apprenticeship Competition

COMPETITION SUMMARY

Through the Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship, ApprenticeshipNC has created an
Apprenticeship Competition to increase the number of high school-aged apprentices across the
state. From July 1, 2025- June 30, 2026, participants will compete to register the highest
number of new high school-aged apprentices. The top three counties with the greatest success
will be awarded a cash prize of $25K, $15K, and $10K.

ELIGIBILITY

Participants

• Consortia connected to their local K12
• Group Sponsors connected to their local K12
• Any county willing to create a consortium or Group Sponsored Program connected to their local K12
  during the competition period.
  • Learn more about starting a consortium here
  • Learn more about starting a Group Sponsored Program here

Apprentices

• Eligible apprentices must be enrolled in a Registered Apprenticeship.
  • A work-based learning program designed to start when apprentices are high school-aged.
• Apprentices eligible for the tuition waiver are eligible to be counted in this competition.
• Pre-apprentices are not eligible until they roll over into a Registered Apprenticeship.
• Eligible apprentices will need to be registered in a program during the competition timeline.
• Apprentices will need to have completed their program or still be active at the end of the 12-month period (June 30, 2026) to be counted in the total.
  • Apprentices who drop out of their RAP will be removed from the competition total.
• Participants are encouraged to conduct diverse outreach to include underrepresented groups.

AWARD SELECTION

• To ensure equitable opportunity for all participants, the number of new high school-aged registered apprentices will be converted to a ratio of apprentices per 1,000 workers, based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2025 Q4 Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.
  • This will ensure that counties with larger populations are not disproportionally advantaged.
• Participants with extenuating circumstances, such as counties with multiple Group Sponsors or programs spanning multiple counties, should reach out to ANC for additional information on how their numbers will be calculated.

AWARD ADMINISTRATION

• The cash prizes of $25K, $15K, and $10K can only be used to reimburse relevant expenses incurred during the competition. Examples include (but are not limited to):
  • Outreach and recruitment efforts
  • Partnership development with local businesses and K12 schools
  • Training materials and curriculum development
• Award spending ideas should be discussed with ANC via the quarterly reports or direct communication.

REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

• Consistent with current ANC practices, participants will register their apprentices in
  NCRAN.
• Participants will need to provide ANC with two reports per quarter.
  • The first report includes the apprentice data, employer data, and demographic data for
    apprentices registered for this competition.
    • This information will be corroborated with the records in NCRAN.
  • The second report will detail a programmatic update, including how the award money
    will be spent, recruitment strategies, how the numbers compare to previous years, new
    connections forged within the community, new ideas/practices that were spurred by this
    competition, what went wrong/could be done differently, etc.
  • In the final reports, winning participants must report on how the money was spent.
• Final reports will be due by August 15, 2026 (45 days past the end of the competition).
• Reports can be sent to Elizabeth Orion at orione@nccommunitycolleges.edu 

PRINTABLE INFORMATION

• ApprenticeshipNC Apprenticeship Competition Information Sheets
• ApprenticeshipNC Apprenticeship Competition Flyer

About ApprenticeshipNC: Recognized by the Office of Apprenticeship to act on behalf of the U.S. Department of Labor, ApprenticeshipNC is the State Apprenticeship Agency authorized to register apprenticeship programs tailored to meet employers’ needs.