Apprenticeship and Workforce Training in Utah
326 sponsors, 51,243 federal participant records, DWS throughput, and how earn-while-you-learn fits Utah’s credential mix.
Registered apprenticeship trains thousands of Utah workers, but College Scorecard does not track earn-while-you-learn pathways. RAPIDS lists 326 active sponsors; DWS counted 4,731 active apprentices in 2024 — a parallel frame families need beside Parts 2–5.
Registered apprenticeship trains thousands of Utah workers, but College Scorecard — the backbone of Parts 2–5 and 7–8 — does not track earn-while-you-learn pathways. RAPIDS lists 326 active sponsors; DWS counted 4,731 active apprentices in 2024. Families comparing college to trades need a parallel evidence frame.
- Assumption
- College Scorecard covers the postsecondary pathways families need to compare.
- Question
- How large is Utah's registered apprenticeship sector, and can it be compared to college pathways on the same metrics?
- Evidence
- Apprenticeship.gov RAPIDS · Utah DWS 2024 · DOL dataset 10264 participant records
- Finding
- The evidence suggests a substantial parallel sector (326 sponsors, 4,731 active apprentices) with learning wages and journey-level pay benchmarks — but no Scorecard net price or six-year earnings comparables.
- Limits
- Sponsor, program, and participant counts use different registries; apprentice wages are not Scorecard medians.
- College Scorecard — the backbone of Parts 2–5 and 7–8 — does not track earn-while-you-learn apprenticeship. This part introduces a parallel pathway frame: sponsors, active apprentices, and learning wages.
- RAPIDS lists 326 sponsors; DWS counted 4,731 active apprentices in 2024. Federal DOL participant records add throughput by status.
- Compare occupation-by-occupation (electricians, plumbers, HVAC) against USHE technical college medians ($38K six-year earnings in Part 2) — not against four-year medians alone.
Families comparing college to trades often look for one dashboard. Scorecard reports net price, completion, and six-year earnings for credit-hour institutions — not registered apprenticeship. Without a parallel frame, earn-while-you-learn routes disappear from the opportunity chain.
- Can I rank apprenticeship vs. college on Scorecard?
- No. Use Part 6 for sponsors, apprentices, and wage benchmarks; Parts 2–3 for USHE technical and certificate pathways.
- Are sponsor counts the same as active apprentices?
- No. RAPIDS sponsors, DWS registered programs, and federal participant records use different registries — reconciled in the callout on this page.
- What about community college + apprenticeship?
- RAPIDS lists 14 community-college sponsors; classroom credit can stack with on-the-job hours.
- 326 active registered apprenticeship sponsors in Utah (RAPIDS via Apprenticeship.gov, 2026-06-10).
- DWS counted 4,731 active apprentices in 2024 across 287 registered programs (+15% since 2020).
- Federal DOL dataset 10264: 51,243 Utah participant records by status and fiscal year.
- 182 related technical instruction (RTI) providers; construction trades dominate sponsor listings (electricians 96, plumbers/pipefitters 67, HVAC 30).
RAPIDS sponsor geography, Utah DWS participant counts, and federal DOL participant records (dataset 10264) appear below. This pathway is largely absent from College Scorecard completion and earnings fields in Parts 2–5 and 7–8.
DWS reported 287 registered programs in 2024; RAPIDS lists 326 active sponsors in the 2026-06-10 extract. The prior DWS blog cited 280+ programs in 2023. These are different registries and definitions. Sponsors, programs, and active apprentices are not interchangeable.
661 partner listings · 8 union/labor sponsors · 86 sponsors listing multiple occupations
Participant throughput (Utah DWS)
Program sponsors tell us where training is offered; DWS counts how many people are actually in registered apprenticeship. In 2024, Utah reported 4,731 active apprentices across 287 registered programs, up 15% from 2020. Average entry age is 30, so many apprentices start after high school.
Utah Department of Workforce Services
Manufacturing, utilities, and transport employ another 19%
- Construction apprentices averaged $21.49/hr in 2024 while training, below the $32.93/hr statewide average, reflecting learning wages that rise with skill.
- DWS reports electricians averaging $28.73/hr statewide; plumbers and pipefitters $28.62/hr. These are journey-level benchmarks families should compare to apprentice starting wages, not to College Scorecard medians.
- Salt Lake Community College (electrical, low voltage, plumbing apprentice training)
- Weber State University (construction apprenticeship associate degree; technology apprenticeship)
- RAPIDS lists 14 community-college sponsors and 182 related technical instruction providers; classroom credit can stack with on-the-job hours.
Source: Apprenticeships and Certificates: Reskilling and Upskilling Utah’s Labor Force (2025-04-15).
Source: Apprenticeship.gov partner-finder-prod (RAPIDS-backed); DOL dataset 10264: 51243 Utah participant rows
Construction trades account for most sponsor listings; electricians lead with 96 programs. Occupation counts sum across sponsors; one sponsor may list multiple occupations.
Source: Apprenticeship.gov · RAPIDS sponsor records
Source: Apprenticeship.gov partner-finder-prod · Utah sponsors
Source: Apprenticeship.gov partner-finder-prod · Address/state eq UT
Federal participant records (DOL dataset 10264)
Utah apprentice records from DOL's Apprenticeship Participant Characteristics and Training Outcomes dataset: active, new, completer, and cancelled counts by fiscal year.
| Status code | Records |
|---|---|
| CO (Completed) | 20,122 |
| CA (Cancelled) | 16,212 |
| RE (Registered) | 14,668 |
| RI (Reinstated) | 205 |
| SU (Suspended) | 36 |
| Fiscal year | Records |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 2,984 |
| 2015 | 3,610 |
| 2016 | 3,781 |
| 2017 | 4,140 |
| 2018 | 4,630 |
| 2019 | 4,944 |
| 2020 | 5,053 |
| 2021 | 5,538 |
| 2022 | 5,636 |
| 2023 | 6,049 |
| 2024 | 4,878 |
Geography
| City | Sponsors |
|---|---|
| Salt Lake City | 51 |
| Ogden | 28 |
| West Jordan | 12 |
| West Valley City | 12 |
| Cedar City | 10 |
| Murray | 10 |
| Springville | 10 |
| St. George | 10 |
| County | Sponsors |
|---|---|
| Salt Lake County | 113 |
| Utah County | 45 |
| Weber County | 39 |
| Davis County | 38 |
| Washington County | 20 |
| Iron County | 12 |
Apprenticeship sits alongside certificate and technical pathways (Part 2) on time-to-employment and learning wages, not on Scorecard net price or six-year earnings. RAPIDS lists sponsors by county; Scorecard reports institution medians in Parts 2–3. Compare both before enrolling at a for-profit trade school.
Sponsor and federal participant data on disk. Optional DOL RAPIDS bulk API still rate-limited; Apprenticeship.gov search is the active program source.
- Construction trades dominate sponsor listings; Electricians leads occupation counts in the RAPIDS extract.
- DWS reports 4,731 active apprentices — throughput data Scorecard cannot provide.
- Learning wages during training sit below journey-level benchmarks — families should compare starting apprentice pay to eventual journey rates, not to college medians alone.
Key takeaway: Apprenticeship is a parallel opportunity chain: 326 sponsors and 4,731 active apprentices train outside Scorecard. Federal DOL dataset 10264 adds 51,243 Utah participant records by status.
Technical note: RAPIDS sponsor geography · Utah DWS 2024 counts · DOL dataset 10264 participant records. Sponsors, programs, and apprentices use different registries.
What this means
Apprenticeship is a parallel opportunity chain: 326 RAPIDS sponsors and 4,731 active apprentices (DWS 2024) train workers outside College Scorecard. Construction trades dominate sponsor listings; learning wages rise toward journey-level benchmarks families should compare to USHE technical college medians ($38K six-year earnings in Part 2), not to four-year medians alone.
What this means for you
Find yourself below. Each bullet turns this report's evidence into a practical next step — not a prescription.
- Students For earn-while-you-learn, compare apprenticeship pay in your trade to USHE technical college medians in Part 2.
- Families Compare apprenticeship occupation-by-occupation (electricians, plumbers, HVAC) against USHE technical college medians ($38K earnings in Part 2) — not against four-year earnings alone.
- School counselors Use Part 6 for earn-while-you-learn routes; use Parts 2–3 for credit-hour certificate and degree pathways. Do not rank them on Scorecard fields alone.
- Policymakers DWS reports construction apprentices averaging learning wages below journey-level benchmarks; workforce policy should track both apprenticeship throughput and USHE technical college outcomes.
- Part 2 — USHE technical colleges median $38K earnings and 79.0% completion in Scorecard; certificate aggregate includes for-profit trade schools.
- Part 3 — College pathway earnings floor ($46K USHE four-year median) where apprenticeship lacks Scorecard comparables.
- Part 8 — Debt-to-earnings for credit-hour paths; DWS reported $21.49/hr average construction apprentice wages in 2024 — a different metric from Scorecard medians.
Sources & methodology
- Apprenticeship.gov partner-finder-prod (RAPIDS-backed); DOL dataset 10264: 51243 Utah participant rows
- Filter: Address/state eq 'UT' · 661 partner records, 326 sponsors
- Apprenticeship.gov Azure Search (partner-finder-prod, RAPIDS-backed)
- Data/workforce/apprenticeship-gov/utah-rapids-programs.json
- Data/workforce/dws-blog/utah-apprenticeship-context.json
- Utah DWS: Apprenticeships and Certificates: Reskilling and Upskilling Utah’s Labor Force (2025-04-15)
- DOL dataset 10264: utah-apprenticeship-participants.json
Pathways & Outcomes original analysis; cite the report and link to the primary URL. Data vintage: College Scorecard Utah subset · see part sources.
APA: Pathways and Outcomes. (2026). Apprenticeship and Workforce Training in Utah. https://pathwaysandoutcomes.org/utah/research/utah-apprenticeship-workforce-training/
Pathways & Outcomes uses AI tools to help draft reports and data briefs from verified public data and analysis. A human editor reviews every publication for accuracy, data consistency, clarity, methodology alignment, and discrepancies before release. AI does not determine what we investigate, what we publish, or what conclusions we reach. Editorial policy · About our team
Published June 10, 2026
Republish this brief
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Attribution required