By Josh Bandoch, Lauren Zuar | Illinois Policy Institute
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The best path to empowerment and success, especially for poor people, is work. Work allows us to prosper while providing dignity, upward mobility, the means to support ourselves and create value for others. It’s how we become thriving members of our community.
Central to this process is our education system. One of its core functions is to equip all students with the knowledge and skills necessary to find gainful employment and, ideally, careers. It’s falling woefully short, as Illinois faces a massive skills gap with over 324,000 job openings and over 283,000 Illinoisans looking for work as of November 2024. Workers lack the skills companies need. That’s a key driver of Illinois’ steep unemployment rate – one of the highest in the nation.
Why is this happening? A primary reason is Illinois’ education system mistakenly pushes college degrees as the best path to success. They aren’t. Pushing this harmful narrative creates a host of other problems. Statewide, fewer than half of students who enroll in college graduate, while student debt continues to soar – approaching $2 trillion nationwide.
Illinois can become a true leader by going beyond degrees and establishing a career-first education system. Such a system emphasizes empowering students with practical skills to maximize their chances of building lasting careers. For some students, this means earning a college degree. For many others, it means emphasizing skills-based learning opportunities such as apprenticeships or other workforce development training.
The economic and social benefits of apprenticeships are abundant. Apprenticeships are paid work training programs in which participants take on zero debt. Apprenticeship completers earn an average national starting salary of $80,000, surpassing the average $55,000 for workers who do not pursue or complete one. The hiring rate for people who complete vocational training, such as apprenticeships, is 44% higher than people with a bachelor’s degree and 46% higher than people with a graduate degree. Career satisfaction is high, too, with nearly 90% of surveyed tradespeople reporting they are very or somewhat satisfied.
Despite these enormous benefits, Illinois shortchanges apprenticeships in favor of colleges and universities. In 2025, Illinois has allocated $2.6 billion in general funds to colleges. Meanwhile, the state is projected to spend only $148.7 million in general funds on apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships and workforce training – less than 6% of the college funding.
To adopt a career-first educational model, Illinois should:
- Expand apprenticeships, especially youth-focused and non-registered programs.
- Reform occupational licensing laws to allow apprenticeship as an alternative to formal education.
- Raise public awareness of apprenticeship benefits and opportunities.
- Regularly assess workforce trends to align education with labor market needs.
- Shift funding from universities to support additional apprenticeship programming.
Read more of their insightful report here or download it here.