“In the field of education, degree apprenticeships have potential to address long-standing challenges in teacher recruitment and preparation,” according to an in-depth multi-chapter teacher apprenticeship report by New America,  a progressive-leaning think tank and civic enterprise. As it says in an introduction, “Traditional teacher preparation programs are often long, expensive, and inaccessible to many would-be teachers. They require a major financial investment from trainees: four years of college tuition, plus unpaid student teaching. They’re usually designed for traditional college students, not working adults.”

These efforts began to gather steam back in 2021 and 2022, when New York and Tennessee led the pack and a number of other states followed suit. Under the Biden Administration, teacher apprenticeships were considered a way to combat teacher shortages, diversify the educator workforce, and strengthen teacher preparation.

According to New America, “Many states that won Biden-era Department of Labor grants for apprenticeship directed some or all of that funding toward teacher apprenticeship programs.” 

According to this in-depth exploration of teacher degree apprenticeships, dated August 10, 2026, they “address some of these structural barriers, particularly the financial ones. This model makes teacher preparation more affordable by providing both tuition support and wages for teacher trainees, but it also creates a clear pathway to a career since these programs are designed to lead to a permanent role in the district. By reducing barriers to entry, degree apprenticeship can increase the appeal of becoming a teacher and, with time, address teacher shortages and increase teacher diversity”.

As Lancy Downs, senior policy analyst at New America, and one of the authors of the report, told us, “These programs are exciting and promising because they have the potential to address the challenges that school districts face in recruiting and retaining teachers. But for that promise to be realized they need to be designed well.”

How to accomplish that? The report focuses in on three essential elements for one of these programs:

• “Ensure that lead partners or sponsors are well positioned to realize program goals and build collaborative, constructive relationships.”

• “Prioritize affordability for apprentices—as not to replicate the financial barriers of traditional preparation programs—as well as for districts and institutions of higher education to ensure long-term program sustainability.”

• “Center accessibility and flexibility in program design so that apprentices progress efficiently and complete successfully.” 

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