President Trump released a series of education-focused executive orders Wednesday, including ones on artificial intelligence in K-12 education, reforming higher education accreditation, and registered apprenticeship.

The Details: In the executive order on workforce training and apprenticeship, the White House directed the secretaries of the Labor, Commerce, and Education Departments to develop a plan for the United States to reach at least 1M new active apprentices. It doesn’t specify a timeframe for the goal.

Last fiscal year, the system added just shy of 315K new apprentices, and had a total of 679K active apprentices, with both numbers having grown substantially during the past 10 years.

The order commits to protecting and strengthening registered apprenticeship, specifically—which is notable given that the first Trump administration eschewed that system and instead attempted to create a new class of industry-recognized apprenticeships. The order specifically directs the departments to, within 120 days, map out ways to:

  • Expand registered apprenticeship to new occupations and industries, including high-growth ones.
  • Scale apprenticeship, improve its efficiency, and provide consistent support to program participants.
  • Enhance connections between apprenticeship and the higher education system, including through the Perkins Act and the federal student aid system.

In addition, it calls for a review of all federal workforce development programs and for a report on how to integrate programs, reform or eliminate poor performers, increase upskilling for incumbent workers, and identify alternatives to the four-year degree that can be mapped to specific in-demand skills.

The broad strokes are generally ideas that have bipartisan support in Congress and many states—though consensus often breaks down on the details, especially around alternatives to the four-year degree. And many experts believe predictable federal funding would be needed to dramatically increase the number of apprentices in the U.S.

“We are renewing the American Dream by revitalizing and reshaping our workforce into a highly skilled powerhouse of potential,” Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the labor secretary, said in a statement.

The administration’s actions on workforce education so far have failed to match its rhetoric. For example, it has cut several grants for apprenticeship research and programs, including significant ones for teacher training. They were swept up in the Department of Government Efficiency’s cost cutting and anti-DEI efforts.

The order sends an important signal that the administration will continue to back registered apprenticeships, Harin Contractor, who was the Biden administration’s director of labor policy, wrote on LinkedIn. However, he said the directive is “light on detail and lacks the staff and capacity to implement the shared vision” it and a rescinded Biden order described.

The Staffing: Sources say it will be difficult for the White House to make progress on apprenticeship, at least in the short run. The directive comes amid sweeping new cuts to career staff members at the Labor Department, following deeper ones at the Education Department. And the acting head of the Employment and Training Administration appears to have been forced out this week. 

Bloomberg Law reports that Amy Simon, principal deputy assistant secretary of the ETA, which manages the registered apprenticeship system, left the Labor Department this week, with an administration spokesperson pointing to a memo prohibiting leaks to third parties. Simon worked at the ETA in the first Trump administration and is respected across party lines. She had been appointed to her new role just last month. John Ladd, the longtime career administrator of the Office of Apprenticeship, left earlier this year.

The Education Department, which the administration aims to completely shutter, did gain some significant workforce expertise this week. 

Nick Moore, who is well-regarded in the field, was just hired as deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education. Moore is the longtime director of Alabama Governor Kay Ivey’s Office of Education and Workforce Transformation, where he played a lead role in the creation of the Alabama Talent Triad. The state has also been a leader on apprenticeship. 

And Michael Brickman is returning to the department as a senior advisor. During Trump’s first term he led policies related to accreditation, distance and competency-based education, and employer-led partnerships.