Transportation Automotive Technician Apprenticeship Incentive Fund
Frequently Asked Questions
Read our FAQs to learn more about the Transportation Automotive Technician Apprenticeship Incentive Fund.
General Program FAQs
- A national effort to bring 6,000 new technicians into auto service, collision repair and truck service over four years, through Registered Apprenticeship.
- Employers hire and train apprentices. Apprentices earn a paycheck from their first day and a nationally recognized credential at the end. Sponsors may receive up to $3,500 per apprentice for every apprentice hired and retained for nine months.
- The ASE Education Foundation leads the initiative as the national body that accredits technician training, working with NADA, ASE, American Truck Dealers and Jobs for the Future, and other local, regional, and national partners and supporters. Participation is open to everyone in the industry, whether they have ASE certified or ASE Education Foundation accreditation or not.
- $25 million from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, under the Pay-for-Performance Incentive Payments Program.
- Awarded in July 2026 as one of five cooperative agreements totaling roughly $162 million nationally.
- It is the largest workforce grant the Department has awarded in the transportation service industry.
- The program is 100 percent federally funded, and not less than 85 percent of the award flows directly to sponsors as incentive payments.
- An earn-while-you-learn model formally registered with the U.S. Department of Labor or a recognized State Apprenticeship Agency.
- It combines paid on-the-job training under an experienced mentor with related instruction.
- “Registered” matters: it means the program meets national standards, and the credential the apprentice earns is recognized in all 50 states — not only at the shop that trained them.
- Auto service technicians.
- Collision repair technicians.
- Truck (diesel) service technicians.
- Other occupations in the transportation field may be added, subject to Department of Labor approval.
- All 50 states, five U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia.
- ASE Education Foundation — lead grantee. Recruits sponsors, provides support, and reports outcomes to the Department of Labor.
- NADA — built and maintains Apprenticeship-in-a-Box program resources, and reaches dealership members.
- ASE — industry outreach and communications, and the certification pathway technicians follow after an apprenticeship.
- American Truck Dealers — the truck and diesel segment.
- Jobs for the Future — technical assistance and payment processing
- U.S. Department of Labor — awards the funding and monitors outcomes.
- A free set of resources developed by ASE and NADA so that no employer has to build a registered apprenticeship from scratch.
- It includes an implementation guide, compensation options, job descriptions, interview practices and questions, and guidance for employees who are not serving as mentors.
- It is free to everyone at nada.org/aib, and NADA continues to maintain and expand it.
- Sponsors do not have to use the Apprenticeship-in-a-Box model to participate, but they must have a program that is meets all the requirements of Registered Apprenticeship and is approved by the US Department of Labor or equivalent State Apprenticeship Agency
- ASE certification is the industry standard for working technicians. The ASE Education Foundation accredits the programs that train them.
- An apprenticeship is the bridge between the two: structured, paid experience that carries someone from student to credentialed professional.
- Complete the interest form at aseeducationfoundation.org/apprenticeship. Follow the steps based on your profile type: Apprentice / School / Employer / Sponsor. Once the program is launched, depending on your current Registered Apprenticeship program status or interest, you will be put in touch with a field manager or ASE Apprenticeship Success Manager.
Employer FAQs
- Hire an apprentice as a paid employee.
- Assign a mentor — an experienced technician who guides their work.
- Give them real work across the skills the apprenticeship standards cover and track their progress.
- Ensure that the apprentice is completing their related technical instruction (RTI) and can earn a pay raise over the course of the apprenticeship.
- Keep them employed through the milestones that trigger the incentive payments – $2,500 after the apprentice has been in the program for 90 days and an additional $1,000 after 270 days (9 months.)
- Provide required information to the program sponsor to validate the apprentices’ enrollment and work status.
- Franchised dealerships, independent repair shops, retail chains, fleets, body shops, and truck and diesel shops; in short, just about everyone in the auto, truck and collision repair industry.
- If you employ service professionals in the automotive, collision repair or truck service, you can apply.
- The sponsor builds and administers the Registered Apprenticeship program. It develops the training plan, registers apprentices with the Department of Labor, and is accountable for the program.
- The employer hires the apprentice and provides the day-to-day work assignments, mentoring, and the apprentice’s paycheck.
- For a single shop running its own program, the employer and sponsor can be one and the same. The challenge is that this can be a substantial burden for a single shop. In a group program, one sponsor provides a Registered Apprenticeship program for many employers — which is how a state dealer association or dealer group can sponsor dozens or hundreds of locations.
- You can also join a program already run by a group sponsor, such as a state or metro dealer association, or a third party such as NAPA. In that case the sponsor carries the registration and the paperwork.
- Apprenticeship-in-a-Box exists so you do not have to create written materials — the standards, job descriptions and interview materials are already written. If you are not joining an existing program run by a sponsor, you will need to submit a sponsorship application for DoL approval.
- The real cost is mentor time, not paperwork.
- Mentoring works when it is built into the mentor’s schedule. Layered on top of a full workload, the apprentice is the one who absorbs the shortfall — and that is usually why they leave.
- Registration turns training you are already doing into a credential your technician can carry, which makes the job more attractive to the people you are trying to recruit.
- It replaces “learn whatever comes through the door” with a defined progression, so skills get covered in a deliberate order.
- And it pays the program sponsor up to $3,500 per apprentice for work you were largely doing anyway.
- Yes. The program is open to existing registered apprenticeships as well as new ones. The Department of Labor may have additional “substantial growth” requirements for existing RA programs, so check with ASE before you sign up for incentive payments.
- There is no limit for the number of apprentices any employer may submit for payment. It is first-come, first-served.
- There is no hidden one, but there are two real costs and it is better to say so plainly.
- You pay the apprentice’s wages, and you give up some of a senior technician’s productive time to mentor them.
- The incentive may be used to offset costs of mentorship. Whether the arrangement works for you comes down to whether you would need to hire someone anyway — and most shops would. Discuss this situation with your program sponsor.
- That varies from program to program. In some programs the RTI is 100% paid for by the employer, or the apprentice and employer share the cost.
- In other programs, the state’s community colleges provide tuition-free classes to Registered Apprentices. In other programs, the apprentice may be paying for the RTI themselves, but this is the exception rather than the rule.
- Program sponsors and employers should clearly state up front all the details about how RTI is provided and who pays for it.
- You don’t. The incentive funds go to the program sponsor. They should be telling the employers how they plan to use the incentive money before the employer signs on with that sponsor.
Sponsor FAQs
- The sponsor builds and administers the Registered Apprenticeship program. It develops the training plan, registers apprentices with the Department of Labor, and is accountable for the program.
- The employer hires the apprentice and provides the day-to-day work assignments, mentoring, and the apprentice’s paycheck.
- For a single shop running its own program, the employer and sponsor can be one and the same. The challenge is that this can be a substantial burden for a single shop. In a group program, one sponsor provides a Registered Apprenticeship program for many employers — which is how a state dealer association or dealer group can sponsor dozens or hundreds of locations.
- Individual employers (ideally with multiple locations due to paperwork and RA program status requirements).
- Organizations representing multiple employers, such as local or state dealer associations.
- Independent shop associations.
- Franchise operators, and others.
- It is a member service that members already ask for. The technician shortage is near the top of most association agendas.
- One registration covers many shops, so members who would never build their own program can still participate.
- It concentrates the administrative work where there is staff to handle it, rather than asking every shop to learn the process alone.
- Maintain a registered apprenticeship program that meets Department of Labor or State Apprenticeship Agency standards.
- Register apprentices and maintain records.
- Recruit and support participating employers.
- Collect data from participating employers and report outcomes so that incentive payments can be verified.
- Sponsors receive the funds (per apprentice) at the 90- and 270-day mark. It is up to the sponsor’s discretion to use or distribute funds.
- Many Apprenticeship-in-a-Box resources at no cost, so the program structure is already built, courtesy of NADA
- Field managers in every state who work directly with schools and the businesses that employ their graduates.
- Connections into more than 1,800 ASE-accredited auto, diesel and collision programs reaching over 100,000 students a year.
- Recruitment support through ASE and NADA communications channels.
- The program covers all 50 states, five territories, and the District of Columbia. Businesses that operate in multiple states may wish to register with state agencies, the US Department of Labor, or both. If this situation applies to you, discuss the options with ASE.
- Begin with the interest form at aseeducationfoundation.org/apprenticeship. Once the program is launched, depending on your RA program status, you will be directed to a subsequent application and can connect directly with an Apprenticeship Success Manager.
- Up to $3,500 per apprentice hired. This is paid out in 2 installments – $2,500 after the apprentice has been on the job for 90 days, and another $1,000 after the apprentice completes 270 days (9 months). The money is paid directly to you, the sponsor. It is up to your discretion to determine how the money is used.
- Payments are tied to 2 milestones – if an apprentice leaves before the 90-day mark, the initial $2,500 payment is not earned. If they leave between 90 days and 9 months, you [the sponsor] retain the initial $2,500 but do not receive the subsequent $1,000.
- That varies from program to program. In some programs the RTI is 100% paid for by the employer, or the apprentice and employer share the cost.
- In other programs, the state’s community colleges provide tuition-free classes to Registered Apprentices. In other programs, the apprentice may be paying for the RTI themselves, but this is the exception rather than the rule.
- Program sponsors and employers should clearly state up front all the details about how RTI is provided and who pays for it.
School and Instructor FAQs
- Schools are where most apprentices will come from. The ASE Education Foundation accredits more than 1,800 auto, diesel and collision programs reaching over 100,000 students a year — that is the pipeline this program draws on.
- Instructors are also the most trusted voice a student has when deciding what to do next.
- Accreditation means your program already meets the industry standards this apprenticeship is built around.
- Your students are among the most prepared candidates available, and the employer relationships you already maintain are exactly the ones sponsors need.
- Co-op and work-based learning place a student in a shop. A Registered Apprenticeship adds a defined set of competencies, an assigned mentor, structured progression, and a nationally recognized credential at the end.
- It is the same instinct, formalized — and the credential travels with the student wherever they go next.
- Yes.
- That depends on the design of the Registered Apprenticeship program. Some program sponsors and employers may choose to use factory or other training resources to provide the RTI (related technical instruction) that is part of every Registered Apprenticeship. Many others may choose to partner with local schools as their RTI provider.
- Your ASE Education Foundation field manager is the direct route — there is one in every state.
- The employers already working with your program, on your advisory committee or hiring your graduates, are the most likely first employers or sponsors.
- That this is a paid job with structured training attached and a national credential at the end — not a fallback for students who could not manage something else.
- No debt, wages from the first day, and an industry that has publicly committed to bringing in 6,000 new technicians in four years with help from the Department of Labor.
- It gives graduates a defined next step, which makes recruiting students into your program easier.
- It deepens the employer relationships you already rely on for advisory committees, equipment donations, and placement.
Apprentice FAQs
- A real job from day one, with training built into it.
- You work in a shop under an experienced technician who teaches you, and you take related technical classes to help you understand the theory alongside the work.
- At the end you have paid experience, a credential recognized nationally, and no student debt.
- Yes. You are an employee from your first day and you earn a wage while you learn.
- You are paid to be there rather than paying to attend.
- No college degree is required. An apprenticeship is designed for someone with little or no prior automotive experience.
- Some Registered Apprenticeship programs are time-based while others are competency-based, so the time to complete them can vary. But in general, most entry-level auto, truck and collision repair apprenticeships take 1 to 2 years to complete.
- A Registered Apprenticeship credential from the U.S. Department of Labor, recognized in all 50 states.
- Documented work experience, and a clear path toward ASE certification — the standard the industry uses to recognize working technicians.
- Working on vehicles under supervision, taking on more responsibility as you demonstrate skills.
- Real repair work, not shadowing. An apprentice is a member of the team from the start.
- Completing technical training classes that help you understand the theory behind the work.
- No. Career changers are explicitly part of who this program is for.
- The requirement is willingness to learn the trade, not a particular age or starting point.
- No — it is changing, which is exactly why the training matters.
- Vehicles are becoming more complex, not less. The technicians in demand are the ones who can diagnose modern systems, and that capability has to be taught.
- Start at aseeducationfoundation.org/apprenticeship.
- If you are already in an ASE-accredited training program, ask your instructor — they are often connected directly to the employers hiring.
ASE Education Foundation
Expanding & Advancing Automotive, Collision, and Truck Service Technician Apprenticeships
The total cost of the Transportation Automotive Technician Apprenticeship Incentive Fund is $25,000,000. $25,000,000 (100%) is funded through a U.S. Department of Labor – Employment and Training Administration grant.
Contact
ASE Education Foundation
1503 Edwards Ferry Rd., NE, Suite 201
Leesburg, VA 20176