Apprenticeships a Little-Traveled Path to Jobs  Apprenticeships
can mean high-paying jobs, without degrees or heavy student loan
bills.   There are around 398,000 registered apprentices in the
United States, according to the Labor Department.   To create
more apprenticeships on a massive scale would also require a
shift in worldview for some companies; many companies simply
wait for educated and qualified workers to come to them, then
teach them a few extra skills that they might need to know at
that particular firms. In apprenticeships, businesses take an
active role in formalized education processes.  Carnevale also
believes that an apprenticeship system depends on strong unions.
After all, many programs like the one at IUOE can only run
because local companies pay into it—it's a partnership between a
union and the private sector. Carnevale also points out that
unionization has been on the decline in America for decades. As
recently as the late 1970s, nearly one quarter of all workers
were union members. As