RALEIGH, N.C. — For most of his life, Brennan Burns says he wanted to be a mechanical engineer. Instead of going the traditional route of a four-year college degree, he found a way to be more hands on.

For four years, Burns worked full time at Schunk Intel Inc. in Raleigh through the ApprenticeshipNC program while taking courses at Wake Technical Community College.


What You Need To Know

  • The Apprenticeship Program is decades old

  • The North Carolina Community College System took it over in 2017

  • Thousands of students get full-time hands on work experience each year

Alongside the education, Burns gained valuable experience and got to know the work and company. After graduation, he accepted a job with the company. He says it was an easy decision to go this route.

“A lot of times people are coming out with four-year degrees, and they have the degree. They have all this book knowledge, but they don’t have any work experience,” Burns said. He cites the program for putting him a step above the competition.

Since 2017, the North Carolina Community College System has run the decades old program. There are more than 1,000 companies involved, covering more than 240 trades.

The program could soon be expanded. Both the North Carolina Senate and House’s budget proposals include expanding the program, incentivizing smaller businesses to get involved.

Burns calls his time as an apprentice “probably the best career decision I’ve ever made, or best decision I’ve ever made.”

He says expansion would benefit more future employees like himself.

“Some like welding. Some like CNC machining, some really like engineering. Some like fabricating. The more companies that can get into the program, the more options that the apprentice has to do what they enjoy,” he said.