South Carolina Has 52,000 Apprentices in Its Rear View -- Its Youth Apprenticeship Model Is Why Welding Students Should Pay Attention

South Carolina did not build its apprenticeship system overnight. Apprenticeship Carolina, a division of the SC Technical College System, has registered 52,173 total apprentices at 926 companies across 3,042 distinct occupations since 2008 -- a cumulative record the U.S. Department of Labor has recognized as a national model for how state agencies can expand registered apprenticeship at scale. The figures represent partnerships built employer by employer, program by program, over more than fifteen years.

The piece of that system most directly relevant to current high school students is the Youth Apprenticeship program. Designed for juniors and seniors, Youth Apprenticeships combine school district curriculum and Career and Technical Education coursework with part-time paid work at a local employer, all within a registered apprenticeship framework. Students earn a paycheck through employment in a safe, structured environment while making progress toward a national credential in a high-demand occupation. High school completion is a required component, making the program structurally different from post-secondary apprenticeships and more compatible with a four-year CTE pathway.

For welding students in South Carolina, Youth Apprenticeship represents an acceleration of what the pathway already builds toward. South Carolina's Welding Technology sequence runs from oxyfuel cutting and shielded metal arc welding basics through MIG and TIG techniques, culminating in preparation for the AWS SENSE Entry Level Welder credential. A junior who enters a Youth Apprenticeship in welding adds employer-documented hours toward DOL certification while completing that credential sequence, arriving at graduation with both an industry certification and a recorded apprenticeship that satisfies pre-employment requirements at fabrication shops, construction companies, and shipyards.

The labor market picture for welding in South Carolina reflects a field where skilled workers have genuine leverage. Certified welders in the state earn a median of $43,090. Pipefitter/welders -- a specialty that combines welding with pipefitting applications in industrial facilities -- reach $54,840 in South Carolina and command $62,970 nationally, with a positive 0.9% growth projection and 3,500 annual openings. Welding inspectors, who require additional certification through the American Welding Society, earn $49,120 in the state. Apprenticeship Carolina has broadened registered apprenticeship into healthcare, information technology, and logistics in addition to its traditional manufacturing and trades base, but skilled trades like welding remain foundational to the model.

For districts where employers already operate fabrication shops, shipyards, or construction trades businesses within driving distance of the school, Youth Apprenticeship in welding is often a formality away from launch -- Apprenticeship Carolina provides registration support and the competency framework, and the employer provides the training site and the paycheck. The 52,000-apprentice total did not happen because the system is easy to navigate; it happened because a state agency made the navigation burden its own problem rather than leaving it to individual schools and employers to figure out independently.