When Nicholas Bowman was in high school, he thought his next steps were already mapped: He’d get a college degree and land a stable, high-paying job—enjoying the kind of economic mobility higher education has long promised.
But as application deadlines loomed, doubt crept in. What was so great about spending four years in classrooms, taking on tens of thousands of dollars in debt, and still facing no guarantee of a solid living?
That’s when a family friend suggested a different route: an electrical apprenticeship. Bowman investigated—and it felt like a no-brainer.
He could start earning about $42,000 in his first year while taking classes just two nights a week at his local IBEW chapter in Newport News, Va. By the time he graduates as a journeyman this summer, he expects to make around $71,000—and, as he puts it, spend his days in a job that feels like he’s playing with “adult Legos.”
