Trump Says “Make America Skilled Again”—Then Slashes Gen Z’s Path to Get There

Ahead of the passing of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” the Trump administration rolled out another hollow catchphrase: “Make America Skilled Again” (MASA). Under the MASA banner, specific funding for skills development programs was wiped out in favor of block grants, which effectively function as a blank check to states. One line stood out: The only spending requirement attached to the block grants was putting 10 percent toward apprenticeships. In theory, this is great news for people who love apprenticeships, and it dovetails nicely with the administration’s own commitment from earlier this year to create 1 million new apprentices. Unfortunately, they’re mistaken. To actually sustain apprenticeship programs, young people need the same career advising, regional partnerships, and infrastructure that was created and maintained by the now-defunded programs.

Long-standing college and career readiness programs like TRIO and GEAR UP (which consistently have bipartisan support) tutor and counsel 1.4 million low-income students, veterans, and first-generation college students. Without proper funding, the often delicate, hard-won relationships and bridges between high schools, colleges, and industry will be lost. For young people this disinvestment sends a clear message: Support isn’t coming to help them start their career. But if there’s one thing Gen Z is known for, it’s refusing to wait for permission to build something better. 

Gen Z Is Forcing the Hand of Public Education

It’s clear that Gen Z—spanning ages 15 to 29—doesn’t trust institutions to have their best interests at heart. With a shift towards flexible gig work, job hopping, and steering clear of student debt, Gen Z is ready to get to work and they aren’t waiting for a diploma to get started. They’re influencing headlines and rewriting the rules of what they should do in favor of what they can do—and it’s visible on a massive scale.  

Superintendents and school districts are listening to students and adapting quickly by bringing their career and technical education (CTE) programs into the modern era. A few initiatives stand out: The American Federation of Teachers, an educator labor union with almost 2 million members, partnered with Micron Technologies to bring semiconductor manufacturing career exploration into school districts in New York, Michigan, and Minnesota. This past May, they also launched a collaboration with the apprenticeship intermediary CareerWise to start and expand youth apprenticeship programs in six states. These multi-year career pathways are paid “earn while you learn” programs that teens can start in high school.

On a national scale, the College Board—known for administering standardized tests like the SAT and AP exams—is stepping outside of its comfort zone to offer free career guidance resources to young people through their BigFuture project, as well as a workplace soft skills and business course for the classroom developed with IBM called AP Career Kickstart. 

For students interested in entering the skilled trades, they can join SkillsUSA, a student-led CTE nonprofit that hosts a popular national signing day—which mimics student-athlete signings—to celebrate students committing to careers in skilled trades. The events also include regional skills competitions, where students compete in front of employers to build fully functional tiny homes or fix cars, for the chance to get a same-day job offer from participating companies. 

In many cases, students are finding these programs, events, and coursework by word of mouth, either from career counselors, family, or friends. Many turn to Advance CTE’s career clusters framework. This free tool helps students visualize how to convert their interests and strengths into tangible career paths. This independent research is especially important in school districts where counselors are stretched thin—which unfortunately is most of them. 

There’s an AI for That?  

The average ratio of college counselors to high school students is 376 students to one counselor. To increase staff capacity, many school districts have turned to “edtech”: the booming sector of technology made for the classroom, which raised an estimated $8.2 billion at its peak in 2021. It’s clear that edtech (and in recent years, artificial intelligence) has been sold to districts as the smart strategy to meet the Gen Z “digital natives” where they are: on their phones. 

One of the success stories of harnessing edtech comes out of Texas. My Texas Future is a state-run site offering free career exploration videos, quizzes, and online resources, along with a surprisingly friendly and well-read AI-powered chatbot. Developed by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board with the edtech company Mainstay, their chatbot named ADVi guides students through the complex decision tree of reviewing college or career options, nudging them toward choices that align with their professional goals and financial circumstances. 

But not every AI experiment has gone smoothly.

The Los Angeles Unified School District, for example, contracted the (now defunct) edtech company AllHere to create an ambitious all-in-one AI-powered platform for students. Ed, the sun-shaped AI bot, was created to give students and parents easy access to every resource available to them from the district including grades, mental health resources, and administrative support, all with one sign-on. But when AllHere unexpectedly collapsed in 2023, an estimated $3 million of taxpayer money was lost, data privacy concerns surfaced, and the district is still scrambling to recover. 

More Pathways and More Potential

Despite lofty promises to “Make America Skilled Again,” much of the funding and student debt relief Gen Z has been told to expect remains tied up in political theater and vague proposals, or simply vanished from budgets altogether. Youth Apprenticeship Readiness Grants and the reauthorization of WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) would fund the effective programs Gen Z wants—programs that offer hands-on learning to help them explore their career options while they earn their high school diploma and potentially a degree. 

The disconnect between slogans and substance is more than frustrating—it’s generational sabotage. It’s up to school districts, policymakers, and employers to step up and out of their comfort zones so Gen Z doesn’t have to continue to build their careers in a country that keeps cutting the ladder beneath them.

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