ASE receives $25 million DOL grant, promises won’t be used just to fill jobs

The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Education Foundation has been awarded a $25 million, four-year grant from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which the foundation says will be used to expand registered apprenticeships for auto, collision, and truck service technicians nationwide.

A press release from the foundation states that the DOL grant is the largest workforce investment the department has ever directed to the transportation service industry.

“The award comes through the Department’s Pay-for-Performance Incentive Payments Program, and the idea behind it is refreshingly simple: reward employers with registered apprenticeships for hiring apprentices and coaching them through the make-or-break first year on the job,” the release states. “Program sponsors — dealer groups, shop associations, franchise operators and similar organizations — will receive $3,500 for every apprentice they bring on and keep, paid in two parts as the new technician reaches 90 and 270 days on the job.”

The foundation adds in the release that “the need is not in dispute,” noting that the industry has openings for far more technicians than it can find. An estimated 128,000 are needed each year, while training programs produce about 37,000, according to ASE.

“The harder problem is keeping them,” the release states. “Only about 1 in 8 entry-level technicians is still on the job three years in. That is the gap this grant is built to close — not by chasing more résumés, but by making sure the people who start actually stay.

“To do that, the foundation is putting mentorship at the center. Every dollar is tied to a technician reaching real milestones, which gives sponsors a direct stake in the coaching, support, and structure that keep a new hire in the bay and on a path forward. Registered apprenticeships are a proven way to grow the workforce – studies show that employers realize an average return of $1.47 for every dollar invested, and over 90% of apprentices stay with the same employer when they complete the program.”

In 2024, I-CAR was designated as a Registered Apprenticeship Hub and received a DOL Apprenticeship Building America grant under its Investing in America initiative. The recognition included more than $7 million in funding to support and expand the use of RAPs in high-demand fields, such as the automotive collision repair industry.

In March 2026, the DOL recognized the Collision Engineering Career Alliance (Collision Engineering) apprenticeship model as the standard for collision repair technician training and certification.

Collision Engineering’s National Guidelines for Apprenticeship Standards (NGS) certification serves as a model for developing local programs that meet all regulatory requirements under federal law and the U.S. Office of Apprenticeship.

Collision Engineering students complete a two-year associate degree program designed around a hybrid, work-based learning model. They rotate every eight weeks between classroom instruction and paid apprenticeships at qualified collision repair facilities. The program is offered at seven partner colleges.

The ASE Foundation says that employers who have an existing registered apprenticeship can participate in its program, and those who don’t won’t have to build their programs from scratch.

“The foundation and National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) provide a ready-made playbook — the free Apprenticeship-in-a-Box — covering everything from mentor training to interview guides, so a shop can stand up a credible program quickly,” the release states. “The foundation is leading the effort with a coalition that reaches nearly every corner of the industry.”

Other initial partners include ASE, the American Truck Dealers (ATD), and Jobs for the Future (JFF), which the foundation says will manage the incentive payments and federal reporting.

“Together they will engage employers, schools and prospective technicians in all 50 states, the five territories and the District of Columbia,” the release states. “The foundation is actively recruiting more partners, and apprenticeships will be created all across the industry; in franchised dealerships, retail chains, fleets, body shops, truck and diesel repair shops, and independent auto repair shops.”

Mike Coley, president of the foundation, adds in the release that the goal is “not just filling jobs.”

“We’re building careers that can support a family for a lifetime, strengthening the shops and dealers that serve their communities, and protecting the motoring public who trusts all of us every time they start their car,” he said. “Every driver on the road depends on a skilled technician they may never meet. For more than 40 years, our job has been to make sure those technicians are trained to a standard the industry demands and the public can trust,.

“This grant lets us do something the industry has needed for a long time: open a clear, paid path into the trade, and give employers a proven way to invest in and grow the people who keep this country moving.”

Recruitment begins immediately, according to the release. Employers looking to develop their own technicians, schools looking to place their students, and anyone considering the trade as a career can learn more and sign up for updates at ASEeducationFoundation.org/apprenticeship.

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Featured image provided by ASE