Section Four
German students not going on to college see the value of
making good grades because scholastic performance is one of
the factors employers consider in selecting apprentices.
Further, students see that completing an apprenticeship and
passing the examination for certification leads to a good job
with attractive compensation. Following completion of their
training programs, large German manufacturing companies
retain approximately 80 to 90 percent of their apprentices as
regular, long-term employees, and placement rates are high for
all sizes of companies. At six months after successful
completion of their certification examinations, 68 percent of
German apprentices have jobs in the occupations in which they
apprenticed. In contrast, in the United States, unless one is
going on to college, the grades one makes in elementary school
and high school are not an important determinant of
employment because the jobs typically require only low skill
and provide low pay. Therefore, there is little incentive to do
well in school.^78
German employers spend approximately two times as
much on worker training than their counterparts in the United
States. Further, their investments in apprenticeship training are
partially funded by the German government. However, they
usually do not pay apprentices the regular wage rate, typically
lower than one-third of the regular rate. German firms also
benefit from apprenticeships through the increased productivity