Pathway guide

Electrical Pathway Guide

In review Last checked October 2, 2026

At a glance

This guide covers a high school electrical pathway in Michigan, Virginia, North Carolina, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Hawaii. It sets out the rules that differ by state. The how-to for staffing, partnerships, approvals, facilities, curriculum and scheduling sits in six implementation toolkits, linked in the launch steps at the end.

What the pathway leads to

No state among the seven licenses a high school student as an electrician. The pathway prepares students for three next steps:

A registered apprenticeship, the established route into the trade and, in the states that license electricians, toward the license. Federal standards let apprentices start at 16.
A community college electrical program, sometimes with credit for high school courses.
Entry-level work as an electrician’s helper, within the state’s child labor rules.

What students can earn in high school is industry credentials: NCCER Core and Electrical Level 1 (and Level 2 in longer programs), OSHA-10 Construction in several states, and a state end-of-program assessment where one exists.

The decisions you face

Where to run it. A course sequence at the home high school, a half-day shared-time center, or a college partner.
Who teaches it. Every state lets an experienced electrician teach on an industry-based route. The routes differ in hours, degree and coursework.
How to deliver the credential. NCCER credentials can only be issued through an accredited sponsor, so you need a sponsor relationship.
Whether students work on job sites before 18. This is where states differ most. North Carolina and Pennsylvania bar minors from electrical work outside apprenticeship, student-learner or approved arrangements. The other states leave it to federal task-based rules.

Where the states differ most

Topic	Range across the seven states
State electrician license	Michigan, Virginia and Hawaii license journeymen. North Carolina licenses contractors only. Arizona, Pennsylvania and Missouri have no state journeyman license; Pennsylvania licensing is municipal.
Earliest journeyman license	Virginia and Hawaii at 18 (with years of experience); Michigan at 20
Minors in electrical work	Barred by state rule in North Carolina and Pennsylvania except through approved arrangements; federal task rules elsewhere
Instructor route without a degree	Available in all seven states, with different hour and coursework requirements
State program	Stand-alone electrical program in six states; inside Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing Systems in Hawaii

Items are labeled , , or . Last checked October 2, 2026.

Jobs and pay

Median electrician pay runs from about $57,000 in North Carolina to about $96,000 in Hawaii

Median annual wage, Electricians (SOC 47-2111), May 2025

Show the numbers

State	Median annual wage, May 2025
Hawaii	$96,460
Michigan	$76,270
Pennsylvania	$67,600
Missouri	$65,410
Virginia	$62,900
Arizona	$61,060
North Carolina	$56,800

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, state file, May 2025 · 7 states

Pay is above the nurse aide pathway in every state, and the spread between states is wide. Hawaii’s median is about 70 percent higher than North Carolina’s. The same wages shape your instructor search: a working electrician may earn more than your CTE salary schedule offers (see the Staffing toolkit).

State	Jobs in 2024	Projected growth, 2024 to 2034	Openings per year	On a state in-demand list?
Michigan	26,240	5.6%	2,450	Yes: Michigan Hot 50 through 2034
Virginia	25,480	9.2%	2,560
North Carolina	25,830	10.4%	2,590
Arizona	23,160	25.6%	2,820	Yes: every region of ADE’s 2026-27 in-demand list for CTED funding
Pennsylvania	23,970	8.1%	2,320
Missouri	17,740	6.7%	1,680
Hawaii	3,400	10.2%	340
United States	818,700	9.5%	81,000

Arizona stands out: projected growth of 25.6 percent is more than double the national rate, and it has the most annual openings of the seven states. Growth figures come from state projections published through Projections Central (base year 2024). “Openings” counts jobs that open each year from growth and from workers leaving the occupation.

Licensing and apprenticeship by state

The high school program itself needs no license from a trade board in any of the seven states. Licensing matters because it sets what students do after graduation and how long it takes. Tell families plainly that the license comes years after high school, through supervised work.

Who licenses electricians

State	Licensing body	Individual license	Age and experience	Status
Michigan	LARA, Electrical Administrative Board	Journeyman and master	Journeyman at 20, with 8,000 hours over at least 4 years under licensed supervision. Master at 22.
Virginia	DPOR, Board for Contractors (Tradesman regulations)	Journeyman and master	Journeyman at 18. Routes run from 240 hours of formal vocational training plus 4 years of experience, to 40 hours plus 7 years, or 8 years with no training; an associate degree plus 2 years also qualifies. Completing an approved apprenticeship waives the exam.	(rules effective August 1, 2025)
North Carolina	State Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors	Contractor only; no journeyman or apprentice license	Contractor applicants must be 18. Limited license needs 2 years of experience, intermediate 4, unlimited 5.
Arizona	Registrar of Contractors	Contractor only, through a qualifying party; no state journeyman license	Qualifying party needs 4 years of experience (up to 2 can be accredited technical training). Licenses are not issued to minors. Cities may set their own rules.	. Confirm locally: city licensing.
Pennsylvania	None at the state level	Municipal only (for example, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh)	Set by each municipality	. Confirm locally.
Missouri	State statute (RSMo 324.900 to 324.945)	Optional statewide contractor license; journeyman licensing is local	Statewide contractor: 12,000 hours, or 10,000 plus an apprenticeship certificate, or 8,000 plus an associate degree. Local licensing still applies.	. Confirm locally: Kansas City, St. Louis and other cities.
Hawaii	DCCA, Board of Electricians and Plumbers	Journeyworker electrician	Journeyworker at 18, with 10,000 hours (five years) of supervised experience plus 240 hours of electrical coursework at a University of Hawaiʻi community college. Apprentices may work unlicensed under a licensee who is on site.

Registered apprenticeship

Federal standards let a registered apprenticeship start at 16 (29 CFR 29.5). Individual programs and employers often set 18, so ask each sponsor what it accepts.

State	Who registers programs	Entry age	What else to know	Status
Michigan	U.S. DOL Office of Apprenticeship	16 (federal); no state minimum	Apprentices register with the Electrical Administrative Board within 30 days of hire, work for a licensed contractor, and are supervised at a ratio of one journeyman to no more than three apprentices.
Virginia	Virginia Works, Division of Registered Apprenticeship	16; a minor’s agreement needs a parent signature	No cost to sponsor; a state consultant helps the employer register.
North Carolina	ApprenticeshipNC	16, enrolled in high school or a graduate	Youth apprentices get community college tuition waivers for related coursework.
Arizona	DES Apprenticeship Office	16; some industries set 18	ADE describes youth apprenticeship for ages 16 to 18 with related instruction in the CTE program.
Pennsylvania	L&I Apprenticeship and Training Office	Federal floor of 16	Registers both apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship; schools can build pre-apprenticeship into existing courses.	: state minimum age
Missouri	U.S. DOL Office of Apprenticeship	16 (federal)	DESE links Registered Youth Apprenticeship resources.
Hawaii	DLIR Workforce Development Division	16; DLIR lists a diploma or GED as a basic requirement	Apprenticeship standards must give credit for prior training.

Working with minors on electrical job sites

For the full federal and state rules, a task-by-task decision path and a student-learner agreement template, see Working with Minors in CTE Pathways.

Federal rules

No federal hazardous occupations order bars 16- and 17-year-olds from electrical work as such. (Order 12 is sometimes cited for electrical work; it covers balers and compactors.) The federal limits that matter on an electrical job site are task-based:

Federal order	What it covers on an electrical job	Student-learner or apprentice exemption?
HO 7, hoisting	Scissor lifts, boom lifts, bucket trucks and forklifts	No
HO 16, roofing	Any work on or about a roof	Yes
HO 17, excavation	Trenches deeper than 4 feet	Yes
HO 14, saws and cutting discs	Reciprocating saws, abrasive cutting discs	Yes
HO 2, driving	Driving on public roads for work; 17-year-olds may drive only in narrow, limited cases	No

The student-learner and apprentice exemptions require a written agreement, work that is incidental to training, and close supervision. They never cover lifts (HO 7), driving (HO 2) or demolition (HO 15). Write task limits into every placement agreement. The Partnerships toolkit has a sample.

State rules

State	Electrical work by minors	What you file	Status
North Carolina	Barred for anyone under 18 as an electrician or electrician’s helper, unless a registered apprentice, an FLSA student-learner, or a 16- or 17-year-old under an NCDOL-approved Supervised Practice agreement (13 NCAC 12 .0406).	Supervised Practice agreement approved by NCDOL before the start date (submit about 60 days ahead); youth employment certificate for every minor.
Pennsylvania	Barred for all minors except apprentices, student-learners and graduates of an approved vocational program in the occupation.	Work permit for every minor; training plan and training agreement for cooperative education. Minors 16 and 17 in school: up to 8 hours a day and 28 a school week.
Virginia	Federal task rules apply. For otherwise prohibited hazardous work, a written work-training agreement is required (Va. Code 40.1-100).	Agreement signed by employer and school coordinator, copy filed with DOLI.
Michigan	R 408.6208 bars all minors from construction work, power saws and hoists, so without an agreement a 16- or 17-year-old cannot work on most electrical job sites. A written school-employer agreement (R 408.6206(a); MCL 409.118) removes the state bar, but federal Hazardous Occupations Orders still apply. See Working with Minors in CTE Pathways.	Youth work permits through LEO’s Youth Employment Permit Portal (from October 2, 2026); employers register before hiring a minor. Minors 16 and 17: no more than 24 hours a week in the school year.	: the portal is new.
Arizona	Electrical work is not on the state’s list; federal rules govern. CTE students and registered apprentices are exempt from the state list.	No state filing for 16- and 17-year-olds.
Missouri	Federal task rules govern.	No state filing found for 16- and 17-year-olds.
Hawaii	Federal task rules apply; student-learner exemptions require a DOE-approved cooperative vocational program.	Certificate of Age (eCL-3) online for 16- and 17-year-olds; apprentice agreements registered with DLIR within 30 days.

In North Carolina and Pennsylvania, plan any paid or unpaid job-site work for minors around one of the approved arrangements, and build the filing lead time into the calendar. These are employment rules; they govern work at a job site, not instruction in your school lab.

Who can teach

Every state lets an experienced electrician teach without a bachelor’s degree, through an industry-based CTE credential. The differences are in the hours of trade experience, what the teacher must complete while teaching, and whether a provisional start is allowed. The Staffing toolkit covers recruiting, pay and alternatives such as shared instructors.

State	Credential for an industry hire	Trade experience	Coursework while teaching	Electrical-specific requirements	Status
Michigan	Annual Career Authorization, requested by the district	4,000 hours within the last 10 years. A current Michigan license or national certification can supply up to 4,000 hours.	Mentor and an individual development plan each year; renewable one year at a time	In a licensed field such as electrical, you need a professional license or an industry certification in the field (or one lapsed 2 years or less in good standing). A journeyman license is one way to meet this, not a requirement. Last checked Oct. 4, 2026.
Virginia	Technical Professional License (provisional license may come first)	A trade license plus 2 years as a journeyman, a completed apprenticeship plus 2 years, or 4 years supervisory	9 semester hours of professional studies; one year of full-time teaching	An industry credential is required for every initial CTE licensee.
North Carolina	Initial Professional License, CTE restricted route, in Trade and Industrial Education-Construction (74026)	Electrical, carpentry or masonry: 2 years with a bachelor’s, 4 with an associate, 6 with a diploma	18 semester hours plus induction, or the two-year New Teacher Institute	OSHA-10 Construction before teaching; NCCER instructor certification to keep the license. No provisional start: construction is on the safety list.	. : that 74026 is the code for Electrical Trades I.
Arizona	Standard CTE Certificate, Option C; or the Specialized CTE certificate	Option C: 6,000 hours. Specialized: 5 years plus a degree, an ADE-approved credential or postsecondary teaching.	Option C: 15 semester hours of CTE professional knowledge after issuance	Certificate area SCTIET or SSCTEIET. No electrical license required.
Pennsylvania	Career and Technical Instructional I; Experience-Based certificate (Type 24) while finishing credits	8,000 hours (4 years), or 4,000 hours plus a bachelor’s. Veterans may use 8,000 hours of military service in the field.	18 credits in an approved CTE teacher program	Pass the occupational competency assessment. Certificate areas for 46.0399: Electrical Construction/Maintenance, Electrical Industrial, Electrical General.
Missouri	Career Education Temporary Authorization Certificate, then the Initial Career Education Certificate	6,000 hours with no degree (4,000 with a bachelor’s, 5,000 with an associate), within 10 years	6 semester hours a year to renew; mentoring	A valid license “if applicable”; Missouri has no state journeyman license.	. : what “if applicable” means for electrical.
Hawaii	CTE Permit (start now) or Standard Limited License in CTE	3 years full-time in the field	Permit: none stated. Standard Limited License: approved teacher education program.	Industry license or certification “if they exist in the CTE field.” New Building and Construction license field from 2025.

NCCER instructor certification

If your program teaches NCCER, your instructor completes NCCER’s Instructor Certification Training Program and shows craft competency. North Carolina requires it for the license and lists the cost as $385 through a DPI-partnered master trainer or $199 through NCCER directly. Michigan’s 46.0301 FAQ says teachers must be certified to administer the NCCER test.

How electrician pay compares with teacher pay

At the median, the pay gap is smaller than many districts expect. The median electrician earns more than the median CTE teacher in Missouri ($65,410 against $59,300) and less in Michigan, Virginia, North Carolina, Arizona and Pennsylvania (BLS, May 2025; Hawaii’s CTE teacher wage is not published). The gap opens at the experienced end: the top tenth of electricians earn more than $100,000 in Michigan, Virginia, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Hawaii. The candidates you want, with years of journeyman experience, are likely to be in that upper range. Credit trade experience on the salary schedule where your district allows it, and recruit through union halls, contractor associations and apprenticeship programs. The Staffing toolkit covers both.

Program, curriculum and credentials by state

The electrical program needs state CTE program approval like any other pathway; there is no second regulator to approve it. The Approvals toolkit lists each state’s process and deadlines. This table shows what the state program is called, what it is built on, and how completion is measured.

State	State program	Credentials and assessment	Status
Michigan	Electrical and Power Transmission Installation, CIP 46.0301, with a CIP Overview and Instructional Design workbook, an Academic Alignment workbook and an FAQ	MDE’s FAQ says NCCER Core completers receive the credential wallet card. The full state-approved credential list for 46.0301 is on CTEIS.	(program). : the credential list for 46.0301.
Virginia	Electricity I (course 8533, 140 hours, grades 10 and 11) and Electricity II (280 hours, 2 credits, grades 11 and 12), with a full Canvas course and competency record	Board-approved list (2025-26) includes NCCER Core and NCCER Electrical Level One and Level Two assessments, both marked high demand. OSHA-10 is earned in Electricity I but is not on the Board list.	for the 2025-26 list. : confirm against the May 2026 revision.
North Carolina	Electrical Trades pathway: Electrical Trades I (IC41) through IV, plus work-based learning courses. Construction cluster from 2026-27.	A 100-item state post-assessment for each course plus NC NCCER Electrical Trades I to IV; OSHA-10 aligned. Electrical Trades I has a recommended cap of 20 students.
Arizona	Electrical and Power Transmission Installation, CIP 46.0301.00 (Technical Standards 2020)	Arizona Technical Skills Assessment for the program. CTED funding requires the program to lead to a certification where one exists.
Pennsylvania	Electrical and Power Transmission Installers, Other, CIP 46.0399 (Program of Study 14), with a competency task list	NOCTI “Electrical Power and Transmission Installers (PA)” assessment (written and performance). PDE’s credential list names “NCCER credentials (various trades)” and OSHA for 46.0399.
Missouri	Electrical Trades framework (2011) and model units (2013)	“Electrical 1 - NCCER” on the DESE credential list. OSHA-10 counts only as a stackable credential.	. Note: the framework predates current code editions.
Hawaii	No stand-alone program. Electrical content sits in Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing Systems, under Building and Construction.	Industry credentials “where feasible”; CTE Honors Recognition assessment	: whether MEP Systems covers enough electrical content for NCCER Electrical.

NCCER: the shared curriculum

Virginia, North Carolina and Missouri tie their programs to NCCER, and Michigan and Pennsylvania accept NCCER credentials. The current NCCER Electrical edition (12th, 2026) teaches the 2026 National Electrical Code; Level 1 runs 227.5 hours including Core. Credentials can only be issued through an accredited sponsor, and each module needs both a written test and a hands-on performance check. North Carolina DPI is the statewide sponsor for its public schools. In the other states, find out whether a state agency, a contractor association or a community college can sponsor your school.

Code edition

Most of the seven states enforce an older National Electrical Code than the newest curriculum teaches, and Arizona and Missouri adopt codes locally. Teach students to work in the edition their local inspectors enforce, and have your advisory committee confirm it each year. The Curriculum toolkit has a table of adoptions to confirm.

Credit after high school

Families will ask whether high school work counts later. There are three places it can count: toward a college program, toward an apprenticeship’s related instruction, and toward a license. The honest answer differs by state, and in several states it depends on the specific college or sponsor.

State	College credit	Apprenticeship and license credit	Status
Michigan	No statewide postsecondary agreement found for 46.0301; agreements are listed by college and program on MDE’s postsecondary credit agreements page. Early Middle College and dual enrollment are options.	No statute counts high school hours toward the journeyman’s 8,000 hours. LARA mentions credit for recognized training programs; scope unclear. Some centers report that completers earn the first year of apprenticeship related instruction; confirm with the sponsor.
Virginia	No statewide agreement found; local agreements only.	“Formal vocational training” counts toward the journeyman license, but the rule does not say whether high school CTE qualifies.	: ask DPOR
North Carolina	Statewide: completing Core and Sustainable Construction plus Electrical Trades I and II earns credit for ELC-113 Residential Wiring at community colleges, which may accept or alter it. Career and College Promise adds dual enrollment for juniors and seniors.	Electrical and code courses at an educational institution count at 50 percent as experience toward the contractor license; an approved apprenticeship counts 100 percent.
Arizona	No statewide agreement found; dual enrollment by agreement between districts and community colleges.	Up to 2 of the contractor qualifying party’s 4 years can be accredited technical training.	(license). Confirm locally: college agreements.
Pennsylvania	Statewide SOAR articulation for students who complete the task list and score Competent or Advanced on the NOCTI assessment. One college reports 23 credits for 46.0399 with an Advanced score and a listed credential.	No state license; ask local apprenticeship sponsors what they credit.	(SOAR). Credit amounts vary by college.
Missouri	No statewide agreement found; college-specific agreements.	Statewide contractor license counts an associate degree and apprenticeship certificate, not high school hours.	Confirm locally
Hawaii	No statewide agreement found for electrical; Early College and Running Start are statewide dual-credit routes.	Apprenticeship standards must give credit for prior training, so ask the sponsor to credit high school coursework. The journeyworker license requires 240 hours of community college coursework.	(rules). Confirm locally: sponsor credit.

Get any credit promise in writing from the college or apprenticeship sponsor before you put it in recruiting materials.

Academic credit

North Carolina’s Electrical Trades I counts as a paired math option credit. Michigan’s 46.0301 Academic Alignment workbook shows the math and science the program reinforces; use the S4IS CTE Crosswalk prototype where a crosswalk is missing. In Virginia, a student who completes a CTE program sequence and passes two credential exams (for example, NCCER Electrical Level One and Level Two) can earn a laboratory science verified credit (8VAC20-132-51). Arizona’s embedded-credit list does not include electrical. Before any student uses an electrical course in place of Algebra II or a lab science, check that it still meets state university admission requirements. The Curriculum toolkit covers this in detail.

Launch steps

Work through these steps in order; several can run at the same time. Each links to the toolkit that explains how.

Step	What to do	Toolkit
1. Confirm demand and the model	Check the state in-demand list and local employer demand; choose home high school, shared-time center or college partner.	Scheduling and student timing toolkit
2. Form the advisory committee	Include electrical contractors, the local JATC or union, other apprenticeship sponsors and a community college. Ask what code edition is enforced locally and what credentials they hire on.	Clinical and work-based learning partnerships toolkit
3. File CTE program approval	Use your state’s process and deadline. Confirm the credential is on the state list.	Approvals and applications toolkit
4. Set up the NCCER sponsor relationship	Find an accredited sponsor (state agency, contractor association or college) and confirm fees.	Approvals and applications toolkit
5. Hire the instructor	Use the state’s industry route; schedule NCCER instructor certification and, in North Carolina, OSHA-10 before teaching.	Staffing toolkit
6. Build the lab	Wiring bays, benders, panels and safety equipment; plan power with facilities staff.	Facilities and equipment toolkit
7. Choose the curriculum	Align to the state program, the credential and the locally enforced code.	Curriculum toolkit
8. Arrange job-site learning	Write placement agreements with task limits; file state agreements in North Carolina (approval before start, about 60 days ahead) and Pennsylvania; explore youth apprenticeship.	Clinical and work-based learning partnerships toolkit
9. Get credit agreements in writing	College articulation and apprenticeship sponsor credit, before recruiting.	Curriculum toolkit

Review status and sources

Last checked October 2, 2026. These items are open for reviewers:

Michigan. The state-approved credential list for 46.0301 (CTEIS); whether LARA credits any recognized training toward journeyman hours; any related-instruction minimum for apprentices.
Virginia. The May 2026 Board credential list; whether DPOR counts high school CTE as “formal vocational training”; how DPOR treats apprenticeships registered with Virginia Works.
North Carolina. That 74026 is the license code for Electrical Trades I to III; grade conditions on the ELC-113 articulation.
Pennsylvania. State minimum apprentice age; current SOAR credit amounts for 46.0399.
Missouri. What “if applicable” means for an electrical instructor license; local licensing in major cities.
Arizona. City electrical licensing in Phoenix, Tucson and elsewhere.
Hawaii. Whether MEP Systems covers enough electrical content for NCCER Electrical; any statewide articulation.
NCCER. Sponsors and fees in the six states other than North Carolina.
Statewide articulation in Virginia, Arizona, Missouri and Hawaii.
Code editions. Confirm each state’s enforced National Electrical Code with its code agency.

Sources

Jobs and pay

Licensing and apprenticeship

Working with minors

Instructors

Program, credentials and credit

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