TradePath

America needs 500,000+ new trade workers now (Associated Builders and Contractors, 2026). Yet, the application process for trade schools remains fragmented, predatory, and unaccountable. We're building the Common App for the trades: a single platform where students apply to multiple programs, access verified outcome data, and make informed decisions. Just as the Common App democratized college access — helping first-generation applicants more than double between 2015 and 2024 (Common App Research, 2024) — our platform will do the same for vocational pathways. The trades are AI-proof, high-paying, and essential. The front door to these careers should match their worth.

The scale of America's trades crisis is staggering. The U.S. construction industry faces a shortage of more than 500,000 skilled workers in 2026, with electricians, plumbers, and HVAC techs earning $60,000–$80,000 with top earners clearing six figures (Associated Builders and Contractors, abc.org, 2026). Over the next decade, construction alone will need 1.9 million new workers just to keep pace with retirements and demand growth (USChamber.com, 2024). The problem extends to manufacturing: 584,000 job openings sat unfilled as recently as January 2024 (NAM.org, 2024). The National Association of Home Builders estimates the labor shortage costs the housing industry $10.8 billion/year resulting in ~19,000 homes that never get built (NAHB.org, 2024). These jobs exist. The workers don't. And a broken application pipeline is part of why. Barriers to entering the trades begin before a student ever fills out an application. A survey of 1,000 Americans aged 18–20 found that 74% perceive a stigma associated with choosing vocational school over university, and 79% said their parents pushed them toward college while only 5% said the same about trade school (Jobber, jobber.com/resources, 2024). Yet even motivated students face a vocational application landscape with no standardization, no centralized information, and dangerous accountability gaps. The predatory behavior of for-profit trade programs is well documented. Corinthian Colleges was found by the Department of Education to have falsified job placement rates by counting fast-food workers as graduates employed in their field of study and was fined $30 million before collapsing entirely, leaving thousands of students with debt and no viable credential (U.S. Department of Education, ed.gov, 2015). This is not an isolated case. Internal whistleblower testimony revealed that career advisors at major for-profit chains were pressured to coach graduates in unrelated jobs into signing documents claiming field-related employment so schools could inflate their placement statistics (Senate HELP Committee Report, help.senate.gov, 2012). The Federal Trade Commission has since put 70 for-profit institutions on notice for deceptive practices that mislead students and drive them into debt (FTC.gov, 2023). The students most harmed are those who can least afford it: for-profit schools account for over a third of all federal student loan defaults, despite enrolling just slightly more than 1 in 10 students (Urban Institute, urban.org, 2022). This is precisely the problem the Common App solved for college. Since 2014–15, first-generation applicants on the Common App have more than doubled, and applicants from below-median income ZIP codes grew 95% (Common App Research, commonapp.org, 2024). Standardization and a single access point changed who could realistically apply. We are building that same infrastructure for the trades. Our platform does three things the current system cannot: it lets students apply to multiple accredited programs through one portal; it publishes verified outcome data rather than self-reported; and it holds schools to baseline accountability standards before they can participate. Schools must earn their place on our platform. AI cannot install an HVAC unit. You cannot outsource a plumbing repair. The trades are durable, essential, and increasingly respected. They deserve better.