Bank of America Adds 1,000 Apprentice Jobs Over Two Years, Aimed at Workers Without a Degree

Bank of America will hire 1,000 additional apprentices over the next two years, on top of the more than 800 apprentices it already brings in each year, with the new roles landing in consumer banking, technology, operations and other client-facing teams. The additional hires are aimed at workers without a four-year college degree, and the bank is pairing them with $150 million over five years for local training groups. If you have skills but no bachelor's degree, this is a sizeable, structured way into a big US bank. At Metaintro we look past the headline number to the pages that tell a job seeker what to do next, which here means the bank's own job listings, its pay floor and the nonprofit training programs that feed its tech apprentice classes. Here is what the roles are, what they pay and how to get in line.

How Many Apprentice Jobs Are Being Added, and When?

The figure to hold on to is the timeline, with the extra apprentices spread across two years, not hired in a single year. The bank's announcement does not say how the hires will be split between the two years.

The base matters as much as the increase. The bank already hires more than 800 apprentices each year through existing programs, so the new commitment sits on top of an established pipeline. You are applying into a system that runs every year, not a pilot.

The bank has also pointed to where it will look for the growth. It plans to expand existing programs and explore new roles and business areas to meet the target. In plain terms, the bank plans to grow its existing apprentice programs and look at other roles and business areas, which it has not yet named.

What Is a Bank of America Apprenticeship, and How Is It Different From an Internship?

The bank's own definition is specific. An apprentice joins through a structured, paid work-based learning program that combines on the job experience with training, and has the potential to lead to promotion into a non-apprentice role.

Length is the big difference. Internships at the bank typically run ten weeks, while apprenticeships generally last about 12 months and most often lead to industry-recognized, portable credentials or licensing. That last point is worth more than it looks. A credential you can carry to another employer means the year has value even if you do not stay.

The day to day work is closely supervised by design. A recent technology apprentice listing described a program for people with little to no work experience, with well defined assignments, a high degree of supervision and a length of employment fixed in advance. The role's listed tasks may include monitoring systems, handling password resets and reporting requests, writing documentation and helping new clients get familiar with the bank's technology.

Which Teams Will the New Apprentices Work In?

Consumer banking, technology and operations are named, along with other client-facing areas. That spread matters because it means the program is not only for people who want to code.

The bank's community college hiring page lists featured openings for community college candidates. Its featured openings include relationship bankers, client services representatives, fraud client services representatives, telephone bankers and an investment specialist trainee role, most listed across multiple locations. Separately, the same page states that the bank hires teammates with a broad range of education, including those without a bachelor's degree.

Branch growth adds another source of openings. A year ago the bank set out plans for 700 jobs in new financial centers in growth markets including Alabama, Idaho, Louisiana and Wisconsin, supporting 26 center openings over 18 months and 37 more in 2027.

"An apprentice is an individual who joins Bank of America through a structured, paid work-based learning program," in the bank's own announcement.

What Do Bank of America Apprentices Get Paid?

The announcement does not print an apprentice pay rate, but the bank's pay floor answers most of the question. The bank lifted its US minimum wage to $25 an hour from early October 2025, which puts the minimum annualized salary for full-time staff above $50,000. That floor covers all full-time and part-time hourly positions in the US, and the bank's new release repeats that teammates earn at least $50,000 annually.

One recent technology apprentice listing paid above the floor. That tech analyst apprentice listing for the bank's Richmond, Virginia operations center carried a pay range of $27.17 to $31.00 an hour, with base pay only and no incentive pay, and it was benefits eligible. The listing was removed on July 1, 2026, so treat the range as a guide, not a promise for the next class.

Benefits add to the hourly rate. The bank's minimum wage release of September 2025 lists benefits including 26 weeks of parental leave, 16 of them fully paid, a sabbatical based on tenure, back-up child and adult care and tuition assistance. Those benefits are worth weighing alongside the hourly rate.

Who Qualifies if You Do Not Have a Degree?

The short answer is that the degree is not the gate. About 40% of the bank's hires do not have a bachelor's degree, and the apprentice programs are built for people entering through nontraditional pathways.

For the recent technology apprentice listing, the gate was a training background. That listing required candidates to be a recent graduate or current participant of a partner program, naming NPower, Road to Hire or Per Scholas, or to be a current community college student or recent community college graduate. The same listing also asked for teamwork, problem solving, clear communication and a commitment to learning, and its requirements do not mention a four-year degree.

Community college students have a separate route of their own. The bank has committed to 8,000 community college hires over five years, doubling its yearly intake from 800 to 1,600. Veterans have one too, with a pledge to hire 10,000 more people with military backgrounds over five years.

How Do the Partner Training Programs Work?

If you want a tech apprenticeship, one route may run through a nonprofit training program first.

NPower runs programs that are no cost to selected participants. Its Tech Fundamentals course takes young adults aged 18 to 26 with a high school diploma or equivalent, and a separate track takes veterans and military spouses over 21. Classes are half day with no stipend, two cohorts start each year in spring and fall, and admissions are rolling. Most classes run four hours a day, Monday to Friday, for up to 20 weeks, with a chance of a paid internship or a project-based learning experience. The course covers operating systems, software installation, ticket management and customer service, and offers CompTIA Tech+ and CompTIA A+ certification as an option. The catch is location. Tech Fundamentals applicants must live in or near named cities including New York City, Newark, Dallas, Houston, Baltimore, Detroit and Raleigh, and the veteran track uses a similar list that leaves out New York City.

The Per Scholas program is also tuition-free, with boot camp style courses that report an 85% graduation rate and more than 25 locations, including a campus in Charlotte. On the undated figures in its current About page, typical alumni move from a pre-training income of $20,085 to $54,606 after training. The bank has backed the group since 2011 and has hired more than 60 of its graduates.

The honest trade-off is time. A free course followed by an apprenticeship is a longer road than applying straight to a job. But it removes the tuition bill, and it puts you in a pipeline the bank has already chosen to recruit from.

What Is the $150 Million For, and Can It Help You?

The money goes to workforce development organizations over five years, building on nearly $40 million the bank put into partnerships in 2025 with more than 100 universities and community colleges and over 600 nonprofit organizations. The funding is meant to support groups that train people and connect them to jobs, including local organizations, community colleges and nonprofits.

The recipients are not fixed yet. Specific organizations will be chosen over time based on local workforce needs, so there is no list to apply to today.

For a job seeker, the practical reading is simple. The bank has not named recipients, but its recent tech apprentice listing asked for graduates or participants of NPower, Road to Hire or Per Scholas, or community college students and recent graduates.

"American workers deserve the opportunity to build successful careers without leaving their hometowns," in the words of the Acting Secretary of Labor, from the bank's release.

How Do You Apply for a Bank of America Apprenticeship?

Start on the bank's careers site. The hiring process page sets out four steps, which are find a role, apply through the application portal, interview and receive an offer. The hiring process page says you get a confirmation email after applying, and a talent acquisition professional contacts you if you are selected to interview.

Expect more than one kind of interview. The same page describes a mix of phone calls, in-person conversations and video interviews, and some candidates are asked to complete exercises and assessments. The page also says your profile and resume stay available to the talent acquisition team for other vacancies, so one application can be considered for roles you did not target.

Timing is the tricky part, because the new places roll out over two years rather than all at once. Search the careers site for the keyword apprentice and check the featured community college roles in the meantime. At least three of the featured roles sit in the bank's consumer divisions, and consumer banking is one of the areas the new apprentices are slated for.

How Do Apprenticeships Pay Off Across the Wider Job Market?

The national data makes a strong case for the format in general. Across Registered Apprenticeship programs nationwide there are 800,000+ apprentices annually, and the federal site puts the average starting salary after completion at $86K, with 93% of apprentices remaining employed after they finish, based on data retrieved at the end of 2025.

Read those figures with care. They describe the federal Registered Apprenticeship system as a whole, and the bank's announcement does not say its programs are registered with the US Department of Labor. They show what structured earn and learn roles tend to deliver, not what a bank apprentice will earn.

The wider trend is on your side too. Employers across industries are putting less weight on college degrees, which is the same shift the bank points to when it describes its skills-first hiring.

What This Means for Job Seekers, and What Should You Do Next?

Our take is that this is a real opening, but a slow one, and the people who win the seats will be the ones who prepare before the listings appear. The bank is adding 1,000 apprentices over two years, on top of the more than 800 it already hires each year.

There is one caution worth stating plainly. When the bank set out its military and community college hiring plans in 2025, it said it did not expect that commitment to materially impact the size of its workforce. The new release does not say how the apprentice hires will affect total headcount.

Here is what we would do:

• Pick your lane. Decide between client-facing banking roles, where branch and phone experience counts, and technology roles, where the recent tech apprentice listing asked for a partner training program or community college background.
• Get into a feeder program. If tech appeals, apply to NPower or Per Scholas now, since NPower starts two cohorts a year and the recent tech listing asked for partner program graduates.
• Apply to the featured roles. A relationship banker or client services job is a paid way into the bank while you wait for apprentice openings.
• Build a skills-first resume. Lead with what you can do, not where you studied, and match the listing's words on teamwork, problem solving and communication. Our guide to building a skills-based resume walks through the format.
• Watch the branch map. The bank tied 700 jobs to new financial centers in growth markets including Alabama, Idaho, Louisiana and Wisconsin, so check listings there.

If you are weighing a data role instead, our guide to becoming a data analyst without a degree walks through another route that skips the degree.

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People Also Asked

Q: Will Bank of America hire all of its new apprentices this year?

A: No, the bank will hire 1,000 additional apprentices over the next two years, on top of the more than 800 it already hires each year.

Q: Do you need a degree to become a Bank of America apprentice?

A: No. The apprentice programs are built for people entering through nontraditional pathways, and a recent tech apprentice listing asked for a background with NPower, Road to Hire or Per Scholas, or community college, and listed no degree requirement.

Q: How much do Bank of America apprentices make?

A: The bank's US pay floor is $25 an hour for hourly roles, and a tech analyst apprentice listing, taken down in July 2026, posted a range of $27.17 to $31.00 an hour.

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