Iowa Office of Apprenticeship (IOA) is announcing a new partnership with Merit, focused on better serving high school Quality Pre-Apprenticeships (QPA) and expanding those programs to better support the future workforce.

The partnership with Merit introduces a digitized process for tracking progress during a QPA program, as well as a statewide dashboard, and also provides an optional platform for students to digitally track their earned credentials and other achievements.

QPA is a set of strategies designed to prepare individuals to explore, enter and succeed in a Registered Apprenticeship Program, and many high schools are engaged in this work-based learning model that greatly benefits students.

• High schools already participating in QPA can request recognition from IOA using the new platform by registering at the following page: https://gomerits.jotform.com/242036485189968    
  • Following registration, schools will be emailed a link to a pre-formatted spreadsheet for submitting student data, as well as a set of instructions for securely sending the data to Merit.
• Interested high schools not yet participating in a QPA program can contact Abby Tibbetts, Iowa Workforce Development Work-Based Learning Program Designer, for assistance with starting or expanding a QPA Program: Abigail.Tibbetts@iwd.iowa.gov. More information about QPA programs can also be found at https://workforce.iowa.gov/qpa 

For questions about Merit’s verified digital credentials platform, please contact: help@merits.com.