During a stop Wednesday at a community college in Warren, Michigan, President Barack Obama pledged $175 million to boost apprenticeship training.

The Labor Department is giving the money public-private partnerships that have pledged to hire train and employ 34,000 apprentices in high-growth industries in the next five years.

“If you put in the hard work to earn your education, then it’s up to all of us to make sure that hard work pays off,” Obama said.  “Whether it is a bachelor’s degree, an associate’s degree, a journeyman’s card from an apprenticeship program, having a credential above and beyond your high school diploma, that's the surest ticket to the middle class.  And in global competition for jobs and industries, having the best-educated workforce in the world is the surest way for America to stay on top.”