The apprenticeship system is something I have long advocated and think it is a much better system than today's college system. Your experience is actually in the field instead of being more academic. Why pay huge amounts of money and go into student loan debt? It would be much better for the apprentice to have free education and for the company to have free labor. It's a win/win.
Under the apprenticeship model an apprentice agrees to work under a master/company for free (and then maybe for low wage as he becomes more skilled). Traditionally, it was a 7 year contract. Taxes are not necessary under that model. The education is provided in exchange for work. Work that gives you experience and helps you build mastery in the field.
Apprenticeship model can produce very good result. It is a one-to-one instruction and instructor has real world experience to pass on with all the technical knowledge. The advantage of this type of education can be illustrated by the Bloom's 2 sigma problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom%27s_2_Sigma_Problem
