Paid work • Structured learning • Professional licensure

How it works.

FRAME connects the pieces of Virginia’s optician pathway so employers and employees can see one professional progression from the beginning.

01HireAn optical employer identifies and hires promising talent.

02ApprenticeshipThe employee enters a structured Registered Apprenticeship pathway.

03Train + LearnSupervised workplace learning is paired with approved technical education.

04Professional MilestonesThe apprentice builds documented skill and completes the required progression.

05Licensed OpticianThe pathway leads toward Virginia dispensing-optician licensure.

The infrastructure already exists.

Virginia already has Registered Apprenticeship, optician education, and professional licensure. FRAME’s role is to connect those pieces into a pathway that is easier for employers and workers to use.

Registered Apprenticeship ↗

Paid, structured learning anchored in the employer relationship.

Technical education ↗

Established instructional options already support the profession, including the Opticians Apprentice Career Studies Certificate at Reynolds Community College.

Professional licensure ↗

Virginia provides a defined licensing endpoint for dispensing opticians through the Board for Hearing Aid Specialists and Opticians.

4,000 hoursVirginia’s existing optician apprenticeship route includes 4,000 hours of on-the-job training.

20-credit optionReynolds Community College offers an established 20-credit Opticians Apprentice Career Studies Certificate.

Where FRAME fits

FRAME is being built to help optical employers connect the institutions and requirements that already make up Virginia’s optician pathway.

EMPLOYER Optical Employer Hires • Pays • Trains • Supervises

COORDINATION FRAME Virginia Helps connect the pathway

APPRENTICESHIP Virginia Works Registration • Guidance • Oversight

EDUCATION RTI Provider Approved technical instruction

LICENSURE Virginia Licensing Professional requirements and endpoint

Virginia Works remains the apprenticeship authority. Education providers deliver instruction. Virginia’s licensing system sets the professional endpoint. FRAME is being built to help employers connect those pieces into one usable pathway.

The career already exists. The pieces already exist. FRAME connects them.

Starting with opticianry in Central Virginia. Built to make paid pathways into licensed professions easier to find and use.