Major Updates

Workforce Pell Moves from Rules to Reality: State Approval Pipelines Mature, ED Launches Training, and Labor Awards $65 Million
Nearly three months after Workforce Pell Grants (Pell awards for programs of 150–599 clock hours, or 8 to fewer than 15 weeks) became available on July 1, the rollout is moving at very different speeds from state to state. UPCEA’s September blog post on state Workforce Pell readiness found over 30 jurisdictions with working approval pipelines, over a dozen still building them; the Opportunity Data implementation tracker now counts 36 operational jurisdictions. A governor must approve a program before an institution can submit it to ED, so state occupation lists effectively decide what can be built. Those lists range from 19 eligible occupations in Pennsylvania to 434 in Colorado. Federal approvals are still scarce: fewer than two dozen programs, all at community colleges in five states, had cleared ED review by late September.

Two federal developments add capacity for institutions to understand and build these programs. Earlier this month, ED’s Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) released a free, self-paced Workforce Pell learning track. It covers program eligibility, the state and federal approval processes, keeping eligibility, and awarding aid. Companion modules cover adding workforce programs to the institutional eligibility application and flagging eligible students in the FAFSA Partner Portal. On September 23, the Department of Labor (DOL) awarded $65 million in Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants to consortia in seven states (Colorado, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Texas) to build short-term programs designed to qualify for Workforce Pell.

For administrators of online and professional continuing education units, especially at four-year institutions, the early pattern is telling: every approval so far and all of the new DOL money have gone to community colleges. Continuing education leaders should confirm where their state’s occupation list and application window stand. They should also have financial aid and program staff take the FSA track together, and check existing noncredit offerings against the 70 percent completion and job placement thresholds that apply through the 2028–29 award year. UPCEA’s guidance on preparing four-year institutions for Workforce Pell is a useful starting point, as are all of our Workforce Pell Resources.

Other News

• Under New Loan Limits, Students Struggle to Finance Final Year (Inside Higher Ed)

• OMB Grants Rule Delayed Until Mid-December (Inside Higher Ed)

• Higher Ed Groups Bash ED Proposal to Allow More Grant Terminations (Inside Higher Ed)

• Iran Sanctions – Note: Consider reviewing these changes for online international students, and join the conversation and find more information in this CORe discussion post. (U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control)

• Senate Panel Takes up Bill to Strengthen Student Aid Fraud Protections (ACE)