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This summer, Congress authorized Workforce Pell grants as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) signed into law on July 4, 2025. Following years of bipartisan efforts, the Workforce Pell provision addressed a long-standing gap in federal law. Prior to OBBBA’s passage, Pell Grants could only be used for programs lasting at least 15 weeks and students could not leverage Pell Grants to attend 8 – 15 week programs, even when those programs were proven to boost students’ economic outcomes. Now, Pell Grants will become available to students enrolling in proven career-focused programs, from health care to IT,  where students can earn credentials relatively quickly. OBBBA directs the Department of Education to launch Workforce Pell by July 2026: especially under this swift timeline, effective implementation will be critical.

America Forward Coalition organizations, including some of the nation’s leading workforce providers and intermediaries, are excited by the opportunity Workforce Pell offers to expand high-quality, short-term job training options alongside significant outcomes protections. This opportunity is particularly urgent in light of the long underinvestment in many of the workforce programs that research demonstrates provide the largest benefits for participants’ economic outcomes. At the same time, past experience with federal student aid and workforce development funding shows that technical aspects of policy design can inadvertently  hinder innovation and dissuade program engagement – including among some of the most evidence-based, cutting-edge providers with deep experience partnering with colleges.

As the Department considers key implementation questions, America Forward urges Department leaders to leverage the extraordinary potential of non-governmental workforce organizations to partner with colleges and universities to swiftly implement top-quality programs through Workforce Pell. America Forward recently submitted technical recommendations to guide Workforce Pell implementation in response to the U.S. Department of Education’s formal request for input, following our testimony at the Department’s earlier public hearing.

Our recommendations emphasize the following points: 

• Clarify the time requirements for eligibility. As a foundational matter, we urge the Department to address an unclear aspect of the law and provide clarity regarding eligibility for programs that have been in existence for longer than a year as the law requires, but do not yet have three years of post-exit earnings available.  We recommend that the Department allow programs to qualify temporarily on the basis of shorter-term earnings outcomes – specifically, the longest possible available for the relevant award year – until they can demonstrate three-year outcomes as required by one of the law’s outcome measures.

• Enable and encourage college-workforce partnerships. Key design choices can enable non-institutional providers to support the successful, widespread implementation of Workforce Pell – and the Department should make sure such providers are at the table during the negotiated rulemaking process. Key steps include ensuring that accreditors’ review of Workforce Pell partnerships, as well as states’ reviews of programs in general, are straightforward and timely. The Department should also take a clear, accessible approach to guidance around pro-rating Pell funds and packaging aid.
• Leverage high-quality administrative data to measure program outcomes. We strongly encourage the Department to leverage high-quality administrative data to support strong outcomes, facilitate transparency, advance public trust, and reduce burden. The Department should leverage high-quality administrative data for both earnings and job placement data, recognizing that assessing 6-month placement will require a source with quarterly earnings, and avoid requiring institutions and providers to conduct participant surveys. The Department should also clarify key data procedures, such as an appeals process; provide for strong, timely, robust public reporting; and, ideally, enable providers to access relevant outcomes data before they initially apply for approval.

Taking these steps will enable participants and communities around the country to fully realize the potential of Workforce Pell. We look forward to continuing to support successful implementation of this critical program.