As Pell grants expand, students see openings to afford short-term job training
Sydney Webb, a 26-year-old bartender from North Carolina, enrolled in an eight-week certified nursing assistant program at a community college. The total cost, including registration fees, background checks, scrubs, a stethoscope, special shoes, and a state certification exam, amounted to $255, with an annual renewal fee of $233.
This expense was a significant burden for Webb, who had to work half-time to afford the program. Other students in the Forsyth Technical Community College program may soon benefit from additional support through a new federal grant program, Workforce Pell.
Originally designed to help low- and moderate-income students attend college, Pell grants will now be available for eligible short-term job training programs. These programs typically last between eight and 14 weeks and prepare students for careers in various fields such as truck driving, electrical line work, phlebotomy, IT support, firefighting, welding, and more.
The expansion of Pell grants to short-term programs has been a long time coming, dating back a decade. Jim Hermes, associate vice president of government relations at the American Association of Community Colleges, explained that concerns about program quality initially hindered the expansion. However, Workforce Pell has received bipartisan support and backing from the Trump administration.
To qualify for Workforce Pell grants, programs must meet certain criteria, including a 70% threshold for student completion and job placement, as well as providing credentials that are immediately useful and can be built upon. The programs must also last at least eight weeks but fewer than 15 weeks and have been operational for a full year before eligibility.
Experts suggest that the full rollout of Workforce Pell grants may take years due to challenges in tracking student completion and job placement. Some schools are hesitant to implement the new program until its development is better understood. Skeptics express concerns that students may exhaust their lifetime 12-semester Pell benefits by enrolling in short-term programs instead of pursuing a bachelor's degree, which could potentially lead to higher earnings prospects.
Despite these concerns, studies have shown that most students who complete short-term programs see an improvement in their wages.
Written by urgent.news from Winnipeg Free Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
