Tarrant County students enrolled in short-term job training programs will soon have access to federal aid through the new Workforce Pell Grant.
The new financial aid program was created through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and is intended to expand access to Pell Grants. Tarrant County College is navigating the new terrain ahead of the short-term grants’ rollout in 2026.
Pell Grants are a form of federal financial aid given to students from low-income families that are not required to be repaid. Before the passing of Workforce Pell as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, only students enrolled in programs at least 16 weeks in length were eligible.
The creation of the Workforce Pell was a more popular provision among others that faced pushback. The U.S. House proposed changes that included increasing the number of credit hours students must take to receive the maximum grant and eliminating it for those attending school less than half time, sparking outcry from community colleges. Those changes did not make it into the final version of the bill.
The concept of a Workplace Pell Grant is not new, said Carrie Warick-Smith, vice president for public policy at the Association of Community College Trustees.
Democrats and Republicans sought the expansion of the grant through bills during several previous congressional sessions. Americans overwhelmingly support the creation of a Workforce Pell across party lines, a survey from the National Institute for Civil Discourse shows.
TCC provides short-term workforce training through its continuing education program and offers courses in health, film, technology and other fields.
Shelley Pearson, TCC vice chancellor and provost, said the new grant is a promising opportunity for students in the college’s job training programs.
“When our programs meet specific federal quality standards — including completion rates, job placement rates, and employment earnings thresholds — students may qualify for this expanded financial aid,” Pearson said. “This could significantly reduce financial barriers for students pursuing fast-track credentials that lead directly to employment, thereby enhancing both access and economic mobility.”
For students to be eligible for the Workforce Pell, programs must:
- Include at least 150 hours but less than 600 hours of instruction.
- Meet for at least eight weeks but not more than 15 weeks.
- Align with a high-skill, high-wage or in-demand job as determined by the state.
- Meet potential employers’ requirements.
- Prepare students for a certificate or degree program.
Additionally, at least 70% of students must complete the program within a period of 1.5 times its usual length. At least 70% of students must also obtain jobs within 180 days of completing the program.
Colleges track completion rates, but it is tricky for them to follow job placement rates on their own, Warick-Smith said. Such information, if they collect it, may come from alumni surveys that could generate inaccurate data. Schools could compare lists of program graduates to unemployment or tax rolls, but they would need access to that information.
“Figuring that out with the access to that government data is fairly straightforward, but asking an institution to keep track of job placement without access to government data would be a heavy lift,” Warick-Smith said.
There is also a value-added earnings requirement to ensure graduates three years removed from their program make enough money to justify the cost. The difference between the median earnings of federal aid recipients and 1.5 times the federal poverty line must not be less than the program’s total tuition and fees.
The way the law is written means that graduates who obtain any job, not just one in their field, count toward the job placement requirement, Warick-Smith said.
The value-added earnings requirement counteracts this. If students end up getting a job outside their field it will presumably be lower-paying and reflected in the institution’s value-added earnings data.
Programs are not eligible for the grant until they have operated for at least a year. This discourages institutions from creating new programs just to collect Pell dollars, Warick-Smith said.
It is currently unclear whether institutions or the Department of Education will be responsible for collecting data, Warick-Smith said. She imagines this will be ironed out as the government and stakeholders determine how to execute the law.
The Department of Education announced in July that rulemaking sessions will take place in December and January.
The Workforce Pell section of the bill takes effect July 1, 2026, leaving institutions, the federal government and state governments just months to determine their roles and decide which programs are eligible.
Can they get it done in time?
“Whether or not everything is ready to go by July 1 is a big question mark,” Warick-Smith said. “One of the things that we’re doing is trying to work with colleges and encourage states to preplan as much as possible and prepare rather than waiting for negotiable rulemaking to be done before they start that process because it is a very tight timeline.”
TCC has not begun preparing to seek eligibility for any of its programs because it does not yet have detailed guidance from the federal government, Pearson said.
“Our evaluation will be guided by federal guidelines and performance metrics once they are finalized,” she said. “However, we anticipate conducting a comprehensive assessment of our workforce programs by spring 2026 to determine which offerings may meet the eligibility requirements.”
At TCC, 49% of full-time, beginning students funded their education with Pell Grants during the 2022-23 school year, totaling $5.5 million in aid and averaging $5,372 per student.
In the meantime, TCC will keep an eye on developments from the federal government, Pearson said.
“We look forward to supporting our students through expanded financial aid opportunities as more information becomes available,” she said.
McKinnon Rice is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at mckinnon.rice@fortworthreport.org.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
Related
Fort Worth Report is certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative for adhering to standards for ethical journalism.
Republish This Story
Republishing is free for noncommercial entities. Commercial entities are prohibited without a licensing agreement. Contact us for details.