🇺🇸 Scheduling note: I’m in your inboxes a day early, since it’s a holiday week. Happy 4th!

Federal aid dollars are officially available to low-income students for short-term training programs. But few states are ready to distribute that money. 

The program, known as Workforce Pell, took effect yesterday. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that eventually 100,000 new students each year would receive the funds (on average about $2,200 each). 

My colleague Kayleigh Skinner put this moment in context last summer, after Congress created the program: “It’s a continuation of a red meat issue for the Trump administration and state leaders across the country: Not everyone needs a traditional four-year degree, and there should be options for people to obtain skills and certifications that allow them to move into a job quickly.” 

Eligible programs must run between 150 and 599 hours, and last at least 8 weeks but fewer than 15. Community colleges identify which of their programs meet those parameters — plus job placement and completion benchmarks — then submit them to states for initial approval. 

So far, just 12 states have an operational approval process. And community colleges across the country have found that many of their programs don’t yet qualify. 

📚 Read more: Workforce Pell expansion inches forward, but student access may not come until 2027 (via our partner San Antonio Report)

📚 Read more: Many Black graduates of for-profit colleges wouldn’t choose them again (via Open Campus) 

Iowa was the first state to begin accepting Workforce Pell program applications from colleges. The state doesn’t have specific numbers on how many eligible programs exist, but the most recent application cycle yielded 20 entries from seven colleges, Heather Doe, a state education department spokeswoman, told our rural engagement reporter Emily Lytle.

Programs have to have met the Workforce Pell requirements for at least a year before seeking approval from states. Iowa is focused on reviewing programs that already meet those requirements, while also helping potentially eligible programs prepare for the future. The state is especially focused on programs that serve learners in rural communities, Doe said. 

Wisconsin is hoping to begin accepting applications this month, Natalie Yahr and Miranda Dunlap, our pathways reporters at Wisconsin Watch, learned.

The state is still working to decide what criteria it will use to assess eligible programs, including how it will define what it means for a career to be “in-demand” or “high-wage.”

Programs that train truck drivers, dental auxiliary workers and emergency medical technicians are strong candidates so far, given their alignment with workforce demand, Katy Pettersen, spokesperson for the Wisconsin Technical College System, told Wisconsin Watch.

Eligibility is only part of the challenge. Creating a new financial aid program requires building new systems at the state and local level, Adam Echelman, our community college reporter at CalMatters reported earlier this month. In California, the leader of the state aid commission building those systems has said the money won’t be available to students until weeks or even months from now.

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From Ohio: Amy Morona at our partner Signal Ohio talked to faculty about how the state’s higher-ed overhaul, S.B. 1, has changed their campuses since it was enacted a year ago.

One professor, Kevin Lorson, left Wright State University — and Ohio — after the university cut 15 academic programs in order to comply with the new law. He’s now teaching at Mississippi State University.

Another, David Niven, a professor at the University of Cincinnati’s School of Public and International Affairs, said the law has bogged down the process of proposing new classes. That’s because it’s difficult to prove whether a course is demonstrating “intellectual diversity,” one of Senate Bill 1’s requirements.

“That is one of several Orwellian aspects of the law. No one can be sure if they are complying, even if they want to comply,” he said.

From Mississippi: The Mississippi Office of Student Financial Aid is facing a $7.3 million shortfall, reports Candice Wilder at our partner Mississippi Today. That means nearly 27,000 college students could receive less state financial aid next year.

Demand for state aid has risen faster than anticipated, said Jennifer Rogers, executive director of the state aid office. Now, some of the most vulnerable students may not receive any.

“Being short thousands of dollars makes a huge difference,” said Sandy Baum, who researches state financial aid programs for the Urban Institute.

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