Ivy Tech Receives Approval for Workforce Pell Program

Students at Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana can now use federal Pell Grant dollars on an eight-week clinical medical assistant training program, the Department of Education announced this week. The Ivy Tech program is the second Workforce Pell program in the nation to receive approval, after ED signed off on a 14-week EMT training program at Iowa Central Community College last week. 

Ivy Tech President Marty Pollio said in a statement that clinical medical assistants are in high demand across the state and approving this program “provides an affordable pathway for Ivy Tech students to build rewarding careers while serving their communities.” 

The Pell Grant program has historically covered programs that were at least 15 weeks long. But under an expansion that took effect in July, the money can go toward programs as short as eight weeks if they’re in high-skill, high-wage or regionally in-demand industries. State workforce leaders spent months trying to figure out how to put the policy into action. 

“President Trump’s Workforce Pell program is giving Hoosiers more ways to gain the skills they need to earn a good wage and build a career,” Indiana Governor Mike Braun said in a statement. “Not every good-paying job requires a four-year degree, and Hoosiers shouldn’t have to take on years of debt to gain the skills employers are looking for. I’m proud that, through Ivy Tech’s Clinical Medical Assistant program, Indiana has the nation’s second Workforce Pell program approved. We will keep working to connect more Hoosiers with the skills they need to build a great career right here in Indiana.”