Colleges Urge ED to Rethink Aspects of Workforce Pell

The Education Department is another step closer to finalizing plans to expand the Pell Grant to short-term workforce-aligned programs, but colleges want the agency to first make some key changes to the draft regulations.

The comment period on the proposed regulations for the expansion known as Workforce Pell closed Wednesday. The department received just over 400 comments on the proposal—a far cry from the thousands submitted on draft student loan changes. Still, before finalizing the regulations, agency officials will have to read and respond to those comments. The expansion is set to take effect July 1, but funding to the short-term programs isn’t expected to flow right away.

That’s because the regulations and the underlying law that Congress passed last summer require that eligible programs exist and meet eligibility criteria for at least one year. Governors and the Education Department also have to approve which programs participate in Workforce Pell. Among other eligibility criteria, programs will have to pass a value-added earnings test and show that 70 percent of their students complete the program and get placed in a related job.

Commenters from higher ed and industries were largely supportive of the draft regulations, but they want the department to make a number of changes to the rule, which they say would make it work better for students and not unnecessarily penalize institutions.

For instance, a key issue for some of the institutions that commented is which students are counted in the job-placement rate. Under the regulations, students who complete a Workforce Pell program and continue on with their studies will be counted as unemployed. (The rate won’t count students who have died, entered military service, had serious medical issues or become incarcerated.)

The American Council on Education urged the department to exempt from the job-placement rates students who continue their education. ACE and others noted that eligible programs are required to offer credentials that are stackable and portable, allowing students to build on those programs as they continue their education.

“Institutions have no way of controlling the decisions of the students who complete the program, and continued education ideally should be rewarded, especially given Congressional intent for Workforce Pell students to pursue future postsecondary educational opportunities, as indicated by the stackability requirements for the programs,” ACE wrote.

Rep. Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat who helped to craft the Workforce Pell legislation, wrote in his comment that the proposal “will skew placement rates for high-quality programs that lead to stackable credentials” and “provides no incentive for institutions to encourage students to enroll in additional postsecondary education.”

Members on the advisory committee that signed off on the draft regulations raised similar concerns during the negotiations, but the department didn’t budge, arguing that the intent of Workforce Pell is to obtain a job after completing the program. If students want to continue on their education, they could use the traditional Pell program, officials told the committee and wrote in the proposed rule. (Traditional Pell wouldn’t cover the short-term programs.)

Institutions and states are also concerned about a provision that cuts students off from the Pell Grant if their nonfederal scholarships and grants cover the entire cost of attendance. States and college leaders argued that this change—historically, the Pell Grant is awarded first regardless of other aid—could unintentionally harm some low-income students.

“The proposed rule creates a cliff effect in which a student whose aid package exceeds cost of attendance by one dollar loses Pell eligibility entirely, while a student whose aid package falls one dollar below cost of attendance remains eligible for a full Pell Grant,” one community college administrator wrote.

Commenters representing the trucking industry and others asked the department to lower the minimum length for programs. The proposal only extends Pell to programs that take at least eight weeks but less than 15 weeks to complete, which could leave out some training courses that are in demand, the commenters argued.

“A great example of this is our Commercial Truck Driver training program,” wrote the Washington County Career Center, a vocational school in Ohio. “We offer two models. One offers training Monday through Friday and can be completed in four weeks. The other offers training on weekends and takes eight weeks. The curriculum and the number of clock hours for both models is the same at 170. With truck driving in such high demand, the eight-week rule could disqualify some and limit the impact we can make on the trucking shortage.”

Others requested that the Education Department accelerate the program-approval process. Programs currently have to operate for 12 months before they can become eligible for Workforce Pell. That requirement “extends beyond the statutory language and creates unnecessary barriers to timely program approval,” the Ohio Association of Community Colleges argued.

Over all, commenters say the Pell Grant expansion is sorely needed and could help students and communities while transforming workforce development programs.

“Workforce Pell has the potential to be transformative,” wrote Torie Jackson, president of West Virginia University, Parksburg. “To realize that potential, the policy must reflect the diverse realities of institutions and students across the country. With thoughtful adjustments, this rule can expand access while maintaining accountability in a way that is both meaningful and achievable.”