The U.S. Department of Education has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to establish the new Workforce Pell Grant program, which will enable students to use Federal grant funds to enroll in high-quality, short-term programs that offer education in high-skill, high-wage or in-demand industry sectors or occupations.
Starting in July 2026, students will be able to use the Pell Grant to enroll in an eligible workforce program, which could be as short as 8 weeks. Workforce Pell will not only help students complete their educational programs quickly and enter the workforce with little or no student loan debt, but it will also serve as a stepping-stone toward earning a future postsecondary credential.
This NPRM implements two provisions from the Act. First, it allows students to receive Pell Grants for eligible workforce programs that consist of 150–599 clock hours of instruction and take at least 8 weeks but less than 15 weeks to complete. The proposed rule sets additional eligibility requirements for the approval of eligible workforce programs, including approval by a Governor, after consultation with the State’s workforce board. Each program must also meet certain accountability benchmarks, including completion and job placement rates, as well as a value-added earnings measure.
This NPRM is the second of three rules being released by the Department to implement the historic changes in postsecondary education made by the Act and is the product of a week-long negotiated-rulemaking session held in December.
The proposed rule will be open for public comment through April 8, 2026 and the Department may make changes to the rule in response to public comments. To review the full NPRM, see here.
Comments on the proposed rules can be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov.
