Wisconsin Workforce Pell

Wisconsin Workforce Pell aims to increase students' access to training programs that lead to high-wage, high-skill careers. Workforce Pell expands Pell Grant eligibility to students enrolled in short-term, career-focused training programs.

Background

P.L. 119-21, The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) was signed into law on July 4, 2025. This law includes Workforce Pell legislation that expands federal Pell Grant eligibility to learners and workers who want to pursue a short-term job training program. The policy balances three aims:

1. Align programs with high-skill, high-wage, in-demand occupational needs;
2. Ensure quality outcomes (completion, placement, and value-added earnings); and
3. Provide a transparent, consistent process for institutions and learners.

Governors have significant authority over how Workforce Pell is implemented in their state. Federal law requires the Governor, in consultation with their state workforce boards and the U.S. Department of Education, to determine eligible programs that are high-skill, high-wage, in-demand, stackable, and portable across employers. Federal law also requires the Governor to establish a process through which postsecondary institutions may request approval of short-term training programs to determine eligibility for Workforce Pell funding.

For more information, the U.S. Department of Education also released a fact sheet on Workforce Pell.

Eligibility

To be Workforce Pell eligible, programs must meet all statutory requirements:

• 150-599 clock hours;
• 8-15 weeks in length;
• Training aligned to high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand occupations;
• Must articulate into a related certificate or degree at the same or another institution;
• Must lead to a recognized postsecondary credential; and
• Programs must have been operating and meeting all criteria for at least 12 months before approval.

The Governor, in consultation with the state workforce board, must ensure that programs:

• Align with high-skill, high-wage, (as defined by Perkins CTE) or in-demand sectors or occupations.
• Meet hiring requirements of employers.
• Lead to a credential that is:
  • Stackable and portable across more than one employer; or
  • The only credential for a specific occupation and awarded upon completion.
• Prepare students to pursue one or more certificate or degree programs and ensure academic credit is accepted at those programs.

Once the Governor determines programs meet the state requirements, then the U.S. Secretary of Education certifies that programs:

• Have been offered by the institution for at least one year prior to certification
• Maintain a 70% completion rate within 150% of normal time.
• Maintain a 70% job placement rate within 180 days of completion.
• Meet new value-added earnings test of completers:
  • Tuition and fees must not exceed the “value-added earnings” of completers [median earnings (3 years post-completion, adjusted for regional cost of living) minus 150% of the federal poverty line].

Review Process

Institutions will need to complete an application for each program for which they are seeking approval.

Wisconsin will use a multi-tier review process administered by the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) in coordination with additional partners and in consultation with the CWI.

Key Terms & Definitions

Articulation to Credit

To be eligible for Workforce Pell, federal statute requires that a program must lead to credit toward a higher certificate or degree program. A program leads to a certificate or degree program if it:

1. Provides evidence of either (a) course transferability or (b) awarding of academic credit for prior learning into an existing academic program; and
2. Aligns to a related field of study, as determined by a similar curricular area which may be evidenced by a Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) code or a Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code.

Institutions must provide written documentation that a program leads to such credit, such as established articulation agreements, transfer-of-credit agreements, consortium or partnership agreements. Any such documentation must delineate which institution(s) accept(s) credit for the program applying; how many credits each program completion will translate into; and provide documentation that it is translating into credit for programs in the appropriate CIP family.

High-Skill, High-Wage, or In-Demand Industry Sectors or Occupations

To be eligible for Workforce Pell, a program must provide an education aligned with the requirements high-skilled, high-wage (as identified under the Perkins Carrer and Technical Education Act), or in-demand industry sectors or occupations as described below.

High-Skilled:

High-skilled, for the purposes of Workforce Pell, refers to industry-validated curriculum programs that result in industry-recognized certificates, credentials, degrees, or apprenticeship diplomas.

High-Wage:

As defined in Wisconsin's Perkins V State Plan, high-wage occupations are those with hourly wages above the Wisconsin state median based on the Department of Workforce Development's (DWD) estimates pursuant to most current available data.

In-Demand:

Federal Workforce Pell regulations include the following definition for "in-demand industry sector or occupation":

1. An industry sector that has a substantial current or potential impact (including through jobs that lead to economic self-sufficiency and opportunities for advancement) on the State, regional, or local economy, as appropriate, and that contributes to the growth or stability of other supporting businesses, or the growth of other industry sectors; or
2. An occupation that currently has or is projected to have a number of positions (including positions that lead to economic self-sufficiency and opportunities for advancement) in an industry sector so as to have a significant impact on the State, regional, or local economy, as appropriate.

In-demand occupations and industries in Wisconsin are those officially identified by Wisconsin's workforce agencies (state or local workforce boards) as experiencing persistent employer demand, high job vacancy rates, or significant projected growth—particularly within the state's priority sectors. These designations must be supported by state or regional labor market data and employer input and are required for Workforce Pell eligibility under federal statute.

Portable

A credential is considered portable when it is recognized and accepted as verifying the qualifications of an individual in other settings— such as other geographic areas, other educational institutions, employment at more than one employer, or enable credit transfer across institutions of higher education.

Stackable

A credential is considered stackable when it is part of a sequence of credentials that can be accumulated over time to build up an individual's qualifications and help them to move along a career pathway or career ladder to different and potentially higher-paying jobs. A stackable credential does not need to be fully embedded or 100% contained within a larger program and does not need to stack within the same institution. Credentials are considered stackable if they provide documented, articulated credit as part of a related credential program sequence at one or more eligible institutions across all higher education sectors in alignment with Wisconsin statutes and requirements.

Wage Outcomes Data Verification & Sources

The approved data sources for verifying outcomes to assess Workforce Pell eligibility are unemployment insurance (UI) wage data, State Wage Interchange System (SWIS) data, occupational employment and wage statistics (OEWS), Lightcast, graduate outcomes survey data, employer attestations, licensure pass list, and college completion data. Other supplemental data may be considered as needed.