Official Site of The State of New Jersey

Workforce Pell is a new federal program that extends Pell Grant funding to students enrolled in high-quality, short-term job training programs. This means students can use federal financial aid to pay for short-term job training that leads to in-demand jobs—not just traditional college degrees.

This information is for New Jersey training providers—especially Private Career Schools (PCS)—that want to participate in Workforce Pell but lack institutional accreditation.

Private training providers can partner with accredited Title IV-eligible colleges and universities. Non-accredited schools are permitted to provide up to 25% of instruction in a Workforce Pell-eligible training program. The exception is Registered Apprenticeship programs.

Registered Apprenticeship programs automatically qualify for the Eligible Training Providers List (ETPL). In addition, they are automatically deemed to be in-demand occupations leading to a credential of value for Workforce Pell purposes. The related technical instruction (RTI) component qualifies for Workforce Pell eligibility. A non-accredited provider partnering with an accredited institution is permitted to offer up to 49.9% of RTI instruction. Note that strong student outcomes—completion, employment, and earnings—are essential at every stage for institutions that participate in Workforce Pell and their partners.

If you lead a training provider interested in directly qualifying one or more programs for Workforce Pell eligibility, you will need to seek institutional accreditation. Contact the US Department of Education for more information.