Expand Pell Grant eligibility to short occupational programs as a strategy for helping displaced workers and low-income adults earn credentials quickly¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The report presents waiving Pell rules so funds can be used for short occupational training as a policy strategy for rapid credentialing. It notes that "strategies to help displaced workers and low-income adults earn credentials with the potential to improve their job prospects quickly may be of particular interest now, given the changing economic conditions due to the coronavirus pandemic."

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Students must meet Pell income criteria, be un- or underemployed, and enroll in a short occupational program aligned with local or regional workforce needs.

Constraints¶

• Average cost of expanding eligibility was about $1,800 per student in this study, and labor-market returns remain open questions.

Target Learners¶

• Displaced workers
• Low-income adults

Target Learning Goals¶

• Earning occupational certificates or credentials quickly to improve job prospects

Related Strategies¶

• Use updated occupational education and retraining programs, including cooperative on-the-job instruction, to re-employ workers displaced by technological change
• Retrain workers for occupations complementary to, rather than competing with, automation

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Jaime Thomas, Naihobe Gonzalez, Nora Paxton, Andrew Wiegand, Leela Hebbar. (2020). The Effects of Expanding Pell Grant Eligibility for Short Occupational Training Programs: Results from the Experimental Sites Initiative. NCEE 2021–001. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/2021001/