The federal government is taking steps to make funds available to students who seek to enroll in short-term, skills-oriented programs including diesel mechanics and other automotive and mechanical repairs.

The U.S. Department of Education ate last week issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to establish the new Workforce Pell Grant program, a key provision of the Working Families Tax Cuts Act (the Act). Workforce Pell 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, students will be able to use the Pell Grant to enroll in an eligible workforce program, which could be as short as eight 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.

Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said the Workforce Pell grants would allow the federal government to invest in programs aligned with a state’s workforce needs. Kent said the program will create “new affordable pathways to upward mobility for America’s students and their families. A great education and a better life do not necessarily require a traditional four-year college experience.”

The NPRM published last week in the Federal Register implements two provisions from the act. First, according to the Department of Education, it allows students to receive Pell Grants for eligible workforce programs that consist of 150–599 clock hours of instruction and take at least eight weeks but less than 15 weeks to complete.

The proposed rule will be open for public comment for 30 days. The Department may make changes to the rule in response to public comments. 

Comments on the proposed rules can be submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov.  The deadline to comment is April 6.