U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

ANNOUNCEMENT FOR: Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants (Round 6)

ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE: Initial

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NUMBER: FOA-ETA-26-40

ASSISTANCE LISTING NUMBER: 17.280

Submit all applications in response to this announcement through https://www.grants.gov.

FUNDING DETAIL:

Expected Total Available Funding $65,000,000

Expected Number of Awards 6–10

Funding Range Per Award $6,500,000–$10,800,000

Awards made under this Announcement are subject to the availability of federal funds. The

Department reserves the right to apply funding from the FY 2026 appropriation, up to an additional $65,000,000, to this FOA, should the Department receive sufficient qualifying applications. In the event that sufficient applications are received, we reserve the right to use these funds to select more grantees from the applications submitted in response to this

Announcement.

KEY DATES:

Application Deadline 05/20/2026. We must receive applications no later than 11:59 pm Eastern Time.

Expected Period of Performance Start Date 09/01/2026

Period of Performance Length 48

On approximately March 4, 2026, a pre-recorded Prospective Applicant Webcast will be available at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/grants/apply/find-opportunities and available for viewing any time after that date. While review of this Webcast is strongly encouraged to support successful grant applications, it is not mandatory.

https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/grants/apply/find-opportunities

Table of Contents

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

II. ELIGIBILITY

A. Eligible Applicants

B. Cost Sharing

C. Period of Performance

III. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

A. Purpose

B. Program Goals and Objectives

C. Expected Performance Outcomes

D. Funding Type

E. Eligible Participants

F. Program Authority

G. Funding Restrictions, Policies and Limitations

H. Required Partnerships

IV. APPLICATION CONTENT AND FORMAT

A. SF-424, Application for Federal Assistance

B. Project Budget, Composed of the SF-424A and Budget Narrative

C. Project Narrative

D. Attachments to the Project Narrative

V. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS AND DEADLINES

A. How to Obtain an Application Package

B. Unique Entity Identifier and System for Award Management

C. Submission Instructions

D. Intergovernmental Review

E. Other Submission Requirements

VI. APPLICATION REVIEW INFORMATION

A. Responsiveness Review

B. Review Criteria

C. Review and Selection Process

D. Risk Review

VII. AWARD NOTICES

A. Award Document

B. Award Timing and Notification to Applicants

VIII. POST AWARD REQUIREMENTS AND ADMINISTRATION

A. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

B. Reporting

IX. RESOURCES

X. OMB INFORMATION COLLECTION

APPENDIX A: RESOURCES ON EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT AND CAREER

PATHWAYS

APPENDIX B: RESOURCES ON WIOA STATE ELIGIBLE TRAINING PROVIDER LIST

(ETPL)

APPENDIX C: SUGGESTED PROJECT WORK PLAN FORMAT

APPENDIX D: RESOURCES ON EVALUATION

APPENDIX E: SUGGESTED ABSTRACT FORMAT

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL, or the Department, or we), announce the availability of grant funds for Strengthening Community

Colleges Training Grants (Round 6).

Round 6 of the Strengthening Community Colleges (SCC or SCC6) grants will fund community colleges, with a singular focus on building program and system capacity for implementing and scaling access to short-term training opportunities through Workforce Pell Grants—i.e., promoting industry-driven strategies, worker mobility, and integration with the larger state workforce system (e.g., Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) partners) for statewide impact. This sixth round of funding builds on the lessons learned from earlier SCC rounds, as well as the legacy of the four rounds of Trade Adjustment Assistance Community

College and Career Training Grants. SCC6 aims to prioritize funding for statewide community college systems, or consortia of multiple community colleges, to support states to build capacity for the state-level workforce and education data sharing and data systems integration activities necessary to demonstrate effective outcomes for programs seeking eligibility for the newly authorized Workforce Pell Grants.

SCC6 also presents an opportunity for community colleges to continue their strong engagement with industry, supporting coordination and alignment with employers to develop and/or enhance existing high-quality, short-term programs for the newly authorized Workforce Pell Grants.

These programs must be portable and stackable along a career pathway, articulating into credit, while also meeting the hiring requirements of employers in in-demand industries.

Eligible participants for SCC6 represent the broad population of community college students at distinct and varied points in their education and workforce pathways, including new entrants to the workforce, dislocated workers who have lost employment, and those currently working but seeking additional skills.

For further information or technical questions about this FOA, please contact Sarah Medley, Grants Management Specialist, Office of Grants Management, at SCC6_FOA-ETA-26-

40@dol.gov and specifically reference FOA-ETA-26-40. This Announcement is available on the ETA website at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/grants and at https://www.grants.gov.

II. ELIGIBILITY

A. Eligible Applicants

1. The following organizations are eligible to apply:

• Public and State controlled institutions of higher education

The Department will award grants under this program to lead applicants that are community colleges as defined in Section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act, and at which the associate degree is primarily the highest degree awarded, as shown by the college's designation at https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/. The Department is requiring community colleges to apply for this funding as a consortium of institutions of higher education. Thus, a community college must apply as a lead of a consortium of institutions. Consortium members may include community colleges and public and private, non-profit four-year institutions, as defined in

Section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act.

An institution consortium must include, at a minimum, the consortium lead and a majority of community colleges located in the state (defined as 50 percent or greater), but the Department strongly encourages applications that encompass a statewide system of community colleges, where feasible, to support the priorities of SCC6 related to statewide impact. The institutional consortium must form an SCC Partnership as described below in Section III.H. Required

Partnerships. Grants will be awarded to the lead applicant of an SCC Partnership, which will serve as the grantee and have overall fiscal and administrative responsibility for the grant.

NOTE: The Department will not fund more than one successful application per state. See Section

VI.C. Review and Selection Process for further information.

To be eligible as either a lead applicant or as a consortium member, all institutions must, by the closing date of this FOA and throughout the entity’s performance in this grant program, be accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association that has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. A database of institutions that are accredited by bodies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education can be found at http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/.

Note that the Department will check the accreditation status of lead applicants and consortium members as part of the screening process. Applications that do not meet this requirement will not move forward through the merit review process or be considered for an award.

An entity cannot serve as more than one type of required partner in the SCC grants for the purpose of meeting FOA requirements. For example, a lead or consortium member institution cannot also serve as the required workforce development system partner.

Please note that all elements of 2 CFR Part 200 (Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost

Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards) and 2 CFR Part 2900 (DOL’s

Supplement to 2 CFR Part 200), including the monitoring and examination of records, apply to any entity that carries out a federal award as a recipient or subrecipient, including for-profit https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/ http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/ organizations. In addition, the entity may not earn or keep any profit resulting from federal financial assistance.

2. Number of Applications Applicants May Submit

We will consider only one application from each applicant applying on behalf of a consortium as the lead institution. If an applicant submits multiple applications, only the most recently received application that meets the deadline will be considered. If the most recent application is disqualified for any reason, we will not replace it with an earlier application.

3. State Leadership Letters of Support

To be eligible for consideration, each application must include a letter of support from any one official listed in “Group A” and one letter from any one official in “Group B.” The letters should speak to the commitment to state-level coordination activities to support data integration and data sharing priorities described in Section III.B.3.b.

Group A:

• The Governor

• Executive Director/Chief/Chair, Governor’s Workforce Cabinet

• State Workforce Board Chair

• State Workforce or Labor Agency Head/Chief

Group B:

• Chief State Education Office/SHEEO

• Chief State School Officer

• State CTE Director

B. Cost Sharing

This program does not require cost sharing (including matching) funds. Applicants that include such funds will not receive additional consideration during the review process. Instead, the agency considers any resources contributed to the project beyond the funds provided by the agency as leveraged resources. Section IV.B provides more information on leveraged resources.

For a complete understanding of this application requirement, see the 2026 Application Guide, Section II.B Cost Sharing.

C. Period of Performance

The performance period on the front page of this FOA includes all necessary implementation and start-up activities.

The performance period is 48 months with an anticipated start date of September 1, 2026, and includes all necessary implementation and start-up activities.

We expect that start-up activities, such as hiring appropriate grant program staff and project design activities, will begin immediately after grant award. Grantees are required to procure a third-party developmental evaluator, as described in Section III.G.7. below, by the end of month https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/grants/resources six, if such a timeline is possible under required federal, institutional, and any other relevant procurement guidelines.

Written requests for prior approval to acquire grant-funded special purpose equipment and/or to alter space must be submitted no later than 12 months after the award date of the grant; DOL strongly encourages grantees to submit such requests within the first 90 days. Grant Officer-approved special purpose equipment and/or altered space must be acquired, completed, and available for use in support of the project’s statement of work no later than 24 months after the award date of the grant; DOL strongly encourages grantees to begin to use such investments sooner. Grantees are expected to start enrolling participants in high-quality, short-term programs seeking Workforce Pell eligibility by at least month 12, with consideration of academic calendars, though sooner is preferred. We strongly encourage grantees to develop their project work plans and timelines accordingly.

Grantees must plan to fully expend grant funds during the period of performance. DOL does not anticipate period of performance extensions under this FOA.

III. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

A. Purpose

This sixth round of SCC intends to promote statewide capacity building efforts to develop and/or expand high-quality, short-term programs that will seek eligibility for the newly authorized

Workforce Pell Grants. Section 83002 of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law 119-21) authorizes Workforce Pell Grants to provide access to federal financial aid for students enrolled in high-quality, short-term workforce programs that are defined as at least 150 clock hours of instruction and less than 600 clock hours (or the equivalent in credit hours) and at least 8 weeks, but less than 15 weeks, in duration, that have demonstrated success in job placement and completion rates for students.

SCC6 will focus on the design and delivery of education and training programs that meet employers’ hiring requirements and have strong employment outcomes. The intent is to fund programs that will be positioned, in relatively short order, to meet the eligibility requirements for

Workforce Pell Grants. These efforts may include both the development of brand-new programs, in consultation with employers, that are designed to meet Workforce Pell eligibility requirements and fill critical workforce skill gaps, as well as efforts to enhance existing programs, such as stacking multiple shorter complementary trainings into a program that both meets the clock hours and duration requirements for Workforce Pell, as well as the desired competency and skill needs of employers.

This round of funding will continue to support capacity-building efforts that strengthen the connection between community colleges and industry to ensure that employers are playing a central role in defining in-demand skills, validating curricula and credential or certification programs, and developing clear pathways via the new Workforce Pell programs into high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand job opportunities in collaboration with the community college grantees.

Improved integration between education and state workforce systems is also a key component of this round of funding. Such integration will ensure the effective development and expansion of the newly created programs and support the expected statewide coordination that is necessary for successful implementation of Workforce Pell Grants. Workforce Pell Grants’ program eligibility requires program providers to coordinate with Governors to report accurate data on employment and program completion outcomes. Additionally, Executive Order 14278: Preparing Americans for High-Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future and America’s Talent Strategy: Building the

Workforce for the Golden Age prioritize data integration and streamlining the tracking of education-to-employment outcomes through improved federal coordination and opportunities to reduce duplication and better align data. Requiring SCC6 grantees to undertake collaborative state-level data system integration with workforce partners will enhance data collection and data sharing necessary for Workforce Pell Grants eligibility determinations and address barriers to the consistent inclusion of community college programs of study on State Eligible Training Provider

Lists.

Note that the Department is most interested in prioritizing funding for applicants that can demonstrate strong efforts toward developing an integrated state-level data system but that have not yet accomplished the necessary data sharing to facilitate such integration. See Section

IV.C.1.ii. Education and Workforce Data Sharing and Systems Integration.

B. Program Goals and Objectives

To ensure that SCC6 grant projects accomplish the goals of the FOA, the Department will fund applications that address, in their proposals, how the project will expand statewide capacity of

Workforce Pell-eligible programs through each of the required SCC6 Core Elements:

• Core Element 1: Industry-Driven Strategies with Demonstrated Employer Value

• Core Element 2: Worker Mobility through Career Pathways Programs

• Core Element 3: Workforce System Integration to Expand Training Options

1. Core Element 1: Industry-Driven Strategies with Demonstrated Employer Value

To ensure that the projects funded by the Department support industry engagement and provide value to employers, applicants must demonstrate existing strategic partnerships that can be leveraged and further developed to support the significant capacity-building efforts required under this FOA. Successful applicants will identify one or more industry sector(s) on which they will focus. They will also identify initial employer partners, as described in Section III.H.

Required Partnerships. These employer partners may be new partners that are being brought into the project to support this effort, or they may be existing partners that have been engaged in some or all of the key areas below.

In addition, applicants will demonstrate that the industry sector(s) are in demand, both through their employer partners’ commitment and engagement and by inclusion of Labor Market

Information (LMI) data that demonstrates the industry sector(s) and occupations have projected significant job growth and/or a significant impact on the regional, state, or national economy.

The Department has particular interest in supporting high-growth and emerging industries critical to American competitiveness and reindustrialization that can offer students and workers short-term training pathways directly into employment. These industries include, but are not limited to, in-demand skilled trades including shipbuilding occupations, occupations essential to the buildout of AI infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, nuclear energy, domestic mineral production, and information technology, including AI.

Applicants will also actively engage their employer partners, including through industry or sector partnerships, to support the development of high-quality programs that will meet the hiring https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/preparing-americans-for-high-paying-skilled-trade-jobs-of-the-future/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/preparing-americans-for-high-paying-skilled-trade-jobs-of-the-future/ https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OPA/newsreleases/2025/08/Americas-Talent-Strategy-Building-the-Workforce-for-the-Golden-Age.pdf https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OPA/newsreleases/2025/08/Americas-Talent-Strategy-Building-the-Workforce-for-the-Golden-Age.pdf requirements of employers in the focus industry sector(s) for Workforce Pell Grants eligibility to ensure that they are aligning with the needs of industry. Employers will support program development through four key areas: (1) providing leadership to and setting strategic direction for the project; (2) informing the identification and mapping of the necessary skills, competencies, and employer-valued credentials for the program(s); (3) assisting with curriculum development and program design, which may include cross-walking and matching course competencies to industry-recognized, skills-based job descriptions used by employers; and (4) donating resources, such as facilities, equipment, staff time, or other contributions to support the proposed project. Projects funded under this grant program will maintain relationships with employers and regional industry representatives throughout the duration of the project with the intention of sustaining them beyond the grant period.

Community colleges must be able to demonstrate that they understand how to engage employers and industry representatives and to provide the training outcomes that employers require in order to meet the job placement and earnings requirements for Workforce Pell Grants. This includes describing the ways in which they have collaborated with industry to encourage investment in prior initiatives. Forging strong, or deepening existing, relationships with employers through the

SCC6 grant enhances labor market focus and connects participants to high-paying work opportunities after program completion. Employers engaged in the partnership strategy should, if feasible, commit to hiring opportunities for qualified program participants completing the training. Successful applicants may use grant funds to work on developing partnerships, adapting curriculum, and implementing the data sharing necessary to align their program offerings with the needs of industry.

2. Core Element 2: Worker Mobility through Career Pathways Programs

A career pathways program offers a clear sequence, or pathway, of education coursework and/or training credentials/certifications aligned with employer-validated work readiness standards and competencies. It enables individuals to enter and exit training at various levels, with each step on the pathway designed to help them move to the next level and progress over time to higher skills, recognized credentials, and jobs with higher pay. See also WIOA’s definition of career pathways identified in WIOA Section 3(7). Career pathways programs are recognized as effective in supporting positive employment outcomes for community college students.

Workforce Pell Grants support worker mobility by providing high-quality, short-term training that meets the hiring requirements of employers while also leading to portable, stackable credentials that articulate to credit, allowing workers to continue to advance their skills along their chosen career pathway. While the focus of SCC6 is to increase the availability of programs seeking Workforce Pell eligibility, these programs can be the starting point of a broader career pathways strategy that encompasses additional education and training programs, designed to meet workers’ current skills and experiences, as well as to prepare them for the next destination point on their career path. Additionally, community colleges offer longer-term certifications and degrees for which programs seeking Workforce Pell eligibility can be foundational stacking certificates, degrees, and/or college credits.

One example of how these programs can fit into a career pathways strategy is as a component of

Registered Apprenticeship. Programs seeking Workforce Pell eligibility may serve as the related instruction (RI) component of a Registered Apprenticeship program, where feasible, to further reduce the cost of related instruction and expand access to the proven model of Registered

Apprenticeship.

Successful applicants under this FOA will demonstrate how their capacity-building efforts through this funding opportunity will support worker mobility and ensure programs seeking

Workforce Pell eligibility lead to a recognized postsecondary credential that is stackable and portable across more than one employer, and articulate to credit, including by:

• Identifying the proposed Workforce Pell-eligible programs that will be developed within each identified industry sector of focus.

• Describing the career pathway stacking opportunities that may be built from the developed Workforce Pell-eligible programs (which may include additional credentials or licensures, Registered Apprenticeship programs, associate and bachelor’s degrees, as well as Integrated Education and Training programs, the Ability to Benefit provision, and competency-based articulation agreements and credit for prior learning equivalencies, among others).

• Identifying how the project will support institutions of higher education on developing or enhancing written agreements to ensure the award of academic credit towards a certificate or degree program upon a student’s successful completion of the Workforce

Pell-eligible program and enrollment in the certificate or degree program.

3. Core Element 3: Workforce System Integration to Expand Training Options

Community colleges’ capacity to access, analyze, and report students’ educational and employment outcomes data supports their ability to provide programs seeking Workforce Pell eligibility that meet the hiring requirements of employers, and the skills and competencies required by industry. The Department believes that strong connections between community colleges and the public workforce development system ensure quality training and career pathways and hold both education and workforce systems accountable for the use of taxpayer dollars.

Under this FOA, successful applicants will strengthen their collaboration with WIOA and other workforce system partners to accelerate career pathways programs through the development and expansion of programs seeking Workforce Pell eligibility that will create statewide impact. This statewide impact will be felt through the expanded training options available through Workforce

Pell Grants and the more rapid skills gains realized by workers in support of the state’s most critical industries. This impact will also be demonstrated through the pursuit of two specific goals of this funding opportunity, as follows:

a. Statewide Data Integration and Use

Data transparency is a valuable goal that state education and workforce systems strive toward, providing job seekers and other interested parties necessary information on the outcomes and impact of education and training programs broadly. For Workforce Pell Grants, this goal is a material requirement, as eligibility for the Grants necessitates quality outcomes data on completion and employment of those in the programs seeking Workforce Pell eligibility. Yet, collection and reporting efforts can be hampered by inconsistent, incomplete data with long time lags and insufficient context to meaningfully understand or use the information provided. To address these challenges and support improved data transparency, applicants must collaborate with their state workforce development systems to identify strategies that better integrate and use education and workforce development system administrative data, both for Workforce Pell Grant eligibility requirements and broader beneficial statewide impacts that will result. These strategies may include:

1. integrating data systems that contain both employment and educational outcomes data from multiple institutions through a single, unified data warehouse or data management system;

2. creating linkages between separate data systems through a management information system (MIS) that creates record linkages, the use of administrative data research facilities, or another model that the applicant proposes;

3. additional methods to address data integration and/or secure data sharing at the state level between education and workforce data; or

4. develop talent marketplaces composed of credential registries (e.g., publishing education and training programs in structured, open, linked, and interoperable data formats), skills-based job description generators, comprehensive learner employment records (CLR) or learning and employment records (LER) that connect students, employers, and education providers through a common currency of skills.

Integrated data systems or system linkages that allow state matching of individual records to allow calculation of program outcomes will enable community college staff to access current information on education and employment outcomes of participants in grant-funded programs of study and to establish a mechanism for colleges to access future information on SCC-funded programs and on broader career pathways program outcomes. This system integration or linkage will be critical to ensure that college student data can be securely received by states, matched to existing outcome information, and returned accurately to the education entity for performance accountability purposes.

In addition, statewide integrated data systems could allow staff to better assess participants’ progress in completing SCC-funded programs and other programs of study. Most importantly, increasing visibility regarding the employment outcomes of training programs informs jobseekers’ choices about effective training and education, and inclusion on state ETPLs increases individuals’ access to the high-quality training community colleges have to offer.

Examples of activities that fall within these categories include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Internal Data Reporting Capacity o Develop and adopt standard definitions for a common set of reporting elements for those students enrolled in non-credit and adult education courses that align with those elements collected for students enrolled in credit-bearing courses.

o Integrate data on students in both credit and non-credit courses and programs into institutional and statewide data systems.

o Integrate data on attainment of recognized postsecondary credentials into the common set of institution-wide reporting elements.

o Develop machine-readable articulations between credit, non-credit, and employer programs based on competencies.

o Adopt standard policies for complying with Family Educational Rights and

Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232(g); 34 CFR Part 99) requirements, such as policies for accessing student education records when connected with audit or evaluation of federal or state programs and enforcement of or compliance with federal legal requirements of those programs, standard practices or agreements for disclosing Personally Identifiable Information (PII) through written agreements, and other PII and records management practices. See Training and Employment

Guidance Letter (TEGL) 7-16: Data Matching to Facilitate WIOA Performance

Reporting for information on the circumstances under which educational institutions may lawfully submit PII from education records to state unemployment compensation or workforce agencies for wage record matching).

• Labor Market Information and Employment Outcomes o Partner with state workforce agencies to obtain and understand LMI for state and regional labor markets. Leverage the expertise of the workforce development system to inform faculty and admissions counselors on effective use of LMI and other resources to assist prospective students in selecting programs leading to training-related employment. Provide current and prospective students with extensive guidance on use of LMI resources to make program choices that lead to training-related employment.

o Partner with state agencies that have undertaken administrative data matching or longitudinal data systems that calculate employment outcomes of education program completers. In particular, participate in statewide feedback discussions on how best to enhance unemployment insurance wage records to support or deepen program-to-occupational linkages, cross-walking education and training programs to competency-based, industry-recognized qualification frameworks and data sharing.

o Partner with state unemployment compensation (UC) agencies and state agencies that administer WIOA programs to develop a comprehensive data system that uses administrative data from these state systems. (Note: Since state laws and regulations on confidentiality and disclosure vary across states, applicants must consult with their state’s UC agency to determine the appropriate course of action to gain access to confidential UC data for purposes of measuring employment outcomes. All disclosures of confidential UC information must comply with federal regulations at 20 CFR 603.22.) Per TEGL 7-16 (noted above), educational institutions may disclose PII directly to the state UC agency provided certain agreements are in place (see page 40 of “Joint Guidance on Data Matching to

Facilitate WIOA Performance Reporting and Evaluation” Attachment).

o For those states where sharing of data between state education and workforce agencies is limited, applicants may seek to partner with their state’s Performance

Accountability and Customer Information Agency (PACIA) to explore participation in the State Wage Interchange System (SWIS) data sharing agreement. These partnerships can expand the types and availability of reports on performance and evaluation of programs. As an alternative, applicants can seek to partner with relevant state agencies on the use of administrative data research facilities as a method of data matching and analysis.

The Department funds grant programs that encourage data integration within education and workforce development systems. The Department has funded the Workforce Data Quality https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/advisories/training-and-employment-guidance-letter-no-07-16 https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/advisories/training-and-employment-guidance-letter-no-07-16 https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/advisories/training-and-employment-guidance-letter-no-07-16 https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/Performance/pdfs/SWIS%20PACIA_SUIA%20Parties_2%2021%202025.pdf https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/Performance/pdfs/SWIS%20PACIA_SUIA%20Parties_2%2021%202025.pdf

Initiative (WDQI) to support the development or enhancement of longitudinal administrative workforce development system databases that will allow the creation of linkages to the state education data systems. For more information, see the WDQI initiative.

b. Inclusion on State Eligible Training Provider List (ETPL)

WIOA Title I offers career services and training to reskill and upskill Americans with a variety of work histories and experiences. Managed by states and operated in local areas, WIOA training is often funded through an individual training account (ITA) that is used to purchase training from a State Eligible Training Provider List (ETPL). The ETPL should be composed of training programs that provide the necessary skills and credentials for high-demand and growing jobs.

DOL wants to ensure that these programs seeking Workforce Pell eligibility are leveraging the public workforce system through inclusion on state ETPLs, as these programs must provide data about their job placement rates using administrative data sources, which are more easily available at the state level, underscoring the importance of gaining access to the ETPL.

Community colleges can assist with this effort by specifying competencies from their training programs that are matched to the hiring requirements of employers of regional and statewide in-demand occupations. Aligning ETPL programs of study and community colleges’ programs seeking Workforce Pell eligibility can ensure that the occupational training available to workers in the state is high-quality and responsive to the state’s labor market.

Thus, all applicants will build the institutional capacity needed to submit, within the grant period of performance, all programs seeking Workforce Pell eligibility to state workforce agencies for inclusion on ETPLs, along with the data that states require (such as data on program students) to calculate employment outcomes. Specifically, successful applicants will actively engage their local and state workforce board partners to introduce innovations around and reduce barriers to participating on the ETPL. To improve the uptake and effectiveness of community college ETPL engagement, applicants will address challenges related to (among other things) accurately identifying data cohorts, reporting timelines, data elements, and data formats under WIOA; and submitting accurate and timely performance data and cost information for both initial eligibility and continued eligibility. See Appendix B for more information on the ETPL process and requirements.

C. Expected Performance Outcomes

1. Performance Outcomes and Grantee Accountability

To ensure program accountability, document the effectiveness of the statewide impacts undertaken, and track the required student outcomes for Workforce Pell eligibility, grantees will track and report two sets of data: capacity-building indicators and performance outcomes.

a. Capacity-Building Indicators

To quantify the benefits of SCC6 statewide capacity-building efforts, grantees will track the following:

• Total number of programs seeking Workforce Pell eligibility developed using grant funds

• Total number of new recognized postsecondary credentials or certifications created using grant funds

• Total number of programs added to the ETPL https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/performance/wdqi/grants

• Progress toward the development of the applicant’s selected method to address data integration and/or data sharing at the state level between education and workforce data, which may include an integrated data system, system linkage(s), or another proposed output that makes sense in the context of the applicant’s data landscape

Grantees will report these indicators in the required Joint Quarterly Narrative Performance

Report (see Section VIII.B. Reporting).

b. Performance Outcomes

Grantees will report employment and educational outcomes by tracking aggregated student enrollment, completion, credential attainment, and job placement from relevant programs seeking Workforce Pell eligibility.

The following indicators will be used to report Workforce Pell Eligibility progress for all awarded grants:

• Student Enrollment in Program(s) Seeking Workforce Pell Eligibility

• Student Completion Rate of Program(s) Seeking Workforce Pell Eligibility

• Job Placement Rate of Students in Program(s) Seeking Workforce Pell Eligibility

(Employment Rate – 2nd Quarter After Exit (WIOA))

• Credential Attainment (WIOA)

Applicants are not required to provide targets for these outcomes. After award, additional guidance will be provided to grantees regarding the options for collecting and reporting performance outcomes, which will require grantees to track and report individuals via the use of the Participant Individual Record Layout (PIRL) and upload into the Workforce Integrated

Performance System (WIPS), with the WIOA indicators generated by DOL using the Common

Reporting Information System (CRIS) where grantees do not have sufficient data sharing or integration with their state systems to support the necessary collection and reporting. See Section

VIII.B. Reporting of the 2026 Application Guide for more information. See also Section

IV.C.2.ii. Participant Tracking Plan.

The Department may also use CRIS to collect additional WIOA outcomes data (such as Median

Earnings – 2nd Quarter After Exit) to support ETPL data quality; this will not be used for the purposes of making eligibility determinations for Workforce Pell Grants.

For the purposes of this FOA, there is a distinction between all students enrolled in programs seeking Workforce Pell eligibility, who must be tracked in order to capture the necessary performance outcomes required for Workforce Pell eligibility, and SCC6 program participants, who may also be enrolled in programs seeking Workforce Pell eligibility but who are further served by the grant program through additional program services funded by the grant (see

III.D.a. Participant-Related Costs) and therefore may have additional reporting requirements.

Grantees are responsible for tracking these participants in more detail, including data on enrollments, program services and activities, as well as the performance outcomes listed above.

2. Project Work Plan

Applicants must present a comprehensive project work plan demonstrating a cohesive, well-designed approach to implementing the project that is realistic and measurable. Applicants must also demonstrate the capacity to manage the project and specify the role that employers will play https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/performance/cris https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/performance/cris in supporting these activities. A Suggested Project Workplan can be found in Appendix C, and an Excel version is available on the grants.gov FOA page, under Related Documents.

D. Funding Type

Funding will be provided in the form of a Grant. Throughout this FOA, all references to grants are applicable to cooperative agreements.

We expect availability of approximately $65,000,000 to fund approximately 6–10 grants.

Awards made under this Announcement are subject to the availability of federal funds. The

Department reserves the right to apply funding from the FY 2026 appropriation, up to an additional $65,000,000, to this FOA, should the Department receive sufficient qualifying applications. In the event that sufficient applications are received, we reserve the right to use such funds to select additional grantees from applications submitted in response to this

Announcement. Applicants may apply for awards ranging from $6,500,000 to $10,800,000.

Allowable Activities

A wide range of activities may assist applicants in their efforts to create and enhance career pathways that include quality curricula and credentialing. Activities must relate directly to grant objectives. That is, for costs associated with an activity to be allowable with grant funds, the grantee must undertake the activity in relation to a grant-enhanced career pathway program, and the activity must have a clear connection to one or more of the three core elements described in

Section III.B.

In general, activities related to the requirements in the core elements are allowable:

• Industry-driven strategies with demonstrated employer value, as described in Core

Element 1

• Worker mobility through career pathways programs, as described in Core Element 2

• Workforce system integration to expand training options, as described in Core Element 3

Other allowable activities that support the purposes of the FOA include:

• Data disaggregation, analysis, and application to the project.

• Professional development for faculty and/or staff.

• Activities necessary to support required evaluation(s) (see Section III.G.4. Grantee-

Contracted Third-Party Evaluation and Section VIII.A.5.a. DOL Evaluation).

• Preparing learning resources to be shared as open education resources (OER), affixing the open license to them (see Section III.G.3.), and making them publicly available for use and adaptation via a public distribution platform.

• Purchasing or upgrading classroom supplies and equipment and/or educational technologies that will contribute to the instructional purpose in education and training courses supported by the grant. Note that all equipment must be used in the classroom

(in-person or virtual), clearly tied to the competencies required for the proposed career pathways program(s) and must not be purchased without prior approval from the Grant

Officer.

• Activities necessary to align program offerings with the requirements of Workforce Pell.

Minor alterations, renovations, or rearrangements (with prior approval from the Grant

Officer), if specific to the project.

• Any additional grant requirements, such as performance reporting, credential transparency, and other requirements.

a. Participant-Related Costs

While the following costs are allowable with grant funds, the Department expects grantees to leverage existing college infrastructure, WIOA funding, Federal Perkins and Pell Grants, including Workforce Pell Grants, and other available sources to cover such participant-related costs, where feasible:

• Conducting outreach and recruitment of eligible participants.

• Implementing an initial assessment of skill levels, aptitudes, abilities, competencies, integrated participant services, supportive service, and employment needs.

• Providing job development, job search and placement assistance and, where appropriate, academic and career counseling.

• Providing case management services.

• Providing supportive services that will allow individuals to participate in and successfully complete the training provided through the grant, such as access to childcare, transportation, housing, counseling, work tools, and work clothes.

For this round of funding, costs for participant tuition and fees are not allowable with grant funds.

Wherever feasible, grantees are required to leverage existing open educational resources (OER) instead of duplicating existing open learning objects as components of their proposed programs.

See Section III.G.3 Open Educational Resources for more information.

Per the SCC appropriations language, any grant funds used for apprenticeships shall be used to support only apprenticeship programs registered under the National Apprenticeship Act and as referred to in section 3(7)(B) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.

Applicants should refer to Section VIII.A. of the FOA for a list of applicable federal laws and regulations related to cost principles, administrative, and other requirements that apply to this

Announcement.

b. Equipment and Minor Alterations

Expenditures for equipment and minor alterations, renovations, or rearrangements, if specific to the project, are allowable with prior written approval from the Grant Officer. Minor alterations, renovations, or rearrangements may include activities and associated costs such as relocating, modifying, replacing, or adding items (such as switches and outlets) related to internal environments (temperature, humidity, ventilation, and acoustics), and installation of fixed equipment (including fume hoods and audio/visual equipment).

The award of a grant under this FOA does not constitute prior approval of equipment or minor alterations. After grant awards are made, grantees will be required to obtain specific Grant

Officer approval before acquiring equipment or proceeding with proposed alteration of facilities.

The Grant Officer must determine that all proposed equipment and/or alterations are (1) allocable, necessary, and reasonable; (2) tied to specific grant-related deliverables and outcomes outlined in the grantee’s statement of work (SOW) (including capacity-building and/or training outcomes); and (3) consistent with the FOA. In their budget narrative, applicants proposing to spend grant funds on alterations as outlined in the SOW and budget narrative must demonstrate how these expenditures will support the expansion and improvement of the education and training programs that are the focus of their proposed project.

Total costs to the grant of all equipment purchased cannot exceed 20 percent of the total grant award. Equipment purchased with grant funds must be installed and ready to use no later than 24 months from the start of the period of performance. Total costs to the grant of all alterations cannot exceed 15 percent of the total grant award. All grant-funded activities related to alterations must be completed no later than 24 months from the start of the period of performance.

E. Eligible Participants

Participants eligible to receive services provided through this program represent three primary categories that are named in the appropriation: new entrants to the workforce or who have been out of the workforce for a long enough time as though they are entering the workforce for the first time, dislocated workers, and employed workers. We note that the categories are broad enough to encompass participants who would be eligible for Workforce Pell.

For the purposes of this FOA, these categories are defined as follows:

Dislocated Workers: People who were terminated or laid off from employment; have received a notice of termination or layoff from employment; or were self-employed but are now unemployed.

Employed Workers: For the purposes of this FOA, this term refers to individuals who are employed but need training to secure full-time employment, advance in their careers, or attain employment in higher-wage occupations. This includes low-wage and medium-wage workers who need to upgrade their skills to advance in their careers, and workers who are currently working part-time.

New Entrants to the Workforce: People who have never worked before. This category also includes people who have been out of the workforce for a long enough time to make it as if they are entering the workforce for the first time. For example, this may include, but is not limited to, long-term unemployed or ex-offenders. Youth who are enrolled in their junior or senior year of high school and who could be employed no later than six months after the end of the grant lifecycle, and youth who have dropped out of school and are seeking their first full-time job are also eligible, consistent with Federal and state wage and employment laws.

These broad categories of eligible participants include within them low-income individuals, ex-offenders, and individuals with disabilities, among others.

For a complete understanding of application definitions, see the 2026 Application Guide, Section

III.G Definitions.

Veterans' Priority for Participants https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/grants/2026%20PDFs/2026%20Application%20Guide%20for%20Funding%20Opportunity%20Annoucements.pdf

38 U.S.C. 4215 requires DOL grantees to provide priority of service to veterans and spouses of certain veterans for employment, training, and placement services in any job training program directly funded, in whole or in part, by DOL.

For a complete understanding of this application requirement, see the 2026 Application Guide, Section III.E Veterans’ Priority for Participants.

F. Program Authority

Section 169(c) of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) authorizes this program. The funds for this grant program are appropriated in Titles I and IX of Pub. L. 119-4, Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, March 15, 2025.

For a complete understanding of this application requirement, see the 2026 Application Guide, Section VIII.G Definitions.

G. Funding Restrictions, Policies and Limitations

All proposed project costs must be necessary and reasonable and in accordance with federal guidelines.

For a complete understanding of this application requirement, see the 2026 Application Guide, Section III.H Funding Restrictions, Policies and Limitations.

1. Target Sectors and Occupations

When selecting the career pathway(s) to be built or enhanced with grant funding, applicants must focus on those critical occupations that provide short-term, Workforce Pell-eligible training to workers in in-demand industries, such as—but not limited to—AI infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, nuclear energy, domestic mineral production, information technology including

AI, and shipbuilding.

Applicants must demonstrate that the industry sectors that they select align with the skills and needs of their proposed labor market area(s) by providing labor market information as described in…