About

What is Workforce Pell?

Workforce Pell lets students use a Pell Grant to pay for short job-training programs. It's new. The program starts July 1, 2026. Until now, Pell only paid for college degree programs.

What programs qualify?

To qualify, a program has to:

• Run between 150 and 599 hours of instruction, over 8–14 weeks
• Have at least 70% of students finish and 70% get jobs
• Have graduates earn at least $23,475 three years out (1.5× the federal poverty line)
• Have existed for at least 1 year and award a recognized credential
• Be offered by a school that already takes federal student aid

How does the earnings test work?

The state checks it itself, using its own records of what graduates earn three years out. Schools don't need to provide the data, but they do need to make sure their graduates show up correctly in the state's system.

Why does the state matter?

Each state names an agency to approve programs. Programs have to match a job that's actually in demand in that state. So truck driving in Florida might qualify; the same program in another state might not.

What does this tool do?

The federal rules are the same everywhere. The state lists aren't. We give you both, with a scorecard you can forward.

Who made this tool?

WhereWeGo Labs is the experimentation arm of WhereWeGo. It ships small, free, public tools when three things line up: someone asked for it, it could help workers, learners, or the workforce ecosystem, and we can build and deploy a lightweight version within 30 days.

The Workforce Pell Navigator met all three. It launched in May 2026, six weeks before Workforce Pell takes effect.

About the maker

Leah Lykins co-founded WhereWeGo in 2018 to build clear, worker-first tools that make career decisions easier. She spent a decade in New Orleans public schools, first as an environmental science teacher and then as director of teaching and learning, coaching teachers across every major subject on career and college readiness. Her work blends deep user research with behavioral science to design technology that meets people where they are, lowers cognitive load, and sparks agency.

Based on rule version proposed-2026-03. The federal rule may change before July 1, 2026. We'll update this site when it does.