Workforce Pell falls short of early hopes in Arizona || AZCIR

 

View this email in your browser Support independent, nonprofit Arizona journalism Share Share Forward EDUCATION Arizona community colleges lower expectations for Workforce Pell as state approves first programs Last summer, Congress expanded Pell grants—the country’s largest source of federal aid for college students—to cover short-term workforce programs for the first time. The change promised to make career training more affordable while helping employers fill high-demand jobs. Arizona community colleges and trade schools saw plenty of potential. They initially told the state that more than 60 programs, from welding to healthcare, could be ready for the new Workforce Pell initiative as soon as this academic year. But the timeline was tight. The U.S. Education Department didn’t release final rules until May, less than two months before schools could begin seeking federal approval, and states had to establish their own processes for deciding which programs could move forward. As schools worked through a series of strict federal requirements, administrators began to question how many students Workforce Pell could truly reach. By the state’s August deadline, colleges and trade schools had submitted just nine programs for approval, AZCIR’s Molly Bohannon found. Of those, only three are set to advance to the federal Education Department. “The whole program just has not hit the mark to really make a difference in our community,” one Pima Community College administrator said of Workforce Pell. READ THE FULL STORY This story from Molly marks the beginning of a new partnership between AZCIR and Open Campus, a nonprofit news organization focused on higher education. AZCIR is one of several newsrooms participating in Open Campus’ community college investigation project, which seeks to expand reporting of this vastly undercovered sector of higher education. Community colleges play a critical role in shaping Arizona’s workforce and provide an affordable path for thousands of students. We want to report on them in a meaningful way, and we want your help. Reach out to molly.bohannon@azcir.org with story ideas or thoughts on what we should be digging into further. DONATE As always, thank you for supporting our newsroom and making reporting like this possible. Cheers, Brandon Quester Executive Director and Editor Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting