Pell Grant expanded to include short-term programs for work force

Valley residents looking into technical school, short-term training and in-demand job programs will soon be able to receive federal financial aid with the expansion of Pell Grants with Workforce Pell next summer.

The expansion of Pell Grant eligibility is part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. U.S Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, visited Texas State Technical College in Harlingen on Sept. 25 to discuss financial aid where more than 60% of students receive Pell Grants.

“Fortunately, Congress was able through the One Big Beautiful Bill to expand the Pell Grant, which is a basic building block of student aid for colleges and universities to various technical and trade-related skills,” Cornyn said. “And what we’ve heard here is you can complete in maybe a year or less, or longer, if you choose, a course of training that will choose a position to earn a good, middle class standard of living.”

Pell Grants are the main form of federal aid for low-income students and before the bill, they could only be used for programs that are at least 600 hours and 15 weeks long.

The Workforce Pell portion goes into effect on July 1, 2026 and opens up Pell Grant aid to students enrolled in short-term and career-focused programs which could be in health care, IT, skilled trades and other growing fields where the industry needs trained individuals.

Programs eligible for the Workforce Pell must be between 150 and 599 hours and between 8 and 15 weeks long.

Tony Comstock, Ancora Education’s vice president of Student Funding Solutions, the parent company of South Texas Vocational Technical Institute (STVT), said the Pell Grant expansion will open up doors for low-income individuals to get into high-demand jobs or advance their career through certificates.

STVT has campuses across the state and in McAllen, Weslaco and Brownsville.

Comstock said the CDL classes at the McAllen location would benefit the most from the expansion of Pell Grants.

“Our night classes currently runs eight weeks and it’s about 160 hours, so it’s more than enough to meet the requirements,” he said. “Students being able to take advantage of that CDL program with the Pell Grant … instead of having to take out a loan to cover the cost of tuition which right now is $3,500, they’ll be able to apply that Pell Grant towards that program.”

Comstock said he sees an increase in enrollment at STVT and just in general for programs that meet the requirements next year.

“The big thing with the Workforce Pell Grant is that they’re looking to be able to train workers for high skill, high wage and in demand occupancies,” he said. “So it’s needs by the community that we need to be able to get people into these jobs, and by being able to do this in a quicker fashion with less debt, is going to really motivate individuals to want to pursue those programs.”

The post Pell Grant expanded to include short-term programs for work force appeared first on MyRGV.com.