Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) this month again reintroduced bipartisan legislation to allow Pell grants to be used for certain short-term, high-quality workforce development programs.
Kaine, along with Sens. Tina Smith (D-Minnesota), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), on February 4 filed the the Jumpstart Our Businesses by Supporting Students (JOBS) Act of 2025 (S. 383). It would allow Pell Grants to be used for high-quality job training programs that are at least eight weeks in length and lead to industry-recognized credentials or certificates. Currently, Pell grants are not available to postsecondary career and technical education students in short-term certificate programs less than 600 clock hours (approximately 16 semester hours) over 15 weeks.
The JOBS Act, which is supported by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and a growing list of other education and business advocacy organizations, has been a long priority for Kaine, who serves on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
“By expanding Pell Grant eligibility, the JOBS Act would help close the skills gap by allowing people to access job training they might otherwise be unable to afford but need for careers in high-demand fields,” Kaine said in a release.
Advocates for short-term Pell (also known as Workforce Pell) note that the new chairs of the House and Senate committees that oversee workforce education programs — Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) of the HELP Committee and Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Michigan) of the House Education and the Workforce Committee — and have previously supported bills to expand Pell to certain short-term programs, so they are hopeful legislation can get through this Congress.
Ask your senators to support the JOBS Act. (Form courtesy of the Association of Career and Technical Education)
Support for Workforce Pell has been gradually growing in Congress. A bipartisan House bill — the Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act (H.R. 6586) — made it out of committee in late 2023 but congressional leaders dropped a scheduled House floor vote last year. Opponents of the bill objected that it would include for-profit institutions, and some in the higher education community balked because it would apply risk-sharing to certain institutions with the largest per-student endowments in order to cover the cost of expanding Pell.
AACC noted that community colleges already offer hundreds of these programs in healthcare, IT, transportation, construction, management and other areas. However, cost remains a significant barrier for many potential students.
In support of the reintroduced JOBS Act, Sen. Tina Smith noted that some of the most in-demand jobs don’t require a four-year college degree but rather shorter-term training.
“People like welders, machine operators and medical technicians. We need to make it easier to get people into these career fields, and letting students use Pell Grants to make it happen just makes sense,” Smith said.
Critics of Workforce Pell argue that the jobs available for completers of short-term programs are usually on the lower end of the pay scale. Proponents counter that it is a crucial step for many adults, especially for those with families, because it can serve as an entry point to jobs that may develop into more education and training and better-paying careers.
“These short-term programs allow them to advance their education and skills to work with their life situation of working and caring for children and other dependents,” noted a summary of the 2025 JOBS Act. “Without such programs, many of these students cannot devote the four-plus years that many part-time students must spend to get an associate degree or 6 plus years to earn a four-year degree.”
