Hawaii Workforce Pell

Where Hawaii stands on Workforce Pell

Status

In progress: lead agency named or governor action on record; guidance still pending (the Record’s definition).

Phase

Working Group; Nov 12 Agenda Lists a Status Report, No Action Item

Lead agency

DLIR Workforce Development Division / Workforce Development Council (with DOE, UH, and UH Community Colleges)

Current holdup

DLIR / WDC

The September 10 board meeting was held and the posted minutes confirm Workforce Pell appeared only in the Executive Director's report, as "progress on Workforce Pell implementation with an anticipated first disbursement in August-September 2027," with no board vote on policy or criteria; the November 12 quarterly meeting agenda, filed November 4, lists Workforce Pell as item VIII, a staff status report on implementation and timeline (including a new Workforce Pell Accelerator Cohort) without the "Requires Board Action" marker the agenda puts on its four action items, so the Council approval of policy and criteria that the working group had targeted for November 12 is not on the agenda; the Executive Director's report names preparation for Workforce Pell implementation as a first-quarter 2027 focus, and the next quarterly meeting is tentatively February 18, 2027; the meeting packet, filed November 5, carries the item as a single title slide, and the Executive Director's first-quarter 2027 slide lists "Workforce Pell Grant: Board Approval of the Programs to be funded by Workforce Pell" under governance and program implementation, the first dated target for Council program approvals

What the record documents

SB 3282 and companion HB 2383, which would have created a Workforce Pell approval committee in statute, died at the May 8 sine die (DLIR testified against the bill's structure and its UI data-sharing provision). Implementation is proceeding administratively: the WDC's May 21, 2026 board materials state that the Governor, in coordination with the Council, will be responsible for establishing the approval framework and approving or denying program applications, and list Workforce Pell working-group deliberations and an Eligible Training Provider List task force among 2026 Q2-Q3 priorities, with DLIR, DOE, UH, and UH Community Colleges participating under National Governors Association guidance. The Council's August 3, 2026 Synergy Summit board agenda and packet carry no Workforce Pell text. On September 4, 2026 the WDC posted the agenda and 183-page packet for its September 10 board meeting: no Workforce Pell item requires board action, the Executive Director's report lists the "Status of the Workforce Pell Grant working group" and names Workforce Pell first among fourth-quarter priorities, and the report's policy-readiness slide states that the "working group arrived at a consensus as a Goal: first disbursement will be in August 2027" and that the "Council will need to approve policy and criteria by November Board meeting." The packet also carries the February 18, 2026 minutes, which record the board ratifying a resolution "Establishing the State Planning and Implementation Framework for the Federal Workforce Pell Grant Program" as an interim step before the final rule: the working group sets criteria, the University of Hawaii audits existing programs for initial vetting, the State Board certifies eligible programs for the Governor and the U.S. Secretary of Education, certification is ongoing with recertification every two years, and the program "would not be administered by the Workforce Development Council, but rather by the University of Hawaii," whose staff said they "do not anticipate many courses will meet the required thresholds"; the May 21 minutes add that UH Community Colleges had identified three initial programs that may qualify and that a special meeting to approve policy and criteria might be needed in late July or August, which the meetings page shows did not occur. The September 10 meeting's posted minutes confirm the item stayed informational: Executive Director Misalucha reported "progress on Workforce Pell implementation with an anticipated first disbursement in August-September 2027" alongside ETPL modernization work with UH, and the board took no Workforce Pell action, leaving the policy-and-criteria approval to the next quarterly meeting, November 12, 2026 (9:30 am to noon). The November 12 agenda, filed November 4, schedules item VIII, "Status Report on Workforce Pell Implementation and Timeline," a staff update covering "the new Workforce Pell Accelerator Cohort, federal timelines, anticipated requirements, and potential implications" for the state's workforce and postsecondary training systems; the item is not marked "Requires Board Action," as items II, V, VI, and VII are, so no approval of policy or criteria is scheduled. The Executive Director's report lists the Workforce Pell Grant working group among fourth-quarter activities and "Preparation for the implementation of the Workforce Pell Grant" as a first-quarter 2027 focus; the next quarterly meeting is tentatively February 18, 2027. The full meeting packet, posted November 5, adds no Workforce Pell detail to item VIII, which appears as a single title slide; its Executive Director's report slides list a Workforce Pell Grant working group that "Started with WP Accelerator Cohort" and, under the first-quarter 2027 focus on governance and program implementation, "Workforce Pell Grant: Board Approval of the Programs to be funded by Workforce Pell," alongside an Eligible Training Provider platform launch on January 1, 2027. Nov 12 agenda, Source

Verified against the sources on November 6, 2026.

Eligible occupations in Hawaii

The State Approval Comparison, which compares every published state eligible-occupation framework (27 so far), does not include a Hawaii list as of November 6, 2026.

Approved Workforce Pell programs in Hawaii

No Hawaii program appears in the Record’s approved-programs table (U.S. Department of Education announcements and state rosters of federally approved programs) as of November 5, 2026.

Sources

Every primary source the record cites for Hawaii, last checked November 6, 2026.

• agenda (labor.hawaii.gov)
• packet (labor.hawaii.gov)
• meetings page (labor.hawaii.gov)
• minutes (labor.hawaii.gov)
• meeting packet (labor.hawaii.gov)
• Nov 12 agenda (labor.hawaii.gov)
• Source (calendar.ehawaii.gov)