Michigan Workforce Pell
Live: Window 1: 37 of 42 Conditionally Approved Jun 22; LEO Says Letters Issued by August, List Unposted. Last documented action: Jun 22, 2026.
Drawn from Michigan’s row in the Workforce Pell State Implementation Record, which tracks all 52 jurisdictions from primary sources: state agency pages, board minutes, statutes and U.S. Department of Education releases.
Where Michigan stands on Workforce Pell
- Status
- Live: an operational approval process underway, an open application window, a pilot cohort accepting programs, or an eligible-program list being finalized and submitted to ED (the Record’s definition).
- Phase
- Window 1: 37 of 42 Conditionally Approved Jun 22; LEO Says Letters Issued by August, List Unposted
- Lead agency
- MiLEAP / LEO (with Michigan Workforce Development Board)
- Current holdup
- MiLEAP / LEO
- The Michigan Workforce Development Board voted June 22 to conditionally approve 37 of the 42 Window 1 applications, contingent on participant outcome data uploaded via MiTC July 1 to August 1 showing 70 percent completion and placement; approval or denial letters were due by August 2026, and by October 30 the LEO page states in the past tense that the state reviewed all Window 1 applications and provided institutions that submitted complete applications with letters of approval or denial by August 2026, while still posting no approved list or program names and no September or October board meeting notice; Window 2 runs January 15 to February 12, 2027 (letters by April 1, 2027)
- State portal
- www.michigan.gov
What the record documents
Michigan LEO published its 2026-27 Program Determination Policies and ran institutional applications via Michigan Training Connect (MiTC); the first window closed June 15, 2026, with approval or denial letters expected by August 2026. The LEO page now also posts a student-data upload requirement for Window 1 programs (July 1 to August 1, 2026 via MiTC) and a second application window, January 15 to February 12, 2027, with letters by April 1, 2027. Eligibility runs against the state's 2026-27 Eligible Occupations list, 267 occupations filtered to non-degree entry. Lead is shared between MiLEAP, LEO, and the Michigan Workforce Development Board. Contact: MiLEAP-WFPell@michigan.gov. Window 2 runs January 15 to February 12, 2027 with letters by April 1, 2027; Window 1 programs must upload participant outcome data to MiTC between July 1 and August 1, 2026 to be approved. The state board's draft minutes for its June 22, 2026 quarterly meeting (posted July 6) give the first-window figures: "Michigan received 42 program applications for Workforce Pell in the first application cycle," the interagency implementation team recommended 37 for conditional approval (the others "required modifications to meet federal eligibility requirements"), and the board "voted and unanimously approved" a motion "to grant conditional approval to the 37 recommended Workforce Pell programs, contingent on submission of participant data that demonstrates required completion and job placement rates," with the outcome data reviewed "during the July 2026 Eligible Training Provider List (ETPL) system data analysis window." The minutes also record that many recommended programs that did not meet the high-wage criteria are healthcare programs, and the chair asked the working group to examine an interim wage floor for future years; the board's next meeting was described as September, with no notice posted, and no program names have been published. Between its September 17 capture and October 30, 2026 the LEO page moved its Window 1 sentence to the past tense: the state "reviewed all Workforce Pell program applications submitted before June 15, 2026, and provided institutions that submitted complete applications with letters of approval or denial by August 2026," the first state statement that the letters went out, with no approved list, program names, or count of final approvals posted and the board meetings page still ending at the June 22 draft minutes. Source
Verified against the sources on November 6, 2026.
Key dates for Michigan
From the Record’s key-dates panel, recent milestones and upcoming deadlines.
| When | Date | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Recent | May 11 | Michigan LEO program-determination policy published; institution applications open |
| Recent | Jun 15 | Michigan first-cycle institutional submission deadline closed |
| Recent | Aug 31 | August ended with Michigan's first-cycle letters, Maryland's first quarterly determinations, and Washington's Aug 26 board-vote outcome all unposted |
| Recent | Sep 30 | Michigan's September came and went with no posted board meeting and Window 1 letters still unconfirmed |
| Upcoming | Jan 2027 | Michigan second application window opens Jan 15 (through Feb 12 |
Eligible occupations in Michigan
Michigan has 267 occupations on the state’s eligible-occupation list. Open the state’s list. Its list design, side by side with the other published frameworks, is in the State Approval Comparison.
- Approved programs (state / federal)
- 37 conditional, of 42 submitted (state board, Jun 22; letters unposted)
- List philosophy
- Broad list
- High-wage definition
- At or above median annual wage
- Skill and demand logic
- "One or more of" the three (OR)
- Lead and approver
- MiLEAP / LEO; Governor's Workforce Development Board approves
- List refresh
- Not stated
Approved Workforce Pell programs in Michigan
No Michigan 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 Michigan, last checked November 6, 2026.
- State Workforce Pell portal (www.michigan.gov)
- 2026-27 Program Determination Policies (www.michigan.gov)
- 2026-27 Eligible Occupations list (www.michigan.gov)
- draft minutes (www.michigan.gov)
- Michigan in the State Implementation Record: the national record of all 52 jurisdictions, with this row in context.
- State Approval Comparison: how each state defines eligible programs and occupations.
- Workforce Pell for Students: approved programs, costs and how to apply.
- Workforce Pell by state: every jurisdiction’s page.
- Nearby states: Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin.