Minnesota Workforce Pell
Live: Window Closed Aug 15; Review Underway. Last documented action: Jul 2026.
Drawn from Minnesota’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 Minnesota 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 Closed Aug 15; Review Underway
- Lead agency
- Office of Higher Education (with GWDB and DEED)
- Current holdup
- OHE / GWDB / DEED
- Provider application deadline (extended to 12:00 pm Aug 15) has passed with no post-window announcement; completeness review, Workforce Pell Review Committee evaluation, recommendation to the Governor's Office, then ED submission
- State portal
- ohe.mn.gov
What the record documents
After the draft public comment closed May 7, 2026, the interagency workgroup finalized the Program Determination Policy and the Office of Higher Education opened a secure data portal June 1. The provider deadline, originally 12:00 pm on June 30, 2026, was extended: as of July 10 the OHE page states providers must submit the application and all required documentation by 12:00 pm on August 15, 2026. No announcement accompanied the change; the extension is documented by the page text itself against its June 30 archived copy. Next steps per OHE are completeness review, Workforce Pell Review Committee evaluation, and recommendation to the Governor's Office for certification and ED submission; OHE will publish the certified-program list within 30 days after final ED approval. Programs must align with the 2026-27 Priority Occupations List (21 occupations drawn from DEED), and tuition must be below three-year Value-Added Earnings. Source
Verified against the sources on November 6, 2026.
Key dates for Minnesota
From the Record’s key-dates panel, recent milestones and upcoming deadlines.
| When | Date | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Recent | May 7 | Minnesota public comment window closed |
| Recent | Jun 1 | Minnesota provider application portal opened (due Jun 30) |
| Recent | Jun 17 | Minnesota held its institution webinar ahead of the June 30 provider deadline |
| Recent | Jun 30 | Minnesota provider window closed (noon) |
| Recent | Aug 15 | Minnesota's extended application window closed |
Eligible occupations in Minnesota
Minnesota has 21 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)
- None yet
- List philosophy
- Tight, targeted
- High-wage definition
- Regional family-sustaining wage (MN Cost-of-Living Tool, 3-person household)
- Skill and demand logic
- (10-yr growth AND family-sustaining wage) OR Drive-for-5 priority sector
- Lead and approver
- GWDB sets criteria, OHE administers, DEED data, Governor certifies
- List refresh
- At least biennial
Approved Workforce Pell programs in Minnesota
No Minnesota 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 Minnesota, last checked November 6, 2026.
- State Workforce Pell portal (ohe.mn.gov)
- Program Determination Policy (ohe.mn.gov)
- 2026-27 Priority Occupations List (ohe.mn.gov)
- Minnesota 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: North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin.