Texas Workforce Pell

Where Texas 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

Nine ED-Approved Programs; Second Application Period Open Nov 2 to Dec 11

Lead agency

Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (with TWC and TWIC)

Current holdup

ED

ED approved six Texas programs September 22, making Texas the fourth state with announced federal approvals: Electrical Power Lineman, Phlebotomy Technician, and Pharmacy Technician at Kilgore College and HVAC, Basic Machining, and Advanced Machining at Weatherford College, with eligible students able to use Pell funds now; Governor Abbott's quote in the ED release confirms governor certification of these six; THECB's roster, modified October 2, now lists nine federally approved programs at five colleges, adding Pharmacy Technician at Central Texas College, Structural Welding (SMAW) at Texas Southmost College, and Phlebotomy Technician at San Jacinto College, with no ED release names the three additions, but Governor Abbott's October 2 announcement confirms all five colleges earned ED approval for the nine programs and adds a $10.4 million DOL grant to an Alamo Colleges District-led consortium to expand Workforce Pell-eligible programs; THECB's October 19 memo to chancellors and presidents announces that the next application period opens November 2, 2026, with an optional office-hours session October 30, and on November 2 the THECB page reads Accepting Applications with an application deadline of December 11, 2026, matching the close date in the TWIC briefing handout, while the federally approved roster holds at nine programs at five colleges

State portal

www.highered.texas.gov

What the record documents

THECB published the Workforce Pell Grant Program guidance and opened the institutional Eligibility Certification Form via Qualtrics, with a two-step submission (eligibility certification plus program and student data). The submission window closed June 19, 2026 (extended from June 5), and on July 24, 2026 Governor Abbott announced Texas is extending the application period; the extended window carried a posted deadline of September 1, 2026, and as of September 2 the portal is marked Application Closed, with the page noting that federal guidance for Workforce Pell approvals is in development. Submitted programs continue through THECB review, Texas Workforce Investment Council input, and the recommended list to Governor Abbott for final certification and ED submission. The portal notes THECB certification is not final approval: final certification and approval come from the governor and the U.S. Department of Education. Per THECB, institutions had submitted more than 60 programs as of late July (many in health care, advanced manufacturing, transportation, and information technology, per a THECB spokesperson to El Paso Matters), and the first state-level certifications have been reported: the Weatherford Democrat reports THECB notified Weatherford College on July 23, 2026 that its HVAC, Basic Machining, and Advanced Machining programs meet state certification requirements, with the college then starting its federal submission; El Paso Community College reports two programs (phlebotomy and certified nursing assistant) submitted and awaiting decisions, and the San Antonio Report (August 15) reports THECB has state-certified Alamo Colleges' commercial driver's license program, which now awaits ED action. THECB posts no certified-program list. TWIC's posted schedule lists its remaining 2026 meetings as September 11 and December 4, so formal council action at a public meeting would land September 11 at the earliest, though TWIC input need not occur at one. The Texas Workforce Investment Council's September 11 briefing book (posted September 2) carries item II.6, "Update on the Workforce Pell Grant," as a briefing rather than an action: the THECB memo states that "THECB closed the application period on September 1" and that applications "must be reviewed and approved by OOG and the U.S. Department of Education," and the attached THECB handout publishes the next application submission cycles, November 2 to December 11, 2026 and June 1 to 30, 2027, alongside the screen (25 qualifying occupations, 362 eligible programs of study, median wage above $47,499, at least 400 projected jobs over 10 years, 70 percent completion and 70 percent employment within 180 days); no submission count appears in the book. Eligibility runs against the TWC statewide Target Occupations List: THECB's published WPG Eligible Occupations and Programs crosswalk maps 25 eligible occupations to roughly 363 CIP program codes (the September TWIC handout says 362 eligible programs of study). Governor Abbott separately announced ~$17M in state short-term training grants (TRUE/TIME). On September 22, 2026 ED approved Texas's first six programs, making Texas the fourth state with announced federal approvals: Electrical Power Lineman, Phlebotomy Technician, and Pharmacy Technician at Kilgore College and HVAC, Basic Machining, and Advanced Machining at Weatherford College, with eligible students able to use Pell funds now; Governor Abbott's quote in the ED release confirms governor certification of the six, Weatherford's approval matches its July 23 state certification, and the Alamo Colleges commercial driving program reported state-certified in August is not among them; THECB still posts no certified-program list; its events calendar lists the next quarterly Coordinating Board meeting for November 16, 2026 (agenda not yet posted), with October 21 showing only a Program of Study Advisory Committee meeting. The portal page now publishes a "Federally Approved Workforce Pell Programs in Texas" roster, and on October 2, 2026 (the page's modification date) it lists nine programs at five colleges: the six ED-announced programs plus Pharmacy Technician at Central Texas College, Structural Welding (SMAW) at Texas Southmost College, and Phlebotomy Technician at San Jacinto College; no ED announcement accompanies the three additions, so the THECB roster is the documenting source. On the same day Governor Abbott announced that the five colleges "earned approval from the U.S. Department of Education (ED)" to offer Workforce Pell for the nine short-term programs, listing all nine (the release titles three programs differently from the roster: "Electric Power Technology (KCEPT)" for Kilgore's lineman program, "HVAC - Basic", and "CNC Machining Advanced"); the announcement is the first executive-branch confirmation that the three roster-only programs at Central Texas College, San Jacinto College, and Texas Southmost College are federally approved, though ED has still published no release naming them. The same release announced a $10.4 million U.S. Department of Labor grant to a consortium of Texas community colleges led by the Alamo Colleges District, with Northwest Vista College leading the effort alongside TACC and the Ray Marshall Center, a four-year initiative to create and expand Workforce Pell-eligible programs that is expected to serve 22,000 students (governor's release). On October 19, 2026 Deputy Commissioner David Troutman's memo to the chancellors, presidents, and chief instructional officers of public technical institutions and community colleges announced that the Workforce Pell application period will open November 2, 2026, pointed applicants to the program guidelines, and scheduled an optional office-hours session for October 30 at 11:00 am Central, with questions to WorkforcePellTexas@highered.texas.gov; the memo gives no closing date, and the THECB page read Application Closed through October 30 (THECB memo). On November 2, 2026 the THECB page reads Accepting Applications for the second application period, with an application deadline of December 11, 2026 and the Qualtrics program eligibility application and data workbook linked; the Federally Approved Workforce Pell Programs in Texas roster is unchanged at nine programs at five colleges. Source, San Antonio Report, extension release

Verified against the sources on November 6, 2026.

Eligible occupations in Texas

Texas has 25 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 occupation list (drawn from TWC), crosswalked to programs

High-wage definition

High-wage per TWC methodology (regional)

Skill and demand logic

Align to TWC statewide Target Occupations List

Lead and approver

THECB + TWC + TWIC, then Governor and ED

List refresh

TWC cycle

Sources

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

• State Workforce Pell portal (www.highered.texas.gov)
• September 11 briefing book (gov.texas.gov)
• WPG Eligible Occupations and Programs (reportcenter.highered.texas.gov)
• ED release (www.ed.gov)
• governor's release (gov.texas.gov)
• THECB memo (reportcenter.highered.texas.gov)
• San Antonio Report (sanantonioreport.org)
• extension release (gov.texas.gov)
• State Workforce Pell policy (State Approval Comparison source) (www.highered.texas.gov)
• Weatherford College: wc.edu (wc.edu)
• Kilgore College: kilgore.edu (www.kilgore.edu)
• Weatherford College: wc.edu (wc.edu)
• Kilgore College: kilgore.edu (www.kilgore.edu)
• Central Texas College: ctcd.edu (www.ctcd.edu)
• San Jacinto College: sanjac.edu (www.sanjac.edu)
• Texas Southmost College: tsc.edu (www.tsc.edu)