Students at five Texas community colleges received approval from the U.S. Department of Education to use new Workforce Pell grants for short-term job training. This marks the first time low-income Texas students can use federal Pell grant money for workforce training programs as short as eight weeks.
Where
Statewide
When
Oct. 13, 2026
Sources
Reported by 2 outlets
Taxes and money
None stated in sources.
Who's involved
U.S. Department of EducationApproved Workforce Pell for the colleges
Kilgore CollegeCommunity college with approved Workforce Pell programs
Weatherford CollegeCommunity college with approved Workforce Pell programs
Central Texas CollegeCommunity college with approved Workforce Pell programs
Texas Southmost CollegeCommunity college with approved Workforce Pell programs
San Jacinto CollegeCommunity college with approved Workforce Pell programs
Tod Allen FarmerPresident of Weatherford College
The facts
Students at five Texas community colleges can now use Workforce Pell grants for job training.12Stated by 2 sources
Kilgore College students can use the grants for training as electrical power linemen, phlebotomy technicians or pharmacy technicians.12Stated by 2 sources
Weatherford College students can apply grants toward HVAC, basic machining, and advanced machining training.12Stated by 2 sources
Central Texas, Texas Southmost, and San Jacinto colleges offer programs in pharmacy technicians, structural welding and phlebotomy technicians.12Stated by 2 sources
Workforce programs must be in high-demand, high-wage fields with at least 70% completion and 70% job placement within six months.12Stated by 2 sources
President Trump's budget bill expanded Pell Grants to cover short-term workforce training programs as short as eight weeks.12Stated by 2 sources
Pell Grants typically go to families making roughly less than $50,000 per year and do not require repayment.12Stated by 2 sources
Federal officials will continue approving more schools for Workforce Pell on a rolling basis.12Stated by 2 sources
Who said what
These are statements and claims made by the people involved. They are reported, not verified.
Tod Allen Farmer, President of Weatherford College Workforce Pell is a win for the state's economy, allowing new access to higher education.12
Tod Allen Farmer, President of Weatherford College Weatherford programs eligible for Pell dollars will soon grow.12
How they headlined it
The same event, as each outlet put it. Marked words appear in only one outlet's headline.
Some Texas colleges get OK for new Workforce Pell that pays for job training
These outlets were found through Google News headlines. Google decides which outlets appear there, and they lean mostly one way, so this sheet can only be as balanced as the reporting it was built from. Leanings are AllSides Media Bias Ratings.
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