Following a decade-long effort, federal funding for learners to attend short-term workforce training programs became law this summer. But the creation of Workforce Pell grants is not the end of a long journey for policymakers. It’s just the beginning.
With the clock ticking toward July 1, 2026 — the date when learners can begin using Workforce Pell grants — the process of compliance and alignment appears daunting. State leaders now face the challenge of ensuring that short-term workforce programs meet employer needs and rigorous new federal eligibility criteria, align with in-demand industry requirements, lead to stackable and portable credentials that employers recognize, and provide real economic opportunity for their residents.
In addition, the new federal law requires eligible programs to demonstrate both a 70% completion and verified job placement rate and meet a new value-added earnings metric.
Many states already face an immense challenge in identifying these programs. Recent reports reveal that degree programs do not always deliver on their promise of upward economic mobility. It’s probable that many short-term training programs lead to similar financial and employment dead-ends.
As states grapple with definitions of quality, demand and skills, there is a state they can look for guidance: Alabama.
Building a foundation
Alabama’s innovative model identifies industry-verified and portable credentials that are rooted in core competencies and essential to securing a good job. Starting in 2018, Alabama set its sights on adding 500,000 highly-skilled individuals to the state’s workforce by 2025. To oversee the statewide credential ecosystem, the state formed the Alabama Committee on Credentialing and Career Pathways (ACCCP), whose members included state leaders from education, business, and multiple government agencies.
ACCCP started by creating a data-driven system for identifying in-demand occupations. To do this heavy lifting, it formed 16 separate committees representing each of the state’s key industrial sectors. These groups identified and developed competency models for in-demand occupations in seven regions and statewide, established criteria for non-degree credentials, aligned resources and drove the common purpose of serving Alabama residents and employers.
The resulting list of in-demand occupations — based on high wage potential, positive growth, availability, development opportunities and other criteria — forms the foundation of Alabama’s competency-driven ecosystem.
This initiative led to the creation of competency-based assessments, stackable credentials and a transparent registry of more than 1,700 credentials of value. Included in this registry — something that gives Alabama a leg up with the advent of Workforce Pell — are quality non-degree credentials that lead to substantial job opportunities and significantly higher incomes. The registry notes credentials that can be stacked toward additional education or training. Binding this work is the Alabama Talent Triad, a public-private partnership that connects job seekers, employers and education providers in a skills-based talent marketplace.
What other states can learn
So how can states emulate Alabama’s work? The key to Alabama’s innovative approach was starting with occupations, then working backward to find the specific skills employers are seeking.
After identifying high-demand jobs, ACCCP pinpointed the precise competencies required to secure these roles. Then the group went back to community colleges, K-12 schools, and other education and training providers to determine which training programs provided these skills and assessed students on whether they had mastered specific skills before they received a credential.
At the same time, ACCCP evaluated the increased earning potential of each program. Only programs that led to significant wage jumps would garner state investment.
A regional context
Crucially, Alabama considers a regional context for identifying high-quality credentials and their corresponding in-demand occupations. Machinists, for instance, all possess essentially the same skills. But as Alabama’s employers pointed out, machinists must possess a different subset of skills depending on where they live. Machinists in northern Alabama are building rockets and helicopters. In southern Alabama, they’re repairing machines aboard ships and oil rigs. In the central part of the state, they’re putting their skills to use in auto manufacturing.
These regional differences in materials, processes and procedures require training providers to first consider the occupations and skills that are in demand in their regions, then design curricula that meet the skill needs of those specific jobs.
Alabama’s approach also enables it to identify cross-industry skills alignment that can lead to portable credentials that benefit both workers and employers across different high-demand sectors and occupations. Healthcare employers have found an unlikely potential source of skilled workers: picklers. The skills required to work in this role include adherence to rigid safety protocols and strict attention to sterilization procedures, including metal cleaning and anodizing — similar to surgical technicians and sterile processing technicians who work in hospitals and other health care settings.
If states can identify workers who already possess most of the required skills for in-demand roles, short-term training programs supported by Workforce Pell grants can give workers the remaining skills they need to move quickly into higher-paying jobs critical to a state’s economy.
The key is understanding skills
Workforce Pell grants will allow states to expand on the promise of making all learning count for both students and employers. The key to implementation is understanding skills: how they’re acquired, how they’re articulated and communicated, and how they align with business and regional needs. The clock is ticking for states to ensure their short-term training programs make the grade. Residents and employers in states across the country don’t have another decade to wait.
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Nathaniel Rankin is director of the Alabama Governor’s Office of Education and Workforce Statistics.
Amber Garrison Duncan is executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN).