Expanded eligibility for federal Pell Grants could help more Mississippians pursue training that may lead to a job and earning a living wage, workforce advocates and higher education officials say. 

As part of sprawling spending and tax legislation Congress passed last year, eligibility for the Pell Grant program, which provides financial aid for students from low-income backgrounds, will be expanded to include short-term training programs — lasting between eight and 14 weeks, or 150 to 599 hours of instruction, through an accredited institution.

Traditionally, Pell Grant recipients are undergraduates enrolled in long-term — at least one academic year — professional degree or certificate programs.  

That expansion, known as Workforce Pell, is slated to go into effect July 1. 

An estimated 79,709 Mississippi college students received Pell Grants in 2024-25, according to a report from the National College Attainment Network. 

That number would likely increase with expanded eligibility.

The expansion is an “optimistic opportunity,” said Courtney Taylor, executive director of AccelerateMS, the state’s office of workforce development strategy.

“If there is a new funding stream that can potentially assist more people to get into high quality training opportunities that can put them on a path of getting a better job, we should look at it with an open mind.” 

Workforce Pell could also be a chance for Mississippi to reach its Ascent to 55% goal of getting more than half of its residents the training or education needed to earn a college or degree certificate by 2030, said Jason Dean, executive director of Mississippi Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. 

As of 2025, 48.7% of Mississippians ages 25 to 64 had a degree, credential or industry certification beyond high school, slightly higher than the national national average of 43.6%, according to the Lumina Foundation.

State lawmakers have also begun examining ways to increase the number of adults who complete some form of higher education and enter the state’s workforce. This could mean tying state money to a new funding formula that rewards universities and colleges on metrics of postgraduate students’ success such as degree completion, employment and median job earnings. 

Expanding  the federal financial aid program challenges the definition of higher education by making it affordable and accessible for all individuals wanting to go to college, Dean said. 

“People have had different ideas of what post-secondary education means in the United States,” Dean said, “but Workforce Pell suggests a broader definition beyond traditional degrees and a way for people to get the workforce certificate, education or skills needed to create a better quality of life path for them and their families.”

Preventing waste and protecting students

It’s unclear how Workforce Pell will ultimately work. 

The federal government is still ironing out details of the final rules and accountability requirements for states. The U.S. Department of Education must sign off on those regulations before governors can start state specific program approval processes. 

In initial conversations, state higher education leaders, economic and workforce development officials and lawmakers have focused on identifying  short-term programs that could be eligible for Workforce Pell, Taylor said. Mississippi’s list would likely include a niche set of programs such as training commercial truck driving or emergency medical technicians, she said. 

Each program must also award a credential that is “stackable” or can count as academic credit toward an advance certificate, associate or bachelor’s degree, according to the education department’s draft guidelines. 

Grants awarded for Workforce Pell recipients will likely be less than the current Pell Grant maximum of $7,395, depending on factors such as the length and cost of the programs, said Wesley Whistle, project director for student success and affordability at New America, a national nonprofit public policy think tank.

States will also have to consider strategies to protect students from wasting their lifetime Pell Grant eligibility on short-term programs that are risky, low-quality or fraudulent, Whistle said.

If students leave the programs with “a low wage and a thousand dollars of debt that has really bad repayment terms, that’s not great,” Whistle said. 

Ultimately, state agencies, accreditors and colleges can establish protections to prevent students from being exploited. This could include providing transparency around program costs, setting consumer protection standards and requiring reports of  program outcomes, he said. 

If implemented correctly, Workforce Pell could dovetail with the state’s policy efforts to align support services for Mississippians looking  to enter and stay in the state’s workforce and boost the economy, Taylor said. 

 “It is challenging,” she said, “but there’s a lot of opportunity to make a difference.”