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America Achieves, in partnership with the National Governors Association, has released an overview on how states can prepare to leverage this new federal funding stream
Beginning in July 2026, H.R. 1 — enacted by Congress last year — will take effect, creating “Workforce Pell” and expanding Pell Grant eligibility to short-term, career-focused training programs that meet defined quality requirements. Research shows that while some programs generate strong labor market returns, many do not — and better outcomes are not automatic. Success will require governors to lead in the coming months with a sharp focus on good, in-demand jobs, and on ensuring those jobs actually deliver real economic independence.
Seizing the opportunity. The urgency and opportunity are both real. Governors have substantial authority to set the standards in their states for this new Workforce Pell funding that will begin flowing later this year, and to leverage the opportunity to better align quality standards and outcomes measures across workforce funding streams. To do so, governors do not need to rush to approve programs, but should instead take the time to thoughtfully set standards, build processes, establish needed data infrastructure, and roll out the program over the coming months and years. Moreover, proposed regulations published March 9, 2026 open a public comment period closing on April 8, which presents a meaningful opportunity to shape the final rules. America Achieves can help states develop comments. Contact info@goodjobseconomy.org.
Below are America Achieves’ top recommendations for how governors and philanthropy can leverage Workforce Pell to advance good jobs outcomes in states.
Higher education and workforce programs have too often been organized around activities — seat time, enrollment, even completion — rather than the outcomes those activities are supposed to produce. Governors should establish a clear north star for everyone working on this: the goal is good jobs that pay a living wage, enabling genuine self-sufficiency and economic independence. Every decision about program approval, standards, and accountability should be evaluated against that outcome.
To make the standard concrete and defensible, governors should anchor key definitions, such as the requirement that programs align to a high-wage, high-skill, or in-demand job, around wage baselines — such as the MIT Living Wage Calculator, for example — so that what counts as a living wage reflects real costs in real communities rather than a flat statewide number. Federal law sets the floor just above the poverty line, which falls far short of what it actually takes to support a family. States that simply accept that floor risk treating any job just above poverty as success. Programs should be approved only if they prepare people for good jobs that meet that standard directly, or are real, stackable, documented pathways landing participants in programs that do.
Governors will need to own this outcome themselves, especially for the next four years, because federal accountability on value-added earnings — a relatively low bar to start — will likely not go into effect until 2030, due to a statutory requirement that earnings be measured for students who completed programs three years prior to each award year. The Department of Education has asked in the NPRM for feedback on how to address the question of ROI in the first several years. But the NPRM makes clear that governors have the authority, from the very start, to approve programs based in part on anticipated return on investment, and to make wage and earnings data publicly available before federal measures kick in. Governors who act on both will drive Workforce Pell toward good jobs from day one.
States are not required to be fully operational on July 1 — programs can come online throughout the 2026–27 award year and beyond. A state that rushes to approve a large portfolio with weak standards will spend years dealing with the consequences. Initial standards are also not permanent: nothing prevents a state from updating quickly if early data reveals problems.
Governors should require that programs demonstrate real employer validation. While the law envisions employer input in multiple places, requiring states to approve programs that are in-demand, that meet “employer hiring needs”, that lead to industry-recognized certificate or certification (or state licenses or Registered Apprenticeships) — and that employers help validate the portability and stackability of programs — governors still have considerable room to define how they meaningful capture that input across requirements. We recommend that governors require serious employer validation of programs in order to be approved, including strong validation such as commitments to interview or hire program completers. At the very least, governors must require employers to confirm that a specific program is aligned to skills and roles those employers project they will actually be hiring for. Evidence of engagement is not enough; what matters is whether employers have put their name behind the program as a genuine pipeline for real jobs.
States should ensure a regularly updated understanding of not just what jobs are in-demand — but what specific skills and competencies employers are actually seeking. This means drawing on real-time data sources, including job postings and employer surveys, and validating findings directly with employers — covering not just roles being filled today but the sequence of predictable roles in an industry over time. This kind of intelligence can drive effective Workforce Pell implementation and help focus workforce systems statewide on jobs and skills that matter.
Governors should also factor in longer-term trends. Many sectors facing the greatest near-term retirement-driven hiring needs — including health care, advanced manufacturing, and the skilled trades — are also projected to face less near-term exposure to AI displacement, making them strong candidates for durable credential pathways. Governors should supplement real-time labor market data with the best available projections of how AI will reshape local labor markets, and prepare now by identifying at-risk occupations in advance, so that when displacement happens, short-term credentials are already serving as clear on-ramps to more durable careers, connected to and complemented by longer pathways where needed.
Governors should use this as an opportunity to start or strengthen the setting, measuring, and tracking of goals for labor market outcomes–including but beyond Workforce Pell. To make this possible, states need to link labor market outcomes data to non-credit programs, verify if program graduates are employed in fields related to their training by integrating Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes, and better understand if program graduates pursue or complete relevant further education by collecting information on credit transfer and articulation agreements. Many states lack the ability to do these. But consequences and transparency on outcomes matter and making this a reality requires these steps.
The standards, data systems, and employer relationships built for Workforce Pell can form the foundation of the infrastructure a state needs for a nimble, outcomes-driven workforce system positioned to respond as AI reshapes labor markets. Governors should designate a cross-agency working group with a mandate that goes beyond Workforce Pell compliance. America Achieves’ six interdependent elements of an effective state talent system provides a practical structure for that work. We have been collaborating in Oklahoma to use this framework to carry out a diagnostic on Oklahoma’s statewide strengths, areas of development, and priority actions. We are partnering with Governor Moore’s team in Maryland to provide technical assistance as it implements Workforce Pell in the state.
Governors should also use this moment to task their working group with a broader data system overhaul — enhanced wage records, improved integration across labor market data sets, and the analytical capacity to use that data to drive decisions and action, not just collect it.
We recommend that the philanthropic community actively incentivize and support states that set high standards and commit to effective, outcomes-driven implementation. This includes:
Federal law and the draft regulations require that Workforce Pell programs be stackable — connected to additional credentials and portable across employers, so workers can keep building skills and wages over time rather than stopping at a single certificate. But requiring stackability and building the architecture that makes it real are two different things. Philanthropy can invest in the design and coordination work that turns a sequence of programs into a genuine career launch, including earn-and-learn models, articulation agreements, and advising infrastructure. Philanthropy can also fund the student navigation infrastructure that research shows makes the difference between a credential that leads somewhere and one that doesn’t. In North Carolina, America Achieves’ Good Jobs Fund is helping community colleges — including in communities hit by Hurricane Helene — build and modernize programs culminating in good jobs and meeting high standards including those associated with Workforce Pell.
Many strong programs won’t qualify at launch because they haven’t existed for the required year or lack historical outcomes data. Philanthropy can bridge that gap — seeding new evidence-informed, data-driven programs and helping existing ones build the track record of quality needed to qualify.
Workforce Pell creates an opportunity for both natural experiments across 50 states, and for the design and funding of randomized control trials that evaluate program design. Philanthropy can support those types of efforts, covering evaluation infrastructure costs that states and programs rarely have resources to build themselves, as well as longitudinal outcome tracking and findings disseminated in forms policymakers can actually use. Engaging researchers early on is far more effective in tracking and improving results than retrofitting evaluation after the fact.
Philanthropy can also fund the labor market intelligence states need to identify in-demand jobs, knowledge, skills and competencies to inform what constitutes genuine employer hiring needs and where this funding can best address them. This should focus on specific industries with the greatest concentration of hiring needs for good jobs and upwardly mobile careers.
Philanthropy should take the lead by putting more dollars into the programs getting the best results, incentivizing them to expand, and using rigorous research to build the evidence base that supports others to adapt those programs elsewhere. What starts as a philanthropic proof point becomes a replicable model others can adopt at scale. Governors should consider aligning public funding incentives in the same direction.
Governors have clear authority to set the bar higher than required by the federal statute. Philanthropy can support high standards by directing resources, technical assistance, and recognition to states that set ambitious quality standards and build genuine interim accountability on wages which will create a direct incentive for states to raise the bar.
To help states prepare for Workforce Pell, America Achieves, in partnership with the National Governors Association, is developing a library of resources, including playbooks, fact sheets, and other guidance. States can use these tools to drive toward smart implementation of this program, while taking steps to modernize their education and workforce systems more holistically.
We’ll be publishing materials throughout spring and summer of 2026. This roll-out will provide responsive, current information. We are grateful to our partners at JPMorganChase for funding this work.
Workforce Pell: An Overview For Governors
Published March 11, 2026
This memo provides governors with:
In the coming weeks and months, we will publish additional practical resources here, including details on data infrastructure, guidance to leverage philanthropic and state funding, and a dictionary of Workforce Pell-related terms, among other materials. We invite you to subscribe to our mailing list to stay tuned.
Get Involved: We welcome conversations from any governor’s office, state workforce leader, nonprofit, or philanthropic partner. Contact us at info@goodjobseconomy.org.
At the end of January, the FY26 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill was enacted into law. America Achieves was pleased to see $41 million appropriated to continue the Tech Hubs program; $200 million appropriated for the NSF Engines program; and $10 million for the Workforce Training Grant program.
At the end of January, the FY26 Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill was enacted into law. Among the appropriations, America Achieves was pleased to see:
Last spring, America Achieves led a coalition of businesses and non-profit leaders in calling on Congress to fund these programs. The passage of this funding bill reflects strong support from employers, practitioners, non-profit organizations, and others to advance talent, competitiveness, and economic security. This bill is a down payment on the strategic investments needed.
As we look ahead, we know that strong implementation of these programs is critical. This includes strong alignment across education, workforce, and economic development systems – and maintaining a focus on fueling economic growth and expanding access to good-paying jobs in critical industries and occupations.
New federal grant will strengthen Oklahoma’s workforce in advanced manufacturing, aerospace and defense, and AI infrastructure
The U.S. Department of Labor recently awarded Oklahoma with $6 million to expand employer-driven workforce training programs across the state. The initiative will help build a skilled workforce in three of the state's fastest-growing industries: aerospace and defense, advanced manufacturing, and AI infrastructure.
Oklahoma was among 14 states selected to receive a total of $86 million through the Department of Labor's Industry-Driven Skills Training Fund. Led by the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, the grant will accelerate innovation, strengthen domestic production, and address critical workforce shortages.
America Achieves served as a key partner on the grant, helping to develop Oklahoma’s application. America Achieves will also play a central role as strategic advisor as the initiative begins, shaping program design and implementation.
This award builds on America Achieves’ proven track record of working with dozens of communities nationwide to design and secure nearly $250 million in bipartisan funding for economic and workforce development initiatives.
"Oklahoma is thrilled to be winning competitive grants. Federal investment represents a vote of confidence in how our partners are aligning around initiatives," said Trae Rahill, CEO of the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission. "This award is a win-win-win for Oklahoma employers, workers and our education system. Through this work with America Achieves and the Good Jobs Economy, we’ll continue leading the way in modernizing talent systems in our country – connecting people to real opportunities."
The initiative focuses on three key areas: effectively training both new and current workers, retaining skilled employees, and placing workers into new jobs in fast-growing industries. Workers will receive targeted training and upskilling opportunities aligned with employer demand, strengthening the talent pipeline and boosting regional economic competitiveness. Employers will receive funding through an outcomes-based approach.
In addition to collaborating with America Achieves, Oklahoma will work with partners including the Oklahoma Workforce Commission, Oklahoma Career Tech, the state’s colleges and universities, and Guild, the nation’s leading talent development organization.
"Oklahoma is showing how strategic investments in workforce development can create lasting economic opportunity," said Jon Schnur, CEO of America Achieves. "When we align funding for training with employer needs and connect workers to good jobs, we build stronger communities and a more competitive economy that works for everyone."
In July, America Achieves launched Good Jobs Economy partnerships to work alongside governors, states, and local regions to connect residents to good jobs while helping employers access skilled talent. Good Jobs Economy is a centerpiece of the National Governors Association (NGA) Chair’s Initiative, “Reigniting the American Dream,” led by Oklahoma Governor Stitt.
Oklahoma was one of two state partnerships announced at NGA’s summer meeting. The goal of Good Jobs Economy is to help hundreds of thousands of Americans reach and stay in the middle class by accessing good jobs and advancing their careers.
America Achieves is a national nonprofit organization working to help local communities and states ensure everyone has a clear path to a good job, no matter who they are, where they live, and whether or not they have a college degree. Our Good Jobs Economy initiative partners with states, regions and local workforce and economic development intermediaries to design, fund, and implement the programs, strategies and systems that create sustainable pathways to good jobs. As part of this Good Jobs Economy initiative, America Achieves is partnering with the National Governors Association Chair’s Initiative to modernize state talent systems that support the workforce efforts of regional coalitions.
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Report from Brookings Metro, in partnership with America Achieves, shares five foundational building blocks to help coalitions move from vision to results
Across the United States, regional leaders face a shared challenge: how to grow good jobs and expand economic mobility for all residents. To overcome this challenge, it will take cross-sector coalitions that include all stakeholders—government, business, education, and community groups.
But turning collaboration into results is not easy. A new guidebook produced by Brookings Metro, in partnership with America Achieves, shares practical guidance from regional coalition efforts across the United States.
Over the past year, America Achieves, in collaboration with Brookings Metro, worked with a group of 11 regions to collaboratively tackle critical coalition governance questions in a Good Jobs Economy Peer Learning Cohort. Through a combination of site visits, one-on-one technical assistance, cohort-wide problem-solving sessions, and workshops with researchers and leaders of similar regional efforts, we supported these regions as they made tangible progress to strengthen their coalitions.
A new guidebook released today, The Coalition Imperative: A Guidebook for How Regions Can Build and Sustain Coalitions Toward a Good Jobs Economy, provides lessons and leading practices from these coalitions to build the long-term civic infrastructure needed to grow good jobs, strengthen economic mobility, and build resilient regional economies.
“Growing an economy with plentiful good jobs and fair access to opportunity is a long-term national project,” said Jon Schnur, CEO of America Achieves. “This guidebook shows one way for regional leaders—from governors and mayors to business, higher education, and community partners—to collaborate to deliver measurable results. America Achieves is proud to support regions that are demonstrating what it takes to modernize talent systems and build prosperity that lasts.”
The report identifies five foundational building blocks for effective cross-sector coalitions: shared focus, governance structure, operational rhythm, performance management, and financial sustainability. It offers actionable guidance for local and state leaders to organize their economies around good jobs. It also highlights five implications for policymakers and investors, emphasizing how public and private funding can accelerate regional transformation.
“Across the country, regions are learning that no single organization has the resources or perspective to tackle the good jobs challenge alone,” said Joseph Parilla, Senior Fellow and Director of Applied Research at Brookings Metro and co-author of the report. “This guidebook is designed to help leaders translate that insight into action, and move from coordination to measurable impact.”
The publication informs America Achieves’ Good Jobs Economy initiative, a multi-year, outcomes-driven effort launched in partnership this summer with the National Governors Association Chair’s Initiative and Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt and Maryland Governor Wes Moore. Built on lessons learned from supporting more than 85 regional coalitions with their economic development and talent systems building efforts over the past six years, the Good Jobs Economy helps state and regional coalitions design, fund, and implement modernized talent systems that connect people to good jobs at scale.
The Good Jobs Economy initiative aims to identify, train, and place one million youth and adults into good jobs in priority sectors and high-demand occupations over a decade. This includes Good Jobs Funds, where philanthropic capital helps states and local regions unlock enacted large-scale public funding to launch, modernize, and scale effective programs and partnerships. It also helps states build integrated talent systems and policies enabling sustained impact at large scale. Good Jobs Funds will build the evidence, program capacity, and public momentum that will help states modernize their own funding and systems to enable sustained, scalable results. This work is based on a talent system framework that guides states to set and measure outcome goals, define employer demand regularly, build and scale effective programs, identify and connect talent to jobs, align funding to outcomes, and build implementation and governance infrastructure.
America Achieves and Brookings Metro collaborated to design and deliver the programming for the Good Jobs Economy Peer Learning Cohort. The guidebook draws from the insights generated from this program by participating regional coalition teams—from Buffalo to El Paso, Minneapolis to Miami—that are advancing cross-sector strategies in advanced manufacturing, biopharma, clean energy, and other high-growth industries. Together, these regions represent over $400 million in federal investment, billions of dollars in associated private investment, and the early stages of creating tens of thousands of good jobs.
The full guidebook and executive summary are available at https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-coalition-imperative/.
Good Jobs Economy is a centerpiece of Incoming National Governors Association (NGA) Chair Governor Kevin Stitt’s “Reigniting the American Dream”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: kristy@goodjobseconomy.org
July 30, 2025 — Today, the national nonprofit organization America Achieves launched Good Jobs Economy partnerships to work alongside governors, states, and local regions to connect residents to good jobs while helping employers access skilled talent. The goal is to help hundreds of thousands of Americans reach and stay in the middle class by accessing good jobs and advancing their careers. These partnerships build on America Achieves’ prior work helping local regions advance economic and workforce development.
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt announced his NGA Chair’s initiative, Reigniting the American Dream, and introduced Good Jobs Economy as a core partner in the initiative’s work to modernize talent systems and launch good jobs funds. Governor Stitt and Maryland Governor Wes Moore, NGA’s Vice Chair, announced that Oklahoma and Maryland will be the first states to work with Good Jobs Economy to scale effective programs and modernize talent systems — and prepare to make effective use of newly enacted Workforce Pell Grant funding. Workforce Pell was recently enacted by Congress to help students, for the first time, pay for short-term job training programs starting July 1, 2026; this new law also empowers governors to shape which programs in their state are eligible for workforce Pell funds. Our initial work in Oklahoma and Maryland will expand to support additional states while creating playbooks and tools to help other interested states and communities launch Good Jobs Funds, modernize talent systems, and best leverage Workforce Pell funding.
“A Good Jobs Economy is essential to reigniting the American Dream. This year, I am challenging every governor to build strong bridges between millions of Americans seeking good jobs and the employers eager to hire them. We need to think boldly and act urgently,” said Governor Stitt. In his remarks at the NGA summer meeting, Stitt said, “I’m going to partner with organizations like Good Jobs Economy…to help states build modern talent systems–ones that connect people to real opportunities.”
“We are excited to partner with Good Jobs Economy, launched by America Achieves as part of the National Governors Association Chair’s Initiative, to expand access to high-quality jobs for more Marylanders,” said Governor Moore. “We'll deploy state, philanthropic, and federal funding to scale what works, modernize our talent systems, and ensure Marylanders can access good jobs while giving employers the talent they need.”
“This effort is about turning economic promise into real opportunity,” said Jon Schnur, CEO of America Achieves. “It’s about expanding the middle class, and ensuring businesses can build and grow by accessing the talent they need, and ensuring that more Americans can achieve the dignity and security of a good job.”
Across the country, employers face talent shortages, including more than 2 million unfilled manufacturing jobs projected by 2030, threatening over $1 trillion in economic output. At the same time, nearly half of full-time workers don’t earn enough to be self-sufficient. For many young people, the path forward feels out of reach: 60 percent say the American Dream is either not real or unreachable, according to the Broken Marketplace study. Meanwhile, AI and other technologies are accelerating workforce changes faster than current systems and strategies are adapting.
In response to this need, Good Jobs Economy will work in close partnership with Oklahoma and Maryland, and other select states and local regions, to draw on that work and lessons learned into practical playbooks, tools, and other resources shared through a national learning network. We will leverage the data, research, and insights from these early efforts to help governors and cross-sector coalitions launch Good Jobs Funds and modernize talent systems that deliver real results:
Create and Scale Good Jobs Funds. These funds will identify and fund the development, and growth of evidence-based, scalable models that connect employers, job seekers, and education and training providers in local regions. Our goal: 10,000 people identified, trained, and hired into good jobs by 2030.
Modernize talent systems. These talent systems will scale and sustain pathways to good jobs, give employers access to the skilled talent they need, and advance economic development and national security. Our goal: connect hundreds of thousands of people to good jobs over a decade, earning billions in additional wages. This intensive work with states and regions will build the evidence base on what works and inform playbooks and tools that communities across the country can use to guide their work. These statewide talent systems will:
As part of this effort, Oklahoma is launching a Good Jobs Fund with an initial commitment of $19 million to identify, develop and grow successful programs in Oklahoma. This includes $4.5 million in existing public funds through the Oklahoma Workforce Commission for high-impact programs. Additionally, the George Kaiser Family Foundation is committing at least $15 million in aligned funding to prepare residents of Tulsa for good-paying jobs in industries like manufacturing, advanced air mobility, and healthcare. These investments are designed to catalyze larger philanthropic and public funding to create pathways for Oklahomans to reach and stay in the middle class. Governor Stitt will issue an executive order to prepare Oklahoma to make effective use of newly enacted Workforce Pell Grant funding and is expected to establish a task force to develop a statewide implementation roadmap for Workforce Pell in Oklahoma. Read the Oklahoma Fact Sheet →
Maryland will identify and fund the development, implementation and growth of evidence-based, scalable programs and pathways that train and place residents into good local jobs in high-demand sectors such as healthcare, information technology, cybersecurity, life sciences and aerospace. This will include $25 million in public funding through Governor Moore’s nationally recognized EARN program and the Registered Apprenticeship Investments for a Stronger Economy (RAISE) Act, $15 million in aligned philanthropic funding, with additional public and private investments to be made in the future. Maryland’s strategy includes building a revolving workforce fund to support low-cost nursing pathways, a statewide strategy for high school career counseling, and employer connections for underrepresented tech talent, and improving high school career counseling.
Maryland will also partner to build a more integrated and responsive talent system that adapts more quickly to changes in the job market and supports inclusive economic growth. At the same time, the partnership will develop a policy framework and process designed to ensure the effective deployment of recently expanded Pell Grants that become available July 1, 2026 for short-term workforce training programs. Read the Maryland Fact Sheet →
Good Jobs Economy is a bipartisan effort launched and operated by the national nonprofit organization America Achieves, in partnership with the Chair’s initiative of the National Governors Association. Its work is grounded in America Achieves’ experience with regional economic and workforce intermediaries, leading policymakers, and other experts. Over the last ten years, America Achieves has:
Philanthropic funding for the planning and early stages of Good Jobs Economy has been provided by Blue Meridian Partners, the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF), MacKenzie Scott, Strada Education Foundation, and others. This effort builds on America Achieves’ efforts to help Tech Hub applicants develop their plans — funded by the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, GKFF, and others. We are in active discussions, and welcome additional conversations, with national and in-state funders to support scaling the Good Jobs Economy work and partnerships.
Today, coalitions of business leaders and economic organizations have come together to release two community-sign on letters that call for robust appropriations for the Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs (Tech Hubs) program and the recently re-authorized Economic Development Administration (EDA)’s Workforce Training Grants and State Grant Pilot Program.
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 13, 2025
Press Contact:
Molly Dillon
molly.dillon@americaachieves.org
Today, coalitions of business leaders and economic organizations have come together to release two community-sign on letters that call for robust appropriations for the Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs (Tech Hubs) program and the recently re-authorized Economic Development Administration (EDA)’s Workforce Training Grants and State Grant Pilot Program.
Employers currently project millions of unfilled positions in sectors critical to economic and national security – including energy, healthcare, skilled trades, and emerging technologies. In response, the signatories of both letters agree that if fully funded, the strong, bipartisan-supported initiatives have the potential to not only address workforce preparedness and worker shortages, but also strengthen local economies, empower workers, and enhance America’s national security and global leadership in innovation. The dozens of signatories include corporate leaders, local, business-led regional impact groups representing small, medium, and large-sized businesses, as well as other workforce and economic development-related non-profit organizations.
The full list of signatories is below.
Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs (Tech Hubs)
EDA Workforce Training Grants & State Grant Pilot Program
America Achieves is a leading nonprofit organization that supports a national network of communities and states that are working to ensure every American has a clear path to a good job with upward mobility.
