Finally—A Win For Political Bipartisanship
“We just expanded the definition of college,” writes Kathleen deLaski, capturing the spirit behind the new Workforce Pell legislation in President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law on July 4. The legislation extends post-secondary Pell Grant financial eligibility to short-term training programs that currently are not eligible to be paid for using federal aid.
While the Beautiful Bill Act passed with a mostly party-line vote, Workforce Pell has long had bipartisan legislative support at the federal level in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Additionally, this approach has strong support from many quarters, including working-class voters, broadly defined as those without a four-year college degree.
A Progressive Policy Institute/YouGov Survey of working-class voters reports that when given five options to choose what would most help them have a good job, career, and get ahead, the number one response of nearly half (46%) was “affordable, short-term training programs that combine work and learning,” followed by “more opportunities for apprenticeships with companies” (23%). Only 9% said a four-year college degree, which came in four out of five.
As Lisa Larson, CEO of the Education Design Lab, writes in Community College Daily, “Workforce Pell has finally become law after years of advocacy, stalled negotiations in Congress and a groundswell of support from educators, employers, and learners.”
