Pell Grants represent the cornerstone of federal financial aid for students with low income who are enrolled in postsecondary education. Currently, these grants are available only to those who seek an initial undergraduate degree or credential requiring at least a typical semester of instruction. Because these rules may restrict access to programs providing skills needed for new or better jobs, the U.S. Department of Education began pilots of two experimental expansions to Pell Grant eligibility in 2011. The first experiment allowed income-eligible students with a bachelor’s degree to obtain Pell Grants for short-term occupational training programs. The second experiment allowed income-eligible students to obtain Pell Grants for very short-term programs lasting as little as eight weeks.
This report from the Institute for Education Science updates earlier results from a previous evaluation of the experiments, new information about the experiments’ impacts on labor market success. This fuller picture could help Congress as it considers legislation to make Pell Grants for short-term occupational training permanent policy.
Among the study’s key findings:
- Offering Pell Grants for short-term occupational training programs to students with low income who have a bachelor’s degree increased program enrollment and completion by about 20 percentage points.
- Offering Pell Grants for very short-term occupational training programs increased program enrollment and completion by about 10 percentage points.
- More than half of students who were offered experimental Pell Grants used them, receiving an average grant amount of $1,800; they were just as likely as those not offered the grants to also use federal student loans.
- Despite boosting program enrollment and completion, offering experimental Pell Grants did not increase employment or earnings in the medium to long term.