A Ready-Made Model for Workforce Pell: Inside Lorain’s Fast Track Programs

Before Workforce Pell goes into effect in July 2026, colleges will need to determine which of their programs are good candidates for the new funding stream. And states will implement approval processes to ensure that eligible programs lead to good jobs. At the same time, there are a lot of requirements for Workforce Pell that don’t apply to standard Pell, like a 70 percent graduation rate and a very specific program length, which may be challenging for states and colleges to navigate.

One college already has a program model that is well-positioned to fit the Workforce Pell paradigm and set the standards for its state approval process: Lorain Community College’s Fast Track programs. What’s been working for LCCC since 2018 provides lessons for the rest of the field, working quickly to prepare for Workforce Pell.

At Lorain, Fast Track programs are typically one semester or less in duration, are designed to lead to well-paying jobs, are for-credit, and are offered at no cost to students. According to Marisa Vernon White, Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Services at the college, “You have to deliver when you’re telling people, ‘Give us a semester, and this will jumpstart something for you.’” These programs have been designed to deliver, and that aligns with many of the criteria for the Workforce Pell program.

Prepares Grads for a Job in a High-Wage, High-Skilled, or High-Need Occupation

Workforce Pell requires states to certify that eligible programs prepare graduates for jobs that meet either the state’s definition of High-Wage, High-Skilled occupations in their Perkins plan or the high-needs definition in their WIOA plan. It also requires that the program lead to a recognized credential that meets the hiring requirements of employers in the target occupation.

Lorain originally created over 50 Fast Track programs from existing curriculum programs and offered them free to learners through a combination of state workforce funding, scholarships, and local support. As these programs took off, college leaders developed a set of design principles to ensure they would pay off for graduates. According to Vernon White, “These are designed to plug people into a high opportunity area… Employers don't have time to wait either. They’re like, ‘That’s nice, you’ll have people in two or three years — we need some now.’” One of these principles is that the programs serve as critical entry points into industries with advancement opportunities and lead to strong labor market outcomes in northeast Ohio, where the college is located. They narrowed down the 50 programs to 14 using this and other criteria.

Meets Specific Program Length Requirements

Workforce Pell-eligible programs must be between 150 and 599 clock hours (7.5 to 29.5 credit hours) in duration and run for 8 to 15 weeks. This is a very specific amount of time.

One of the design principles Lorain developed for their Fast Track program is that every one of them can be completed in 16 weeks–the length of a typical semester–or less. Some programs do have work-based learning or practicum requirements that last additional time, but the focus Lorain put on length means that most programs fit in the fairly prescribed length of time allowed under Workforce Pell.

Articulates into a Credit Program

All programs eligible for Workforce Pell must articulate into a credit-bearing certificate or degree program. Fast Track programs are all for-credit, meaning they easily meet this requirement with no additional effort. “Fast Tracks are specifically designed to stack into advanced certificates and degrees,” Vernon White shared.

Meets Completion and Placement Standards

The law requires Workforce Pell-eligible programs to meet specific accountability metrics, which are certified annually by the Secretary of Education. Two of those measures are a 70 percent completion rate and a 70 percent job placement rate 180 days after completion.

According to Vernon White, “We just updated [our] graduation and job placement rate targets… The 70 percent is the bar we are working toward for a number of reasons, one of them being Pell.” Fast Track programs tend to have a graduation rate of around 71 percent. And because they are designed to end in jobs, the college is confident that they will meet the 70 percent placement rate as well. She added, “We want a case management process where we don’t leave [getting a job] up to chance… Career Services and our employment team are literally pulling down the rosters, establishing new systems to track and accelerate placement, and knowing where all the students are within the pipeline.”

Meets Value-Added Measure

Students who graduate from Workforce Pell-eligible programs need to earn a wage three years after graduation that is greater than what they paid for the program (minus 150 percent of the poverty line and adjusted by their region. More details here).

Currently, Lorain advertises Fast Track as no cost to students. “Right now, we fund them on the back end with grants and philanthropy,” says Vernon White. Once implemented, the college can either offer a low tuition rate to take advantage of the Workforce Pell grant or allow the grant to be used to support living expenses for students in their Fast Track programs. Either way, these are low-cost programs for students that lead to good jobs, so they are designed to exceed the value-added earnings metric.

Implementing Workforce Pell will undoubtedly feel daunting for many institutions. But Lorain’s Fast Track programs show that colleges can design short, affordable, career-aligned pathways that meet even the most exacting quality criteria. Colleges that build programs around strong labor market outcomes, affordability, and clear connections to employment will be well-positioned for state approval and well-positioned to help learners access high-quality training through Workforce Pell.