Low-income students can use Pell grants for training as short as eight weeks. More colleges will be approved on a rolling basis.
Since July, federal Pell grants can pay for short job-training programs, not only for degrees. The first five Texas colleges approved to offer them are Kilgore, Weatherford, Central Texas, Texas Southmost and San Jacinto, in fields that include phlebotomy, pharmacy technology, welding, machining, HVAC and electrical line work.
Programs can run as short as eight weeks. To qualify, a program has to show that at least 70 percent of its students finish and at least 70 percent find work within six months. Students apply through the FAFSA, and Pell grants don’t have to be repaid.
Why it matters in the Eastern Crescent
None of the first five colleges are in the ten counties CEEI works in. Federal officials are approving more programs on a rolling basis, so the question for this region is which nearby colleges and training providers apply, and for which jobs. That’s a question CEEI is following.
Reporting by Sneha Dey, The Texas Tribune, 13 October 2026. Summary and commentary by CEEI. CEEI is not affiliated with the colleges named. Photo of Weatherford College by Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.