How Workforce Pell could help reengage men in college

Key takeaways

• Workforce Pell represents the largest expansion of Pell Grant eligibility in decades, extending federal aid to high-quality short-term credential programs beginning July 1, 2026.
• Short-term, lower-cost, employment-linked credentials may align more closely with men’s enrollment patterns, particularly for men who are weighing education against immediate earnings.
• Earn-and-learn models, such as registered apprenticeship, reduce opportunity costs and are well positioned to meet Workforce Pell’s completion, placement, and earnings requirements.
• Healthcare, education and literacy (HEAL) professions face acute labor shortages and significant male underrepresentation, creating an opportunity for Workforce Pell to expand pathways into these fields through redesigned earn-and-learn models.
• Governor discretion over “in-demand” designations and program approval will shape implementation, offering states the ability to signal priority occupations and expand access to high-need sectors.
• Short-term credentials should serve as entry points, not endpoints. Workforce Pell is the first time Pell grants have been available for non-credit programs at scale, but programs must articulate to a credit-bearing program.

Introduction

The enactment of Workforce Pell through HR1 (“the One Big Beautiful Bill Act”) on July 4, 2025, represents one of the most significant expansions of Pell Grant eligibility in decades. For the first time, federal student aid will be available for high-quality short-term credential programs that meet requirements related to duration, completion, job placement and labor market value.

Postsecondary education has become increasingly important for economic mobility, but men’s participation in higher education has declined steadily over the past decade. Workforce Pell provides an opportunity to better align postsecondary pathways with men’s interest accelerated opportunities that deliver strong earnings, particularly for men who have disengaged from traditional degree programs.

With Workforce Pell scheduled to take effect July 1, 2026, states and institutions face near-term decisions about which programs will meet quality and labor-market requirements.

Workforce Pell matters especially for boys and men

Men now account for a shrinking share of postsecondary enrollment and completion. Because socioeconomic status strongly shapes college attainment, the college attainment gap is particularly concerning for men from lower-income backgrounds. At the same time, men are less likely than women to take on student loan debt and increasingly skeptical of the value of a college education.

Short-term credentials are postsecondary occupational credentials that typically take less time and money than a traditional degree, and address these barriers directly. Although data on short-term programs remains fragmented, some evidence suggests these credentials attract men at rates closer to parity with women than traditional degree programs.

There is also growing evidence that short-term credentials can deliver meaningful economic returns for men. Research by Bahr and Columbus (2025) finds that men who complete short-term credentials experience statistically significant wage gains. These gains may be partly explained by men’s concentration in higher-paying fields like the skilled trades and transportation, but as Bahr also notes, “the gap doesn’t appear to be entirely a result of difference in the fields of study that men and women tend to choose.” So something about these programs is working specifically for men.

Short-term credentials also frequently incorporate applied, work-connected instruction. Evidence from career and technical education research indicates that hands-on, experiential learning environments can improve engagement and career outcomes, particularly among male students. By expanding access to these programs, Workforce Pell has the potential to increase the number of men earning postsecondary credentials and to strengthen their labor market outcomes.

Apprenticeship and earn-and-learn pathways

Apprenticeship has long been a pathway that attracts men. “Earn-and-learn” models reduce opportunity costs by allowing participants to earn wages while training. For men who are less likely to carry student loan debt or step away from work to pursue education, apprenticeship offers a practical alternative to traditional postsecondary enrollment.

Apprenticeship programs also align closely with the patterns of men who have disengaged from traditional degree pathways. By combining paid work with structured training and clear connections to employment, earn-and-learn models offer a pathway into postsecondary education that does not require men to exit the labor force in order to participate.

The Workforce Pell statute includes quality safeguards designed to ensure that eligible programs deliver value to students and taxpayers. Understanding these requirements is important because they shape which programs can participate. To remain eligible, programs must demonstrate high rates of completion and job placement, generally requiring completion and placement rates of at least 70 percent, and must show that program costs do not exceed graduates’ value-added earnings one year after completion.

These requirements pose challenges for many postsecondary institutions, which have historically focused on enrollment and credential completion rather than job placement and earnings. Registered apprenticeship programs, however, are well positioned to meet these standards. In March, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education issued a notice of proposed regulations clarifying that the related technical instruction (RTI) component of a Registered Apprenticeship Program is automatically treated as meeting the requirements for alignment with high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand industry sectors and the hiring needs of employers.

In practice, implementation remains complex. As others have noted, many RTI components are not currently structured to meet Workforce Pell clock-hour requirements, and distributing aid across the apprenticeship timeline introduces additional administrative challenges. Aligning Workforce Pell with registered apprenticeship may not be straightforward, but it represents a promising strategy given the potential benefits.

As institutions seek to meet Workforce Pell’s outcome requirements, expanding apprenticeship and other earn-and-learn models offers a strategy that aligns both with compliance goals and with men’s training patterns.

Expanding HEAL pathways

Workforce Pell will naturally expand access to skilled trades and technical fields that already attract men. This is an intended and positive outcome. These programs share common features associated with strong labor market alignment, including short duration, low cost and clear connections to employment.

A more challenging but equally important policy question is how Workforce Pell can be used to address workforce shortages in health care, education and literacy (“HEAL”), where men are significantly underrepresented. Nationally, men currently make up about 22 percent of workers in these HEAL occupations, even as demand for these roles is projected to increase by 1.6 million jobs by 2033.

These occupations provide stable employment and clear public value, yet labor shortages are widespread. The Health Resources and Services Administration projects a shortage of 108,960 registered nurses and 245,950 licensed practical nurses by 2038. In education, as of 2025 there are an estimated 411,000 teacher vacancies nationwide.

Despite strong labor market demand, too many HEAL pathways are not designed to attract men or meet Workforce Pell eligibility requirements. Traditional training models in health care and education can involve high upfront costs, low entry level earnings and limited work-based learning. These features make HEAL pathways less attractive to men who may be more sensitive to education related financial risk and opportunity cost, and can also make it difficult for programs to meet the clock-hour requirements, as well as placement and earnings thresholds required for Workforce Pell eligibility.

Expanding earn-and-learn and apprenticeship-style models within HEAL professions is one of the most promising ways to address both challenges. Paid, work-based training can reduce opportunity costs, improve earnings outcomes and strengthen job placement, while creating clearer pathways that align with Workforce Pell’s accountability requirements. For men, this could lower barriers to entry into HEAL careers that have traditionally been female dominated.

Under the emerging Workforce Pell framework, governors will have meaningful discretion to determine which occupations qualify as “in-demand” and which programs meet state-defined quality thresholds. Governors (or their designated state agencies) must review and approve programs before institutions can access Workforce Pell funding. This includes verifying labor market alignment, assessing whether programs meet state quality standards and certifying that programs satisfy statutory completion, placement and earnings requirements. States may also establish additional criteria related to wage thresholds, employer engagement or regional workforce priorities. This discretion creates an opportunity to prioritize HEAL pathways that both meet labor market needs and address structural barriers that have limited men’s participation.

By explicitly designating HEAL roles as in-demand and approving eligible earn-and-learn programs for Workforce Pell, states can reduce uncertainty for students and institutions and signal that these occupations offer stable employment, public value and clear pathways to earnings. In turn this may increase male participation in HEAL professions.

The importance of reenrollment

Short-term credentials can deliver real benefits, but they are not substitutes for degrees. Long-term earnings growth, occupational mobility and economic stability still remain substantially higher for workers who eventually complete a degree.

For Workforce Pell to support long-term mobility, short-term credentials must function as entry points to further learning, not as endpoints. This is particularly important for men, who not only are less likely than women to enroll in postsecondary education, but are also less likely to return for continued education once they enter the workforce.

Workforce Pell expands eligibility to certain non-credit programs for the first time provided those programs articulate to credit-bearing programs. The American Association of Community Colleges estimates that approximately 4.1 million students are enrolled in non-credit programs at community colleges. While only a subset of these programs are expected to qualify, this expansion has the potential to extend Pell access to students who were previously ineligible.

The articulation of credit is also important as it provides a pathway to further education. For men who might otherwise never reenroll in postsecondary education, knowing that prior learning can articulate towards a credit bearing program can make a return more attractive, even years later.

Employers also have a role to play. Paid time off work for education, tuition assistance and promotion structures tied to credential and degree attainment can reinforce continued learning and upward mobility. Simply creating stackable programs without strong advising and clear reenrollment pathways will not inherently lead to reenrollment in practice. Postsecondary institutions and employers both play a role in ensuring short-term credentials can lead seamlessly to future education and upskilling.

Policy recommendations

To maximize Workforce Pell’s impact for boys and men, policymakers and practitioners should:

• Prioritize earn-and-learn models, including registered apprenticeship, that align with men’s enrollment and training patterns and meet Workforce Pell accountability requirements.
• Invest in HEAL pathways that combine short-term credentials with paid work and stackable credits to attract more men into high-need professions.
• Design Workforce Pell programs as on-ramps to further education, ensuring that credit-bearing credentials support reenrollment and long-term mobility.
• Engage employers as partners in supporting continued education through paid time, tuition assistance and credential-linked advancement.
• Track gender-disaggregated outcomes—on the program, institution, and state level—to assess whether Workforce Pell is effectively reengaging men in postsecondary education and delivering positive earnings outcomes.

Conclusion

Workforce Pell presents a timely opportunity to reengage men in postsecondary education at a moment of historic disengagement. If implemented effectively, it can expand access to pathways with demonstrated labor market value, strengthen apprenticeship and earn-and-learn models and draw more men into high-need HEAL professions.

Most importantly, Workforce Pell can reconnect men to education over the long term through lower-cost entry points, earned credits and higher wages, strengthening the workforce, expanding opportunity and improving economic resilience in the process.

Patrick Bourke

Patrick Bourke is a senior policy fellow at the American Institute for Boys and Men and serves in Maryland’s Governor’s Office for Children, where he works to address challenges facing young men and boys across the state.