Texas Reskilling Support Fund Grant Program

The Texas Reskilling Support Fund Grant Program provided emergency educational support to students that were most significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This program closed on September 30, 2022.

Reskilling Grants to institutions supported two populations:

  1. Displaced Texas workers who needed to reskill or upskill to get back into the workforce and
  2. Texas students who were previously stopped out of higher education institutions without completing a postsecondary credential.

Grant Purpose

Reskilling Grants allowed institutions to provide financial assistance to Texas students through coverage of student tuition and fees. The grants support students pursuing the completion of high-value credentials. Reskilling Grants were intended to be deployed as quickly as reasonably possible during the grant period.

Funding Source

The Texas Reskilling Support Fund Grant Program stemmed from the allocation of $175 million provided to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) from the Governor’s Emergency Educational Relief (GEER) Fund. GEER dollars, in turn, originated from the U.S. Department of Education’s administration of the Education Stabilization Fund in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020. The CARES Act (HR 748/S 3548 of the 116th Congress) was signed into law on March 27, 2020.

Program Modifications for All Reskilling Grant Rounds Retroactive to January 1, 2022

On March 9, 2022, THECB announced a modification for all rounds of the Texas Reskilling Support Fund Grant Program that are effective from January 1, 2022. The announcement, Texas Reskilling Support Fund Grant Program Modification,  modifies Section 5.2 of all versions of the Reskilling Grant RFA regarding student eligibility. With this modification, a student need not be prior enrolled or hold postsecondary credit to be eligible for Reskilling Grant Program support.

The emphasis on nontraditional students remains intact with the March 9, 2022, changes. The six-month or one long semester gap requirement applies to everyone receiving Reskilling Grant support, including relatively recent high school graduates.

Program Modifications for Reskilling Grants Rounds One and Two
Retroactive to September 1, 2021

THECB made a set of modifications to Rounds 1 and 2 of the Texas Reskilling Support Fund Grant Program that were effective from September 1, 2021. An informational webinar was held for grantees on October 14. These modifications were incorporated in the Reskilling Round 3 competition.

Extension of the Grant Period and New Reporting Schedule

Both Round 1 and Round 2 grantees had a deadline of September 30, 2022, to expend Reskilling Grant funds. Due to that seven-month grant period extension, a revised schedule for student/program and expenditure reports to THECB were put in place

Revision of Student Eligibility Requirement

The requirement that students be “near completion” to a credential to be eligible for financial support was removed from student eligibility requirements.

Expansion of Eligible Credential Programs

Academic degree programs that were now eligible to be selected as eligible high value credentials included post-baccalaureate, master’s, doctoral, and postdoctoral level programs. These programs were required to represent high value to students in terms of their occupational pathways following credential completion.

Reskilling Grantees Rounds One, Two, and Three

The first round of awards under the Texas Reskilling Support Fund Grant Program were announced in January 2021. Through a competitive Request for Applications (RFA) process, 40 applicants representing 49 institutions were selected. In March 2021, a second round of the competitive RFA process for Reskilling Grants was held resulting in 25 awards to 31 institutions. In January 2022 THECB announced an additional 17 awards to 22 institutions

Grantee Resources

LABOR MARKET INFORMATION RESOURCES

Identifying high-value credentials was central to the goal of the Texas Reskilling Support Fund Grant Program. Reskilling grantees were urged to consult appropriate data resources and stakeholders to determine regional and local high-value workforce credentials. The Texas Workforce Commission’s Target Occupations regional lists were an important resource for state and regional labor market information..

Grantees can also consult the Brookings Institution’s Texas Workforce Development Toolkit, which offers data sourced from THECB, Texas Workforce Commission, and Burning Glass. The toolkit features growth projection and occupational value metrics, with data and analytics broken down by Texas workforce regions.

MARKETING AND OUTREACH SUPPORT

Reskilling grantees who are not in a consortium may spend up to 10% of the value of their grant on marketing and outreach to students. THECB put this program modification in effect on July 15, 2021.

Recommendations and tips on effective marketing and outreach were the subject of a July 2021 grantee workshop (see below.)

RESKILLING GRANTEE WORKSHOP SERIES

In June 2021, THECB launched a workshop series for Reskilling Grant grantees. Links to recordings of the workshops as well as links to topic resources may be found below.

Webinar 1: Innovations in Adult Learner Outreach – June 22, 2021
Passcode: 5X0R%BNT

Recent Adult Learner Resources List

Webinar 2: Marketing Now – July 28, 2021
Slide deck: Texas Reskilling Grant – Marketing Workshop Slides – THECB – August 2021. [PDF]

INFORMATIONAL GRANTEE MEETINGS

THECB hosted several informational meetings for reskilling grantees to support the administration and management of the grants.

Other Grant Information

REQUESTS FOR APPLICATIONS

APPLICANT INFORMATION

Contact

Texas Reskilling Support Fund Program

Inquiries regarding the Texas Reskilling Support Fund Program should be directed in writing via email to the Reskilling Grant team.

Email Reskilling Team