Texas Reskilling Support Fund Grant Program

The Texas Reskilling Support Fund Grant Program provides emergency educational support to students that have been most significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund aids in the continuation of their education and economic recovery.

Reskilling Grants to institutions support two populations:

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

Grant Purpose

Reskilling Grants allow 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 are intended to be deployed as quickly as reasonably possible during the grant period.

Funding Source

The Texas Reskilling Support Fund Grant Program stems from the allocation of $175 million provided to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board from the Governor’s Emergency Educational Relief (GEER) Fund. GEER dollars, in turn, originate 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.

Reskilling Round Three – Applications Due November 3, 2021

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) is pleased to announce a third round of Reskilling grant funding open to Texas public institutions of higher education, private non-profit institutions of higher education, public health-related institutions, non-profit private health-related institutions, and consortia of these eligible institutions.

APPLICATION SUBMISSION DEADLINE:  November 3, 2021, 5 p.m. CDT/CST

The THECB anticipates announcing awards in mid-November 2021.

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

THECB has made a set of modifications to Rounds 1 and 2 of the Texas Reskilling Support Fund Grant Program that are effective from September 1, 2021. Grantees will be issued NOGA amendments with details about these changes in October 2021. An informational webinar will be held for grantees on October 14 at 1 pm Central. You may register for the event at the link below:

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_krqpNzPUSDWtqaNXBTHORg

Extension of the Grant Period and New Reporting Schedule

Both Round 1 and Round 2 grantees will have 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 will be in place.

Revision of Student Eligibility Requirement

The requirement that students be “near completion” to a credential to be eligible for financial support is removed.

Expansion of Eligible Credential Programs

Academic degree programs that are now eligible to be selected as eligible high value credentials include post-Baccalaureate, Masters, Doctoral and Post-Doctoral level programs. These programs must represent high value to students in terms of their occupational pathways following credential completion. 

Reskilling Grantees Rounds One and Two

The first round of awards under the Texas Reskilling Support Fund Grant Program was announced in January 2021. Through a competitive Request for Applications (RFA) process, forty applicants representing forty-nine institutions were selected. In early 2021 a second round of the competitive RFA process for Reskilling Grants was held. In March 2021 THECB announced an additional twenty-five awards to thirty-one institutions.

Grantee Resources

LABOR MARKET INFORMATION RESOURCES

High value credentials are central to the goal of Texas Reskilling Support Fund Grant Program. We urge reskilling grantees to consult appropriate data resources and consult stakeholders to determine regional and local high value workforce credentials. The Texas Workforce Commission’s Target Occupations regional lists are 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. The toolkit may be accessed on the Brooking Institution website. 

The Brookings Institution hosted an Information Session on the Texas Workforce Development Toolkit on November 9, 2020. The session recording may be found at the link below.

Webinar - https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/GYNByGXCZykrnHmIHdZitNaGc643pUBJV91_toIFnsqx2voFTGdfpgw9eRPxEOSi.bvZKSf0aq_etkmdd 
Passcode: 5X0R%BNR Be sure to use the passcode to access the recording. The session starts around six minutes in.

MARKETING AND OUTREACH SUPPORT

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

Grantee institutions must submit a budget for this work with their interim report form as well as a marketing and outreach intake form to the THECB Communications team for review.

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

Marketing Plan Intake Form for Grantees Only:
https://form.asana.com?k=HaMUpiDbiKqG_p6Y68sicQ&d=1198868191053391

RESKILLING GRANTEE WORKSHOP SERIES

In June 2021 THECB launched a workshop series for Reskilling 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
https://zoom.us/rec/share/HIkHw2kGxSTOB9Yz__TjCdZFfeXlLBSwLj06Jcta4RKFu_92_NCKcXgHj6YWtlhV.fqlkT88kEE-3ausS?startTime=1624386621000
Passcode: 5X0R%BNT

Recent Adult Learner Resources List

Webinar 2: Marketing Now – July 28, 2021
The video of the workshop can be accessed using this link: https://zoom.us/rec/share/qnGL9NDEBwnbJc1qdj1Ik9PabVkscWKOE4dx0fJju9JbqoFWRVO4PLPqaayPDttO.B0YU6lWZkNVG45_N?startTime=1627486333000 and the slide deck may be found at Texas Reskilling Grant - Marketing Workshop Slides - THECB - August 2021. [PDF]

INFORMATIONAL GRANTEE MEETINGS

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

Other Grant Information

ROUNDS 1 and 2 RFAs

APPLICANT INFORMATION

Point of Contact

All inquiries and communication concerning the Texas Reskilling Support Fund Grant Program should be directed in writing via email to Reskilling@highered.texas.gov.