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.

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 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 Texas Reskilling Support Fund Grant Program is designed to support the reskilling and upskilling of Texas workers displaced by the pandemic and individuals seeking to complete their degrees, with an emphasis on non-traditional students. 
 
The emphasis on non-traditional students remains intact with the March 9, 2022 changes. The six-month or one long semester gap requirement applies to everyone receiving Reskilling support, including relatively recent high school graduates. 
 
Please keep in mind that “newly enrolled” is not synonymous with “first-time undergraduate,” a designation regarding high school-to-college direct enrollment following high school graduation (see Glossary of Data Terms, p32). Program support is not available to students who are not high school graduates or who are direct to college enrollees, as the purpose of this grant is to address the urgent needs of those students impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

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 were effective from September 1, 2021. An informational webinar was held for grantees on October 14 and may be accessed at the link below. These modifications were incorporated in the Reskilling Round 3 competition.

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, Two and Three

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

REQUESTS FOR APPLICATIONS

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.