Texas Reskilling Support Fund Grant Program

The Texas Reskilling Support Fund Grant Program is a $46.5 million fund established to provide essential emergency educational support to students that have been most significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and aid in the continuation of their education and economic recovery.

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

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.

Grant Purpose

Reskilling Grants will allow institutions to provide financial assistance to Texas students through coverage of student tuition and fees. The grants will support students pursuing high value credentials who are near completion of their postsecondary credential and re-enrolling to complete a postsecondary credential. Reskilling Grants are intended to be deployed as quickly as reasonably possible during the 2021 calendar year. 

Request for Applications

The THECB will distribute Reskilling Grants to institutions competitively through the RFA process. All public Texas colleges, technical schools, and universities are eligible to apply. Due to the complex and evolving issues related to the delivery of postsecondary education and training during COVID-19, institutions are encouraged to collaborate with other higher education institutions, employers, and Regional Workforce Development Boards in the development and execution of this effort. 

Reskilling grant applications are due November 12, 2020 by 5:00 pm CDT/CST.

Information Sessions and Webinars

A Reskilling Grants Informational Webinar for potential applicants was held on November 2, 2020.  A recording of the event and presentation slide deck are available below.

*NEW* An Information Session on the Texas Workforce Development Toolkit was hosted by Brookings Institution on November 9. The session recording may be found here. 

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.

Key Dates

Dates Application Steps
October 21, 2020 RFA Published
November 2, 2020 Informational Webinar 3:00 pm CDT/CST
November 6, 2020 Last Day for Application Inquiries 5:00 pm CDT/CST
November 9, 2020 Information Session on Texas Workforce Development Toolkit 2:00pm CDT/CST
November 12, 2020 Application Deadline 5:00 pm CDT/CST
December 18, 2020 THECB Announcement of Grant Awards

Grant Resources

Applicants should consult appropriate data resources and conduct stakeholder consultations to determine high value workforce credentials for support. The Texas Workforce Commission’s Target Occupations regional lists are an important resource for state and regional labor market information.

In support of the application process, THECB is pleased to announce a new resource for public Institutions of Higher Education seeking information and data on high value credentials. The Brookings Institution has created the 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. It may be accessed here: Toolkit

Point of Contact

All inquiries and communication concerning this RFA should be directed in writing via email to Reskilling@highered.texas.gov. No contact shall be made with other THECB personnel regarding this RFA. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in the disqualification of an Application.