The Employment and Training Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor (Labor), is soliciting applications in support of the administration of the Educational Opportunity Centers Program (EOC) on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education (ED).
Donor Name: U.S. Department of Labor
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 05/14/2026
Size of the Grant: More than $1 million
Grant Duration: 5 Years
Details:
The purposes of the EOC Program are to provide information regarding financial and academic assistance available for qualified individuals who want to enter or continue to pursue a program of postsecondary education; provide assistance to those individuals in applying for admission to institutions that offer programs of postsecondary education, and improve the financial and economic literacy of program participants.
The Educational Opportunity Centers program supports counseling and assistance for low-income, first-generation and other priority adults (age 19 and older) who seek to enter or return to a postsecondary education. In the 2026 competition, the Administration is incentivizing EOC projects that deliver personalized guidance on admissions, financial aid, and economic literacy while expanding the menu of accessible pathways to mobility, including Registered Apprenticeships as well as high-quality short-term postsecondary programs aligned with the newly established Workforce Pell Grant Program.
Aligned with the Secretary of Education’s priorities on Expanding Education Choice and Career Pathways and Workforce Readiness, this EOC competition seeks proposals that go beyond traditional college enrollment to open doors to a full spectrum of high-quality postsecondary options. This includes robust, new or enhanced services focused on Registered Apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, and work-based learning experiences that combine paid, on-the-job training with academic credit and industry recognized credentials in high demand fields such as skilled trades, healthcare, manufacturing, shipbuilding, and AI related occupations.
Priorities
- Absolute Priority— Expanding Education Choice
- Projects or proposals that will do one or more of the following:
- expand access to one or more of the following at the high school or postsecondary level: Distance education, pre-apprenticeships, and Registered Apprenticeships, including apprenticeships for in-school or out-ofschool youth.
- expand access to programs or coursework that lead to indemand, industry-recognized postsecondary credentials.
- Projects or proposals that will do one or more of the following:
- Competitive Preference Priority— Returning Education to the States
- Projects or proposals that will be carried out by one or more of the following:
- State educational agencies
- State workforce development agencies or boards
- State higher education agencies
- An Indian Tribe, Tribal organization, or Tribal educational agency
- Projects or proposals that will be carried out by one or more of the following:
- Invitational Priority— Talent Marketplaces
- Projects that are designed to strengthen their individualized personal, career, and academic counseling (as authorized in
402F(b)) to improve student persistence, postsecondary access and opportunity, and create a scalable data infrastructure that connects education to workforce outcomes by doing the following:- Integrating learning and employment records (LER) with AI-enabled learner wallets to transform support services into personalized, skills-based pathways to postsecondary success and employment, and
- Expanding access to talent marketplaces composed of credential registries (e.g. publishing education and training programs in structured, open, linked, and interoperable data formats), skills based job description generators, LERs that connect EOC participants, employers, and education providers through a common currency of skills.
- Projects that are designed to strengthen their individualized personal, career, and academic counseling (as authorized in
Funding Information
- Estimated Available Funds: $52,611,659
- Estimated Range of Awards: $238,000- $3,000,000
Grant Period
60 months.
Eligibility Criteria
- An institution of higher education
- A public or private agency or organization, including a community-based organization with experience in serving disadvantaged youth.
- Note: State educational agencies and State workforce agencies may apply as public organization.
- A secondary school
- Note: Charter Schools may apply as a secondary school.
- A combination of the types of institutions, agencies, and organizations described in paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of this section.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
