The Employment and Training Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor (Labor) is soliciting applications in support of the administration of the Rural Postsecondary and Economic Development (RPED) Grant Program on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education (ED).
Donor Name: Office of Postsecondary Education
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/23/2026
Size of the Grant: More than $1 million
Grant Duration: 4 Years
Details:
The purpose of the RPED Grant Program is to improve rates of postsecondary enrollment, persistence, and completion among rural students through development of career pathways aligned to high-skill, high-wage, and indemand industry sectors and occupations in the region.
This funding opportunity aims to advance America’s Talent Strategy, which emphasizes reindustrializing America, expanding earn-while-you-learn models including Registered Apprenticeships (29 CFR part 29 and 5 CFR 362.102), and building a skilled American workforce capable of powering the nation’s manufacturing resurgence, energy dominance, and technological leadership.
Priorities
- Absolute Priority 1 – Rural Applicants
- Absolute Priority 2 – Work-based Learning (from the Secretary’s Final Supplemental Priority and Definitions on Career Pathways and Workforce Readiness
- Absolute Priority 3 – Career Pathways and Workforce Readiness (from the Secretary’s Final Supplemental Priority and Definitions on Career Pathways and Workforce Readiness
- Competitive Preference Priority 1 – Returning Education to the States (from the Secretary’s Supplemental Priorities and Definitions on Evidence-Based Literacy, Education Choice, and Returning Education to the States
- Invitational Priority – Promoting Development of AI Literacy Skills
Funding Information
- Estimated Available Funds: $45,000,000.
- Estimated Range of Awards: $1,500,000- $2,500,000.
- Estimated Average Size of Awards: $2,250,000 over four years.
- Maximum Award: $2,500,000.
Grant Period
48 months.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible applicants are Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs), as defined in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA) (20 U.S.C. 1001), that are public or private nonprofit IHEs, and public and private nonprofit organizations and agencies.
- Note: “Public agencies” includes State Education Agencies and State Higher Education Agencies.
- Note: An applicant that is a nonprofit organization may, under 34 CFR 75.51, demonstrate its nonprofit status by providing:
- Proof that the Internal Revenue Service currently recognizes the applicant as an organization to which contributions are tax deductible under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
- A statement from a state taxing body or the State attorney general certifying that the organization is a nonprofit organization operating within the State and that no part of its net earnings may lawfully benefit any private shareholder or individual.
- A certified copy of the applicant’s certificate of incorporation or similar document if it clearly establishes the nonprofit status of the applicant; or
- Any item described above if that item applies to a State or national parent organization, together with a statement by the State or parent organization that the applicant is a local nonprofit affiliate.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
