Training options for the unemployed

nancym wrote:I just learned something I never knew about training programs. Anyone who already has a Bachelors degree generally knows that you can't get a Pell Grant for more advanced schooling beyond that degree. But apparently the one exception is if you want to get a teaching certificate. So for anyone interested in changing careers to get into teaching K-12, a Pell Grant combined with possible WIA training grant (up to $6000), and maybe a small student loan if that isn't enough to survive on, is a possible new direction for the unemployed.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4549008_get-pell-grant-masters-degree.html

http://pell-grants.org/getting-pell-grant-for-a-master%E2%80%99s-degree/

to further add some details to this. Under the stipulations for this, if you already have an undergrad degree you must enroll in a program that leads to another undergrad degree and not a graduate degree. Reason I know this is because my wife is in school for her master's in education and the only type of pell grant offered is a TEACH grant which you must sign to work in specific areas for a number of years to receive the money. here is a link to the federal student aid that explains in more detail about receiving a pell grant :

http://ifap.ed.gov/sfahandbooks/attachments/0304Vol3Ch1.pdf


on the teach grant:

http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/TEACH.jsp

Up to $2500 to go to school from the federal government. If you can front or borrow the money this year for education, Uncle Sam will give you back anywhere from $1000 to $2500 for your tuition in the form of a tax rebate or rebate, details here:

http://www.aralifestyle.com/article.aspx?UserFeedGuid=790f937a-c021-4f40-b71d-51b495ef27d1&ArticleId=2507&ComboId=8230&title=Obama-will-give-you-2-500-a-year-to-go-to-school

[This is a duplicate of a post in the job networking thread which diverged into a discussion about training, so I'm copying it here.]

Robyn wrote:Nancy, I know you know, but to clarify, South Florida Workforce covers Miami-Dade and Monroe. The head of it is looking elsewhere, like DOL, for additional money, and never expected to run out before Feb.-March. (he was my source.) Broward's Workforce One had job-training funds as of Tuesday, but the unsettling part is the contradictory information. Each workforce operates differently, and that's part of it. Even if your workforce runs low, it can quickly apply for emergency grants. Were you thinking comm. college? I was thinking about that, but I'm now wondering if I should leave Fla.
Maybe the Davie center is out of money for special programs at the center. I'll ask a few people.

Ha-ha! Proving once again that I don't know absolutely everything, it actually never dawned on me that "South Florida Workforce" was referring to only Dade-Monroe! (Jeesh, do they think they have a monopoly on the term "South Florida"?) Having dealt only with the Broward Workforce centers I just assumed that you were referring to the entire South Florida region and didn't realize the distinction.

It's the WIA program that I am interested in getting into. And probably not for community college unless I couldn't start until summer term--a bit too far in the future for me. I need certain specific computer skills to ramp up those I already have and the experience I already have to be more competitive for jobs that I see that interest me but are just out of reach of my resume. I'm more likely, according to their ITA list of programs, to get that from either one of the local tech colleges where I could start in Feb-March, or else one of the more high-tech centers that made deals to "bundle" software courses in the program (but they tend to be more expensive). I couldn't afford or want to even borrow for more than a year, but I believe I could get what I need in a year or less, if I can find the right combo for a program.

But it's disturbing to have this uncertainty about funds when it comes to making life-critical decisions. Thanks for the alert, especially since I noticed a kind of vague CYA type of talk when I tried to really pin down those people on the phone as to why they told me three weeks earlier there were no funds and now they say there are but keep emphasizing the words "depending on availability," as if I'm supposed to understand some kind of code or something. Like what are you saying, guys?

So when I sit down next week with my new case manager, I'm going to drag it out of her if I can what the real story is, or else question how much I can rely on them telling me there are funds that will be there when I need them.

If you hear anything new, we'd all appreciate any "inside info" that you think is reliable. And also, I'm not too surprised to hear that Miami ran out of funds since they have a much higher unemployment rate than Broward. Maybe you should just move to Broward!

Nancy, after I replied I realized you probably were talking about WIA! That makes sense. I just went thru the ITA list again - you have some good choices. The tech schools might be the best option. I admire you for pushing to get answers; some people I know gave up before sitting down w/ a case manager. Please update after your meeting, ok? With your experience, maybe you could finish courses in well under a year. I can't think down the road that much w/out having anxiety attacks. Not really, but I'm not convinced things will improve much this year.

I'm glad I looked thru the updated list, bec when I last looked, I didn't see much in the field I'm interested in -- school, mental health or substance abuse counseling. But some certificate and other programs are offered, which would be realistic only if I had some income, as in PT work. Also, I'm now northwest of you, up a county.

I can't wait to hear what you find out. It would be great if your courses were completely covered -- if you received approval and funding for a mapped-out program. I hope they work that way.

Robyn did you go back to Workforce Alliance? I tried four times (dade and pb) and received referrals to One Stops and all their "professional" networking services etc.. it was "procedure" The One Stop people knew nothing about WIA programs, so i wasted alot of time.
just wondering if anyone at the alliance discussed what resources were available if changing fields. thanks

While I'm here in this thread, I thought I'd better give an update on my WIA experiences. If you don't know what WIA is, read back a few posts. Many areas do not have any funds for WIA training, in some areas the training opportunities are limited because of the location, and in others there are still WIA funds. These funds are if you are on or have exhausted unemployment benefits and you want to take some kind of technical training or take advantage of many college offerings that are funded by WIA.

I'm here in Broward County, and I was told some months ago that there was plenty of WIA funding available. I figured that since the funds paid only for tuition and books, I would have to get a federal student loan or two in order to go anywhere at all. And federal loans do not require a credit check.

Since I was already familiar with the common practice of many private schools charging huge fees and getting students into gross amounts of debt by luring them into those programs, and I couldn't even borrow enough in loans for a tech associates degree at those private schools anyway (I already have a masters degree, but loans are based on your current program) I avoided the much more expensive schools on the eligible list and chose the county's own tech and community colleges to start looking.

I wasted several weeks looking at those tech schools with faster programs (every 12 weeks or so), because it turned out they have no way of working with students with federal student loans (to my surprise), so I gave up on those choices and turned to my local community college. I already had a bunch of multimedia credits from ten years ago that I could apply to a multimedia degree, so I reset my plans to start in May.

When all was said and done, after starting the whole search process in February, it turns out that the college took so incredibly long to sort out the changes and their errors in my transfer credits that I could no longer meet the deadline to get the WIA funding in place before classes started! And then I learned that the school had shorted my loan request by $400, but then I was stuck. Either continue with a bare-bones budget even smaller than what I had planned, or give up the loans and have nothing to live on except my SS check, which I had started getting in mid 2009 (but that didn't even pay my rent and electric). So I bit the bullet and paid the tuition and fees out of my upcoming loan, and was told that I would still be eligible for the WIA funds to cover tuition and fees (and maybe possibly hopefully, some of my extreme software costs).

So I am now attending two classes in the summer term, have a plan for the fall for 4 classes for each fall and winter term, and will have a new technical degree by the spring. Even though it will help to have this added degree (and I may be able to get a little extra certificate and Access certification on top of that by then), I have no illusions that this will necessarily in and of itself get me a job. It's a slight edge that I didn't have before, even with all my experience, but then I'll be yet another year older!

What I do want to gain is the actual skills, far more important in gaining attention with a portfolio or websites, for future work, whether it be temp, project, part-time, or full-time, and especially for remote work, which I've done before and still do occasionally. The two classes I'm taking now are both online, though in the fall others will be in a classroom.

So anyone who is thinking of further training, I would encourage you to check if you haven't already, if WIA funds are available for what you have in mind. Personally, I think something based in part at least on what you already know is the most likely to get you an advantage. Those who want to switch careers to something totally new, unless you have the funds and support to back you up in some way, might face starting at the bottom along with far too many applicants there already.

If you live in Broward County, check this website and the list of courses available:
http://www.wf1broward.com/JobSeeker/MoneyForTraining1.htm

If not, print that page out and ask your local workforce center if they have anything like that in your area.

One more thing, this funding is intended for those unemployed or who have exhausted benefits. So if you are still getting benefits, in theory at least, you should be able to get them while in this program. Since I exhausted all of mine before starting classes, I never had to deal with whatever red tape might be required to have benefits while in classes. But a friend of mine near Tampa did just that for all of last year, so I know it's possible. If you are fortunate enough to have an advanced degree available on your list of eligible programs, more federal loan money is available for a bachelors degree than for an associates.

Especially for those in Broward County, but possibly for other counties as well, there is money available for anyone who is on or has exhausted unemployment benefits and who wants to enter one of the available training or college programs that are listed as eligible for the WIA workforce grants. I was just told my my rep at the local workforce office that they do still have funds, that funds were re-established with the new fiscal year in July.

In summary, WIA funds provide up to $6000 for tuition and books/supplies for anyone who wants to enter one of the approved programs. Obviously, if someone can barely afford food right now, that seems a stretch, but if you've never defaulted on a student loan you can get either a Pell Grant (if no bachelors degree) and/or a federal student loan (NO credit check required!) to live on modestly while in school.

If you are still getting benefits, can you still get them if in WIA? The answer is yes, assuming no other income that would rule out benefits. Would you be able to get them with a possible Tier V (if that ever happens)? I believe so, yes, but there may be other factors in new legislation that might make that more complicated.

The big problem it seems with the WIA program in many Florida areas is that some counties have very limited training programs approved for these grants. If you checked before and they were out of funds, check again now to see if there is new funding.

As for training in general, my personal opinion is that a total career change is not the best bet to re-enter the workforce if you've already had a long career in a particular area; you would then be up against a lot of people who already have experience in a field. And then you would have possibly no job plus further debt for tuition and time spent. But if there are certain courses you need just to give you that edge, plus --importantly--show on your resume that you're updating your skills instead of just being out of the workforce, it could be worth the effort. And of course there's the hope factor, instead of feeling powerless while waiting for a possible recovery of the economy.

Here is the link for Broward County for more information: http://www.wf1broward.com/JobSeeker/MoneyForTraining1.htm
For other counties, check with your local Workforce centers, or whatever they call the employment offices in your particular county.