How WorkTexas Actually Pays for ‘Free’

Almost nothing at WorkTexas costs a participant money, which raises the obvious question: who’s paying? The answer, Mike Feinberg says, is a patchwork he’s spent years learning to navigate on his students’ behalf, one grant program and one workforce board at a time.

Mike Feinberg on the Maze of Workforce Funding

“Basically, in this country, if someone is unemployed or underemployed, they can get help to learn a new trade,” Feinberg says. “Unfortunately, we make it more difficult than it needs to be to access. It gets bucketed into these smaller grants; we help people navigate that.” Most of that money flows from the U.S. Department of Labor through Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act formula grants to the Texas Workforce Commission, then out to local workforce boards that approve providers and fund individual students. Staff spend as much time on paperwork as they do on curriculum.

More Than 50 Partners, One Free Program

WorkTexas now counts more than 50 funding partners, mixing federal dollars, state grants and private philanthropy so only a small share of participants ever pay out of pocket. A newer federal option, Workforce Pell, could eventually simplify that patchwork further, letting qualifying students apply through the familiar FAFSA process instead of a maze of workforce-board grants. Whether that option reaches WorkTexas depends on approval processes still being finalized at the state level. Feinberg’s ongoing commentary on funding and policy shows up across his public profiles, including his speaker page, his Facebook and his personal site.

Almost nothing at WorkTexas costs a participant money, which raises the obvious question: who’s paying? The answer, Mike Feinberg says, is a patchwork he’s spent years learning to navigate on his students’ behalf, one grant program and one workforce board at a time. Mike Feinberg on the Maze of Workforce Funding “Basically, in this country,…