Career Pathways Exploration Grant Program

Career Pathways Exploration Grant Program

Supports state systems in the United States creating career exploration pathways for students and learners.

⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.

The Career Pathways Exploration Grant Program (CFDA 84.424J) provides competitive grants exclusively to U.S. states to build statewide capacity for integrating career exploration into K-12 education and workforce readiness programs. Newly authorized under the joint U.S. Department of Education and Department of Labor Elementary and Secondary Education Partnership, the program reflects the current administration's "Returning Education to the States" policy framework, which channels flexibility and resources through state agencies rather than directly to local organizations.

The FY2026 competition offers $44,000,000 across 6 to 15 awards with a ceiling of $9,000,000 per state. The deadline is June 9, 2026 at 11:59:59 PM EDT; the application package is listed on Grants.gov (listing 362311). Eligibility is strictly limited to state-level entities: the governor, or a governor's designee such as a state education agency (SEA), state workforce development agency, state vocational rehabilitation agency, or a consortium of these bodies. One application per state is permitted, meaning competing states are ranked against each other for a share of the $44 million pool.

Because eligibility is restricted to governors and designated state agencies, this program is not accessible to nonprofit organizations, school districts, universities, or private companies as lead applicants. States that win awards will use the funding to develop or expand statewide career pathways infrastructure — for example, labor market data systems, career counseling curricula, and employer partnership frameworks — that local education agencies can then draw upon. The competitiveness of any individual state's application will depend on the strength of its existing career pathways framework, the specificity of its expansion plan, and the alignment of the proposed activities with both DOE and DOL workforce priorities.