Skills Development Fund

Skills Development Fund

Supports Texas Workforce Commission partnerships between public colleges and employers for practical workforce training.

The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) Skills Development Fund finances customized job training partnerships between Texas public community and technical colleges and the businesses that hire their graduates. Administered by TWC, the program operates on a rolling, year-round application basis with no fixed annual deadline. The fund has been active for decades as the flagship employer-driven training instrument for the state, channeling state dollars through educational institutions rather than directly to employers. Average per-trainee cost funded is approximately $2,400, reflecting tuition, instruction, and direct training expenses.

Awards range from $50,000 for proposals without an employer partner to $500,000 for those with a committed business partner; consortium proposals serving multiple employers may receive larger allocations. Applicants must be Texas public community colleges, technical colleges, workforce development boards, TEEX, or TEES — for-profit companies and nonprofits are not eligible to apply directly. Business partners must be in good standing with state and federal tax obligations, and all trainees must be full-time W-2 employees. Grant periods are typically 12 months. The program is sector-agnostic in principle but in practice serves manufacturing, healthcare, logistics, energy, and technology employers most frequently.

Competitive proposals demonstrate a concrete employer partner with a signed training plan, a clear occupational target aligned with regional labor-market demand, and cost-effectiveness relative to the $2,400 per-trainee benchmark. Organizations that can document wage gains and retention data for prior cohorts score stronger in review. Because the applicant is always an educational institution — not the employer — businesses seeking this funding must recruit a qualifying college partner and co-design the curriculum before the application is submitted.