Answers for your most pressing questions

Workforce Edge helps companies keep talented, motivated employees and build strong teams for key roles. We can help you get more out of your education benefits spend. Employees learn skills they can use right away. Leaders can see in real time who is learning, what’s working, and where to invest next. Our partners have seen better employee engagement, stronger talent retention, and more people moving into new roles from within. For example, Baptist Health got more employees to use their education benefits by making them easier to access. Ardent Health Services helped employees grow into the roles the company needed most. Caesars Entertainment cut costs and got a clearer view of its education spend. The result is a stronger workforce and a clear link between learning and business outcomes.

Workforce Edge is built to support what matters most to leaders across your company. HR leaders can help employees see a path to grow, fill key roles from within, and plan based on real skills data. Finance leaders can tie education spend to results, spend less on outside hiring, and track where money is going. Operations and business leaders can help their teams build skills faster, so the company doesn’t have to wait on outside hiring to get things done. Technology leaders can make sure their teams have the skills to use the tools the company is investing in.

Most education benefit programs run on spreadsheets, emails, and manual steps. That can get messy fast, and most employees end up never using the benefit at all. There is usually no clear way to see who is participating, how much is being spent, or what anyone is getting out of it. Workforce Edge puts everything in one place. Employees can see what programs are available and how much budget they have, which makes them more likely to use it. Managers can actively help their teams grow. And your HR team gets more than a platform; they get a collaborative partner who builds the program that best fits your workforce development needs.

Jobs are changing fast: as AI and other skill gaps emerge, many organizations can’t train their people fast enough while others struggle with retention. Meanwhile, many leaders don't have a clear picture of what skills their employees already have. Without that visibility, it's hard to plan ahead or know if their education spend is effective. Companies end up hiring from outside when they could grow talent from within. Workforce Edge connects learning to real skills and business outcomes: by partnering with us, you can build your team from the inside, move faster when things change, and feel confident about your education investment.

Workforce Edge pricing is built around your specific program and workforce. There are two main components: the first is a one-time setup fee that covers configuring and connecting everything. The second is an ongoing annual fee that covers the platform, support, reporting, and your dedicated account team. The money your employees use for learning is separate and stays fully in your control. What you pay depends on factors like how many employees you have, how complex your program is, and what integrations you need. Most companies use their existing education or L&D budget to cover the cost. Once we know more about your goals, we can give you a number that fits.

For most companies, Workforce Edge is paid for with money they are already spending on education. Our approach is to use that money better, not spend more. Workforce Edge lets you choose how to set up your funding. You can use different funding models, take advantage of the $5,250 tax-advantaged education threshold, or make some programs tuition-free for employees. You can also mix approaches for different groups and pick education providers that give you the best value. The goal is to help more employees build the right skills without going over your current budget. Try out our tax savings calculator tool as a first step to see how much you could save to reinvest in employee upskilling.

Getting started with Workforce Edge is a smooth, step-by-step process. A dedicated team from Workforce Edge guides you the whole way from setup and configuration to testing and launch. The technical side uses connections your team likely already has in place, like SSO and HRIS data feeds. Most of the effort is setting up the platform to match your existing policies, not building something new. For most companies, the whole process takes about 10 to 12 weeks, depending on the size and scope of your program.

Workforce Edge is built to take work off your HR team's plate, not add to it. You will have a dedicated account team, including an enterprise partner manager and customer success manager, who check in often and meet with you each quarter. They look at participation, spending, and outcomes and help you find ways to improve your program over time. Workforce Edge also handles day-to-day tasks like processing requests, reviewing documents, and answering employee questions. Your team gets real-time dashboards, so you always know how the program is going without having to manually pull together data.

For most companies, this is not really a switch. It’s a chance to get more value from money you’re already spending. Instead of asking what it costs to switch, the better question is: what are we getting from our current investment, and how do we make it work better? Workforce Edge brings structure, visibility, and alignment to your existing education benefit. It does not disrupt employees or require a big internal lift. The real risk is not making a change to a program that truly drives results.

Both types of Pell Grants provide federal money to help people pay for school. The big difference is which programs they cover. Traditional Pell Grants have been available for programs that meet a minimum length requirement, usually 15 weeks. Workforce Pell Grants are new. They expand federal aid to certain short-term workforce training programs that can be as short as eight weeks long. These programs must be designed to prepare students for in-demand occupations. They will often focus on specific job skills in fields like healthcare, skilled trades, and technology. To qualify, a program must be approved by both the state in which it is offered and the federal government. Not every short program will qualify. Because implementation is still underway, available programs will be limited and vary by state. The school or training provider is the right place to find out if a specific program qualifies. 

It depends on the specific program. A Pell Grant is federal financial aid, so eligibility is determined by federal rules and by the school, not by the employer. For a program to qualify for a Workforce Pell Grant, it generally must be approved through both state and federal processes and must prepare students for high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand occupations. Many eligible programs are expected to focus on fields like healthcare, skilled trades, or technology. The employee also needs to meet all of the federal eligibility requirements for Pell Grants. One important thing for employers to know: employees who receive employer-sponsored education benefits should check with their school’s financial aid office to understand how those benefits may be treated when determining eligibility for a Pell Grant or other financial aid. 

Workforce Pell Grants are subject to many of the same basic rules as traditional Pell Grants. Eligibility is based on financial need. Employees apply through the FAFSA (the federal student aid form). The amount of aid depends on several factors established under federal student aid rules, including the student’s financial circumstances, how many hours they are taking, and the cost of the program. What's new is that these rules now apply to certain short-term training programs, not just longer degree programs. The program itself has to qualify. It must be approved by the state and the Department of Education. It must also meet federal performance standards related to student completion, job placement, and earnings outcomes. The school offering the program is responsible for meeting those requirements, not the employer. Employees should talk to the school's financial aid office to learn more about their specific situation. 

Both Pell Grants and employer tuition assistance can help pay for education, but they serve different purposes. Tuition reimbursement is a benefit offered by an employer. Workforce Pell Grants are a form of federal financial aid for students who meet eligibility requirements. For some employees, a Workforce Pell Grant may help cover costs that their employer benefit does not. For others, an employer education benefit may be the better fit because it covers more programs and may have fewer barriers to entry, such as eligibility requirements. In some cases, employees may be able to benefit from both. Employers should be aware that the way an education benefit is structured—for example, whether it covers the full cost of attendance—may affect a student's eligibility for federal financial aid. Employees who receive both employer education benefits and federal student aid should work with their school's financial aid office to understand how these funding sources may interact under federal aid rules. A financial aid advisor at the school can help students understand how different sources of educational funding may apply to their individual situation. 

Workforce Pell creates a potential new pathway for eligible employees to pursue shorter-term, job-aligned training. Instead of spending years in school, employees may be able to complete a qualifying short-term training program—sometimes as short as eight weeks—and earn a credential in an in-demand field such as healthcare, HVAC, electrical work, or transportation. Many of these credentials can also be stackable, meaning an employee could use them as a pathway toward a certificate, an associate degree, or another educational credential over time. For employers, this may create additional opportunities for employees to develop skills through shorter workforce-focused programs. The school offering the program can explain what pathways are available and whether a particular credential can be applied toward further education. 

Not all short-term programs will qualify for federal financial aid. To be eligible for a Workforce Pell Grant, a program must meet specific federal eligibility requirements. It must be approved by the governor of the state where it is offered. It also has to be approved by the U.S. Department of Education. The program needs to prepare students for high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand occupations, and it must meet federal performance standards related to student completion, job placement, and earnings outcomes. These approvals happen program by program and state by state, so a program available in one state may not be approved in another. The school or training provider applies for this approval; it is not something the employer or the employee does. The best way to find out if a specific program qualifies is to ask the school directly.