More Gen Zers are Opting for Trade School. Here’s How The Government Plans To Support Them

More young Americans are choosing to skip traditional university for a trade degree or certification, and the Department of Education has plans to support this shift.

College enrollment numbers have declined since the onset of COVID-19, as university costs rise and become too expensive for some. Instead of college, many Gen Z high school graduates opt to work straight out of school or choose a trade or vocational school instead of a traditional four-year bachelor’s degree.

For the spring 2025 term, enrollment for Bachelor’s programs grew by 2.1%. During the same time, comparatively, the number of students signing up for a two-year vocational program grew by 11.7%, according to research by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, a higher-education research organization.

The Department of Education Is Working On Trade School-Supporting Programs.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order in April, ruling that his administration would invest in and improve American workforce programs and apprenticeships. In response, the Department of Education announced in May that it would partner with the Department of Labor to help states create more trade school programs.

The partnership recently announced it is launching a “content management system” to help states create a four-year plan to develop and administer workforce, adult education, and family literacy programs. The Department of Education said the system is still being implemented and will update states when it is officially launched.

“The Trump Administration is committed to ensuring that all Americans are prepared for a fulfilling and meaningful career,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a press release. “Thanks to our workforce development partnership, states will now be able to more easily and efficiently administer their programs.”

This summer, Congress passed the “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” which introduced the “Workforce Pell Grant Program.” This new program will start during the 2026-27 academic school year, expanding the Pell Grant program to students taking certificate or licensing programs between eight and 15 weeks.

While students in eligible longer workforce programs have always been able to get Pell Grants, students enrolled in short-term certificate or licensing programs at an accredited higher education institution will now be able to receive these grants. These shorter programs can lead to trade apprenticeships and jobs like HVAC technicians or medical assistants.

However, this grant program may be delayed until the 2027-28 academic year, said Megan Walter, senior policy analyst with the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

The new Pell Grant program has to go through the Negotiating Rulemaking process before it becomes official. Several higher education experts say hearings to determine the official language of the Workforce Pell Grant Program should finish by Nov. 1 so it can be ready for the 2026 semester. However, the hearings are currently scheduled for December and January.

Once the hearings are complete, it takes at least two months to create a final rule, which is likely not a reasonable amount of time for the program to be implemented by next year, Walter said.

“Best case scenario, they could wrap [Negotiating Rulemaking] up by the end of March, and then they would have to hand it over to the schools, to the state governments to figure out a way to implement this,” Walter said. “I can’t imagine implementation goes really smoothly in a span of four months.”