The Employment and Training Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor (Labor), is soliciting applications in support of the administration of the Talent Search Program (TS) on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education (ED). The purpose of the Talent Search Program is to identify qualified individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds with potential for education at the postsecondary level and encourage them to complete secondary school and undertake postsecondary education.
Talent Search projects publicize the availability of, and facilitate the application for, student financial assistance for persons who seek to pursue postsecondary education and encourage persons who have not completed programs at the secondary or postsecondary level to enter or reenter and complete these programs.
In a rapidly evolving economy where opportunity belongs to those equipped with the right knowledge and choices, the Talent Search program serves as an essential earlyintervention bridge for underserved learners nationwide. Talent Search aims to deliver personalized academic, financial, and college and career guidance while dramatically broadening awareness of a variety of accessible postsecondary pathways beyond high school.
This grant opportunity is fully aligned with America's Talent Strategy, encouraging grantees to expand services to learners to explore a variety of postsecondary opportunities, including Registered Apprenticeship. These options include enhanced programing focused on pre-apprenticeships and other work-based learning experiences that combine paid, on-the-job training with academic credit and industry recognized credentials in high demand fields such as skilled trades, healthcare, manufacturing, information technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and shipbuilding and other occupations critical for the defense industrial base.
2026FY priorities are:
Absolute Priority: For Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 and any subsequent year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded applications from this competition, the priority is an absolute priority. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3), we consider only applications that meet the absolute priority. Each application must clearly identify the specific subset of the absolute priority for which a grant is requested.
- Projects or proposals that will do one or more of the following:
- (a) expand access to education services that accelerate learning such as high-impact tutoring,
- (b) expand access to one or more of the following at the high school or postsecondary level: distance education, pre-apprenticeships, or Registered Apprenticeships, including Registered Apprenticeships for in-school or out-of-school youth, or
- (c) expand access to programs or coursework that lead to in-demand, industry-recognized postsecondary credentials.
Competitive Preference Priority: For FY 2026, and any subsequent year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded applications from this competition, this priority is a competitive preference priority. An application may receive a maximum of 5 additional points under the competitive preference priority. ED will not review or award points where an applicant fails to clearly identify the competitive preference priority that it wishes ED to consider for purposes of awarding competitive preference priority points.
- Projects or proposals that will be carried out by one or more of the following:
- (a) State educational agencies (as defined in 20 U.S.C. 7801(49)),
- (b) State workforce development agencies or boards,
- (c) State higher education agencies (as defined in 20 U.S.C. 1003(22), or
- (d) An Indian Tribe (as defined in 25 U.S.C. 5304(e)), Tribal organization (as defined in 25 U.S.C. 5304(l)), or Tribal educational agency (as defined in 20 U.S.C. 7452(b)(3))
Invitational Priority: For FY 2026 and any subsequent year in which we make awards from the list of unfunded applications from this competition, these priorities are invitational priorities. Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(1), we do not give an application that meets these invitational priorities a competitive or absolute preference over other applications.
- Projects that are designed to strengthen their career and personal counseling activities (as authorized in 402B(c)) to improve student persistence, postsecondary access and opportunity, and create a scalable data infrastructure that connects education to workforce outcomes by doing the following:
- (a) integrating learning and employment records (LER) with AI-enabled learner wallets to transform student support services into personalized, skills based pathways to postsecondary success and employment, and
- (b) expanding access to talent marketplaces composed of credential registries (e.g. publishing education and training programs in structured, open, linked, and interoperable data formats), skills based job description generators, LERs that connect Talent Search participants, employers, and education providers through a common currency of skills.
$171,000,000 was expected to be allocated to this program in 2021.
Talent Search project proposals should seek to serve learners from socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, including students with disabilities, foster care youth, or otherwise disconnected youth. Grantees should, to the extent possible, develop applications that demonstrate how participants gain the early awareness, skills, confidence, and connections needed to either acquire a standard high school diploma or its equivalent and enroll in an in-demand postsecondary program. This grant is more than preparation; it is about empowerment. Through the Talent Search opportunity, we are seeking to not only increase postsecondary enrollment but aim to cultivate a generation of career-ready Americans.
Costs that are unallowable under the Talent Search program include, but are not limited to, the following: