Workforce Pell Compliance Software
Workforce Pell eligibility requires 70 percent completion and 70 percent verified job placement in the second quarter after completion. Capstone tracks both continuously and produces the certification-ready export.
Eligibility
Workforce Pell scores eligibility on 70 percent completion and 70 percent placement. Placement is measured in the second quarter after a student completes.
Completion is the number programs already track. Placement in the second quarter after completion is the number most programs do not have.
The final rule published May 19, 2026. Eligible workforce programs became eligible July 1, 2026. The regulatory effective date is July 20, 2026. The first certification cycles are running now.
The standard phases in
AY 2026 to 2029 (now): 70 percent completion, 70 percent placement. Placement means any employment in Q2 after exit. No occupation match required.
AY 2029 to 2030: 70 percent of completers must be employed in the trained occupation or a comparable high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand occupation.
AY 2030 to 2031: Value-Added Earnings Test accountability begins. Governors may request a one-year extension if state data systems are insufficient.
The transitional standard is materially easier than what most programs assume. The measurement discipline it requires is not. Institutions that build the Q2 employment record starting now will have three years of history to defend when the occupation-match standard binds in 2029-30, and five when the value-added earnings test binds in 2030-31. Institutions that start when the standard tightens will not.
For the mechanics of the two thresholds and the two-year lockout on substantially similar programs, see the 70/70 thresholds compliance guide and the Workforce Pell final rule explainer. For the state-by-state certification cadence, see the Workforce Pell status page.
What you get
Completion and verified placement computed as your cohort moves, not reconstructed at certification. The 70/70 numbers are live throughout the measurement window.
The placement and earnings record in the format the certification requires. Your reporting officer files without a manual reconciliation step.
A flag when a cohort trends under 70 percent while there is still time to intervene. Not an alert at certification, when the window has already closed.
The platform reaches every exited participant on schedule and cross-verifies the employer within days of a placement claim. State reviewers stop rejecting the file for missing documentation. Your placement rate becomes the number you defend, not the number you estimate.
What changes for your program
Your program manager stops rebuilding the placement spreadsheet in the two weeks before certification. When a participant's exit anniversary hits 30, 60, or 90 days, or lands at Q2 or Q4, the platform reaches them directly. When they claim employment, the employer confirms it in 60 seconds. Every row in your certification export carries the participant response and the employer signature that produced it.
The state reviewer asks "prove this placement" and your reporting officer opens the audit trail. Not an email chain. Not a call to the case manager who left last quarter. A timestamped participant response next to a timestamped employer signature.
To see the 70/70 math against your program's actual numbers before we talk, use the public 70/70 projection tool. Same calculation engine, no login.
Boundaries
Capstone does not guarantee that a program passes 70/70. Completion and placement depend on your instruction and your labor market.
Capstone guarantees the measurement. Verified placement data, produced on schedule, in the format certification requires.
See the 70/70 tracking on your program
Bring a representative cohort and target CIP-SOC pair. We will walk through the live threshold view, the certification export, and the early-warning cadence built for the measurement window.