Funding Opportunity via U.S. Department of Education – $50 Million Available to Support High-Quality, Short-Term Programs via Talent Marketplaces and Credential Registries

The U.S. Department of Education released a notice inviting applications for new awards to the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education – Special Projects (FIPSE). See November 12, 2025 notice in the Federal Register. Funding is available to institutions of higher education (IHEs), combinations of such institutions, and other public and private nonprofit institutions and agencies, including state higher education agencies, for a variety of innovative projects, including supporting capacity-building for, or expansion of, high-quality, short-term programs. Approximately $50 million is available in this category, with an absolute priority focused on Talent Marketplaces and the development of Credential Registries.  

This grant would serve as a way for states to support work on improving data collection and reporting capabilities of short-term programs and credentials, or developing or enhancing partnerships with employers to facilitate industry alignment, among other priorities outlined in the notice.  Credential Registries are part of one of the absolute priorities.  

Through our open technologies, the Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL) and the Credential Registry, Credential Engine enables states, regions, and institutions to catalog, connect, and make sense of the wide array of high-quality, short-term credentials available in today’s complex education and training landscape. By incorporating Credential Engine’s  services, state agencies, workforce development organizations, and higher education institutions can more effectively build systems that are sustainable and scalable to align high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand industry sectors or occupations to the education and training pathways available to learners. 

Credential Engine encourages everyone to use this opportunity to advance their credential transparency work by including in their proposals that they are, or will work with us; use structured, open, linked data structures (like CTDL) to ensure interoperability, and incorporate our technologies to build state-based registries for high-quality, short-term programs.

The deadline to apply is December 3, 2025. Please see the link above for more information.

Please contact Scott Cheney, scheney@credentialengine.org, if you are interested in learning more or have any questions.