Overview

The federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) was signed into law on July 22, 2014. The legislation was designed to strengthen and improve the nation's public workforce system by helping individuals facing significant barriers to employment gain access to education, training, and support services to succeed in the labor market. To be eligible for funding, the law requires training providers to be included on the Eligible Training Provider List (ETPL). The list is broad and diverse to ensure support for a variety of individuals and their employment goals.

WIOA allows various funding mechanisms for authorized participants to receive training from eligible providers. These mechanisms include direct contracts for services and individual training accounts (ITA). An ITA is a payment agreement between a local workforce development board and a training provider, established on behalf of a trainee. The funding may be used to pay for any allowable type of training as long as the program of study is on the state’s ETPL.

A state or local area may, when deemed appropriate, establish a direct contract for service with a college, university, or other training provider on behalf of a group of WIOA-eligible participants, so long as they are concurrently training for an in-demand industry sector or occupation. Each state has its own ETPL.

Five types of entities are eligible for inclusion on a state’s ETPL. These entities are the only entities able to provide training for participants who enroll in a WIOA Title I-funded program of study: 

1. Institutions of higher education that provide a program leading to a recognized postsecondary credential.
2. Apprenticeship programs.
3. Other public or private providers that offer training, including community-based organizations and joint labor-management organizations.
4. Eligible providers of adult education and literacy activities under WIOA Title II.
5. Local boards.

Ten types of training provided by an entity on a state’s ETPL are allowable under Title I of WIOA: 

1. Occupational skills training, including training for nontraditional employment.
2. On-the-job training.
3. Incumbent worker training.
4. Programs that combine workplace training with related instruction, which may include cooperative education programs.
5. Training programs operated by the private sector.
6. Skill upgrading and retraining.
7. Entrepreneurial training.
8. Job readiness training provided in combination with other training services.
9. Adult education and literacy activities provided concurrently or in combination with other training services.
10. Customized training conducted after an employer or group of employers commit to hire the individual upon successful completion of the training.

States play a critical role in quality assurance by sharing information with individuals and employers about quality credentials and credentialing bodies through a variety of programs administered by states, including state ETPLs.

Research in 2014 provided a national overview of administration and management practices and the challenges of maintaining ETPLs. The research – including surveys that assessed standards and quality of performance reporting under WIA legislation – produced several findings:

• States retain considerable control in conducting key tasks associated with the ETPL.
• About a quarter of responding states have no statewide requirement for how often they update the ETPL. 
• Over half of responding states require training providers listed on another state’s ETPL to go through the same application process required of an in-state program.
• Most responding states rely on self-reported data from training providers to determine initial eligibility and to measure program performance after initial eligibility.
• Waiver and non-waiver states use similar types of data to measure program performance. 
• The most frequently cited factor influencing decisions about which data to use to measure performance was availability of the data.
• Of responding states, 61% make ETP program performance information publicly available. Among states that do not, over half have efforts underway to do so. 
• Waiver states are less likely than non-waiver states to report performance information. 
• In general, performance information is incomplete across ETP programs. 
• Most responding states update publicly reported information about ETP programs at least once a year.
• It is relatively easy for states to add new providers to the ETPL and include enough qualified providers. 
• Respondents rated collecting quality data about program performance as the most difficult task. 
• Tasks associated with state and local coordination are relatively easy.
• Non-waiver states are more likely than waiver states to have rigorous ETPL standards and practices.
• States with moderately rigorous ETPL standards and practices tend to have the most WIA exiters, followed by more rigorous states.
• Non-waiver states are likely to have better program performance reporting than that in waiver states. States with higher-quality program performance reporting also tend to have more rigorous ETPL standards and practices. 

Examples

Arizona Job Connection serves as a virtual statewide labor workforce system connecting individuals to education and training providers on the Arizona ETPL that offer training for in-demand jobs. A training program is defined as one or more courses or classes, or a structured curriculum that leads to a recognized postsecondary credential and/or employment.

The Louisiana Workforce Investment Council reviews each credential every two years, evaluating labor market demand and participation data to determine if the credential is still valuable. Louisiana SB 102 (2017) includes credential attainment as part of the funding model for workforce training and education programs. 

Wyoming’s ETPL provides resources for customer-focused employment training to adults and dislocated workers. Its purpose is to present a broad and diverse selection of training choices to support individuals’ employment goals. The Wyoming Workforce Development Council (WWDC) approves training providers based on the state’s workforce development needs. The publicly accessible ETPL includes all programs  currently approved by WWDC for training services. Training providers must apply and receive approval from the WWDC to be included on the state’s ETPL. 

Wisconsin's ETPL is a website that participants in the WIOA Adult Program and the WIOA Dislocated Worker Program generally must use to select classroom training that qualifies for WIOA-funded tuition assistance. TAA Program participants are encouraged – but not required – to use Wisconsin's ETPL when selecting TAA-funded training. The WIOA and TAA Programs are available through Wisconsin's job centers. WIOA and TAA program participants must get approval from their career planner to receive program-funded tuition assistance. Training institutions seeking to have their training programs published on Wisconsin's ETPL must apply through the ETPL Provider Portal. The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development manages the state’s ETPL, which includes reviewing ETPL applications and determining applicants’ eligibility. A training institution will receive WIOA funding if and when a participant enrolls in one of its training programs published on Wisconsin's ETPL and has career planner approval to receive tuition assistance. The WIOA program will not pay for any tuition costs that a participant incurs before receiving career planner approval.

See Texas, Tennessee, Alaska, and New York for specific trainers eligible for inclusion on their list. CareerOneStop provides a platform to search for ETPLs by state.

Relationship to Ecosystem

The ETPL is a major component of every state’s workforce development system. By using federal WIOA funding and getting training from an eligible provider, individuals can learn new skills, earn a credential, and find gainful employment. The ETPL plays a key role in identifying which are credentials of quality and value in the state, removing from the list the providers and credentials that fail to meet state criteria.

Resources

Requirements for training providers, program eligibility, and the state eligible training provider (ETP) list in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) | U.S. DOL Employment and Training Administration (2020)

How States Manage Eligible Training Provider Lists | US DOL (2015, June 2, archived 2023, June 6)

Evaluation of US DOL 2015 Report | WorkforceGPS (2017, July 18)

TrainingProviderResults.gov

ETPL by State | CareerOneStop

WIOA

Understanding Quality: The Role of States in Supporting Quality Non-Degree Credentials | NGA and Workcred (2020)

DOL Attachment II: Quick Reference Guide

WIOA Desk Reference: Eligible Training Provider (ETP) Quick Reference Guide