Kansas student and vocational grants: Comprehensive Grant, Promise Act and WIOA (2026-27)

How the Kansas Comprehensive Grant is split between public and private campuses

You do not apply to KBOR for the KCG. You file the FAFSA, list at least one eligible Kansas college, and accept admission. KBOR sends each participating college a share of the money, and the college’s aid office uses FAFSA data to choose recipients and set award amounts ⁠¹⁠². Funding covers about 1 in 3 eligible students, so the date you file matters even though the state has no single deadline. Each college sets its own FAFSA priority date, and KBOR tells students to ask the school for it ⁠².

Ranges are from KBOR’s 2026-27 brochure ⁠². KBOR’s web page still shows the older $200 to $10,000 and $100 to $4,000 ranges ⁠¹. Your award can never exceed your financial need ⁠⁴.

Kansas law defines full time for the KCG as at least 12 credit hours a semester. To keep the grant you must stay in good standing and make satisfactory progress toward graduation ⁠³. Renewal is limited to eight semesters, or ten in a designated five-year program, and renewal students must meet their college’s academic progress rules ⁠². The current list of eligible schools runs from Barclay College and Bethany College to Sterling College and Tabor College, plus Cleveland University-Kansas City and Donnelly College ⁠⁵.

The Promise Act Scholarship for two-year technical and health programs

The Promise Act Scholarship pays tuition, required fees, books and required materials. The college subtracts every grant and scholarship you already receive, Pell included, and Promise pays what is left ⁠⁶. The lifetime limit is $20,000 or 68 credit hours, whichever you reach first, and it counts across every college you attend ⁠⁶. Eligible programs are associate degrees and technical certificates in four fields: information technology and security, mental and physical healthcare, advanced manufacturing and building trades, and early childhood education. Each college can also designate one local field, such as agriculture, public safety or distribution and logistics ⁠⁶. Bachelor’s programs are excluded. At private nonprofit colleges, the award is capped at the average cost of the same program at a public two-year school ⁠⁶.

To qualify, you must be a U.S. citizen and a Kansas resident, and you must meet one of these tests ⁠⁶:

• You graduated from a Kansas high school, or attended one and earned a Kansas GED, within the last 12 months.
• You have lived in Kansas for the past three consecutive years.
• You are the dependent child of a service member stationed in another state and finished high school within the last 12 months.
• You were in the custody of the Kansas Department for Children and Families during grades 9 to 12 and are not eligible for the Kansas Foster Child Educational Assistance Act.

Household income must be $100,000 or less for one or two people, $150,000 or less for three, plus $4,800 for each additional person ⁠⁶. You need at least 6 credit hours a semester and must finish within 36 months of your first award ⁠⁶. You then sign an agreement to live and work in Kansas for two consecutive years, starting within six months of finishing. Continuing your studies in Kansas defers this, and military service fulfills it ⁠². If you break the agreement, you repay the award with interest. The 2026-27 brochure states 5%, while the Promise web page refers to the federal PLUS loan rate ⁠²⁠⁶.

House Bill 2485 made two changes starting July 1, 2026. Promise money can no longer pay for remedial hours, even those built into a corequisite course. And anyone who owes repayment on a KBOR program cannot receive any more state aid ⁠⁷. The same law caps Promise appropriations at $10,000,000 a year, and KBOR awards first come, first served ⁠⁶⁠⁷. The Spring 2027 application closes March 1, 2027, or sooner if the money runs out ⁠⁶.

Smaller KBOR awards that use the state aid application

These programs need the FAFSA plus the State of Kansas Student Aid Application on sfa.kansasregents.gov. Applications for 2026-27 opened January 5, 2026 ⁠².

• Kansas Education Opportunity Scholarship: up to $1,850 a year ($925 a semester) for full-time undergraduates with financial need who are first-generation college students or dependents of working Kansas pre-K to 12 teachers or paraprofessionals. It can be used at community and technical colleges as well as universities. The deadline is May 1 ⁠².
• Kansas Adult Learner Grant: for Kansas residents 25 and older seeking a bachelor’s degree in IT, health care and nursing, engineering and advanced manufacturing, education, or business and data analytics. It pays $3,000 a semester at 12 or more hours, prorated to $1,500 at 6 hours, for up to 48 months. Recipients must have an adjusted gross income of $100,000 or less for a family of two or $150,000 for three. It carries the same two-year live-and-work obligation, and KBOR may put applicants on a waitlist ⁠².
• Kansas State Scholarship: up to $1,000 a year, need-based, for students KBOR designated as State Scholars in their senior year. The deadline is July 1 ⁠².

No state application for students who cannot file the FAFSA

KBOR receives FAFSA data directly from the U.S. Department of Education and uses it for nearly all of its programs. The brochure offers no paper or state-only alternative ⁠². A different law, K.S.A. 76-731a, lets certain students without lawful immigration status pay in-state tuition. They must have attended a Kansas high school for three or more years, graduated or earned a Kansas GED, and filed the required affidavit ⁠⁸. That law covers tuition rates only. It does not create grant eligibility, and the Promise Act requires citizenship outright ⁠⁶⁠⁸. Ask your college’s aid office about institutional scholarships.

Pell and Workforce Pell for Kansas students in 2026-27

From July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, the federal Pell Grant pays $740 to $7,395 ⁠¹⁴. It is the first layer of aid. Because Promise is a last-dollar award, a larger Pell Grant lowers your Promise award and leaves more of your $20,000 lifetime cap for later terms ⁠⁶.

Workforce Pell extends Pell to programs that run at least 8 but fewer than 15 weeks and total 150 to 599 clock hours. The governor must certify each program, and it must reach completion and job placement rates of at least 70% ⁠¹⁵. Students who already hold a bachelor’s degree can receive it. Direct Loans and work-study are not available for these programs, but WIOA funding can be combined with it ⁠¹⁵. Section 2 of House Bill 2485 directs the governor, in consultation with the state workforce development board, to approve Kansas programs. The board must set up an application and appeal process for colleges ⁠⁷. The U.S. Department of Education approved the first program nationally on August 4, 2026 ⁠¹⁵. As of October 20, 2026, neither KBOR nor Commerce had posted a list of approved Kansas programs. Ask your college whether a short certificate has been approved.

KANSASWORKS centers and WIOA Individual Training Accounts

The Kansas Department of Commerce runs KANSASWORKS, the state’s public workforce system, through 27 workforce centers and two mobile units ⁠¹⁰. Comprehensive centers include Garden City, Hays, Salina, Topeka, Lawrence, the Wichita Workforce Center (316-771-6800) and the Wyandotte County Workforce Center in Kansas City (913-279-2600). Affiliate offices include Colby, Dodge City, Liberal and Leavenworth ⁠¹¹. WIOA adult and dislocated worker training is paid through an Individual Training Account (ITA). You pick a provider from the state’s eligible training provider list with a career planner, and the money goes to the provider ⁠¹³. Federal rules let state or local boards cap ITA amounts and length ⁠¹³.

Local boards set their own caps, and South Central Kansas (Local Area IV, run by the Workforce Alliance) shows how this works. ITAs there top out at $5,500 for training finished within two years, $6,000 for information technology, and $7,000 for healthcare and aviation manufacturing ⁠¹². You must have a high school diploma or GED before occupational training, or take adult education alongside it. You must also apply for Pell and state aid first. The ITA covers only the need that remains after those ⁠¹². Other areas use their own limits, so ask your center.

Free technical courses for Kansas high school students

Under Excel in Career Technical Education (Senate Bill 155), Kansas has paid college tuition since 2012-13 for high school students taking approved technical courses at Kansas community and technical colleges ⁠⁹. In 2024-25, 17,638 students earned 139,763 credit hours this way ⁠⁹. Tuition is covered, but program fees for tools, textbooks and protective equipment may not be. The Technical Education Authority approved the 2026-27 fees in January 2026 ⁠⁹. Courses with an online option are posted by several colleges, including Barton, Cloud County, Garden City, Seward County and Washburn Tech ⁠⁹.

Filing for 2027-28 aid in Kansas, step by step

1. File the 2027-28 FAFSA

   Use studentaid.gov and list every Kansas college you are considering. That alone puts you in line for the Comprehensive Grant at eligible four-year schools ⁠².

2. Ask each college for its priority date

   KCG money is limited and each school sets its own FAFSA deadline ⁠².

3. Create an account on sfa.kansasregents.gov in January 2027

   Use a personal email, not a school address, and make sure your Social Security number matches your FAFSA. A mismatch can get your state application rejected ⁠¹⁠².

4. Pick the right KBOR awards

   Apply for Promise if you will be in an approved two-year program, the Education Opportunity Scholarship by May 1, or the Adult Learner Grant if you are 25 or older. Upload any requested documents through the same site ⁠².

5. Sign and track any service agreement

   Promise and Adult Learner recipients get annual verification emails from KBOR and must answer them to avoid repayment ⁠².

6. For short-term training, visit a KANSASWORKS center

   Bring proof of identity, income and work history. Choose a program on the eligible training provider list, and apply for Pell first, since ITAs cover only the remaining need ⁠¹²⁠¹³.

7. Appeal or extend if you fall behind

   Promise students who need more than 36 months can file KBOR’s Promise Timeframe Extension Appeal Form ⁠⁶. For KCG progress problems, ask your college’s aid office about its satisfactory academic progress appeal ⁠².