Wyoming student and vocational grants: Hathaway need, Wyoming Works and WIOA (2026-27)

What Senate File 47 changed for 2026-27 Hathaway students

Governor Gordon signed Senate File 47 on February 27, 2026, as Chapter 7 of the 2026 session laws. It took effect July 1, 2026, and covers both new and current recipients ⁠⁴. It raised four merit amounts and the need-based cap and minimum:

Source: Enrolled Act No. 4 ⁠⁴. Students taking 6 to 11 credits get a prorated amount (credits divided by 12) ⁠⁵. A separate 2026 bill (SF0036) that would have paid Hathaway as a lump sum and dropped the continuous-enrollment rule failed in the House on February 23, 2026, so the continuous-enrollment and credit rules remain in place ⁠⁶.

The tier comes from your high school record. Honors requires a 3.5 GPA and an ACT of 25. Performance requires a 3.0 and a 21, and Opportunity a 2.5 and a 19. Each of those also requires the full Hathaway Success Curriculum ⁠¹. Provisional Opportunity requires a 2.5 GPA and either an ACT of 17 or a WorkKeys score of 12, with a lighter curriculum. It must be used first at a community college and lasts four full-time semesters ⁠¹. The other tiers last up to eight full-time semesters within six years ⁠³⁠⁵. You must apply through your Wyoming college within four years of graduating from high school. Exceptions exist for military or religious service ⁠³⁠⁵. Recipients must be U.S. citizens or eligible noncitizens and must not be in default on federal student loans ⁠⁵. To renew, you need a 2.25 GPA for Opportunity and Provisional or 2.50 for Performance and Honors, must complete every credit you enroll for, and must enroll every fall and spring ⁠⁶.

How the Hathaway need-based supplement is figured

The supplement uses Wyoming’s own unmet-need formula. Start with your college’s cost of attendance. Subtract your FAFSA family contribution, your Hathaway merit award and all other grants and scholarships, including Pell. Then subtract a $2,000 “student commitment” ⁠²⁠⁵. If nothing is left, you get no award. If money is left, Honors students receive all of it. Performance, Opportunity and Provisional students receive 25% of it, capped at $2,120 a year. Every qualifying student gets at least $150 a semester, and half the annual amount is paid each semester ⁠⁵. Colleges finalize the figure by the sixth week of the first term of the academic year ⁠⁵. You must file the FAFSA to be considered. The merit award itself does not require it ⁠³.

This is a worked example using the statutory rules ⁠⁴⁠⁵⁠¹⁴, not a published schedule. The worked example on the Department of Education page still shows the old $1,575 cap ⁠².

Wyoming’s Tomorrow Scholarship for adults 24 and older

The Wyoming’s Tomorrow Scholarship is the state’s need-based award for adults. It is paid from earnings on a state endowment, so the money each year is limited ⁠⁵⁠⁷. You qualify if you are 24 or older and have lived in Wyoming for the year before applying, or for three years at any time. You also need a FAFSA showing unmet need, U.S. citizenship or eligible-noncitizen status, and registration with the Department of Workforce Services ⁠⁵⁠⁷. Anyone currently on Hathaway is excluded ⁠⁵.

The award is up to $150 per credit hour, or $1,800 per term at 12 or more credits. The lifetime limit is four full-time terms or $7,200 ⁠⁵. It can pay for degrees, certificates and non-credit programs approved for Wyoming Works ⁠⁵. To keep it, you must complete two-thirds of attempted hours each term and hold a 2.0 cumulative GPA ⁠⁵. If you fall short, you lose it for good ⁠⁵. House Bill 25 (Enrolled Act No. 14, signed March 5, 2026), effective July 1, 2026, repealed the rule that you attend two terms every academic year. You can now take a break without losing the scholarship (Laws 2026, chapter 31) ⁠⁵.

Wyoming Works grants for short credentials at community colleges

Wyoming Works pays for credential programs that the Community College Commission has approved at a community college. These include welding, CDL, health and IT certificates and some associate degrees ⁠⁵⁠⁸. By law, the standard grant equals two semesters of Provisional Opportunity and the critical-workforce grant equals two semesters of Honors. That means the July 2026 Hathaway increase raised both ⁠⁴⁠⁵.

The award is limited to your remaining need after other grants ⁠⁸. The grant lasts up to six terms. Programs of one term or less are paid in full, prorated, in the term you attend ⁠⁵.

The rules come from W.S. 21-18-403 to 405 ⁠⁵. You apply with the college before your program starts. Laramie County Community College requires the application before the first class day of each semester ⁠⁵⁠⁸. You must also file a FAFSA, be a Wyoming resident and an eligible citizen or noncitizen, and keep up satisfactory progress ⁠⁵⁠⁸. Hathaway recipients cannot get it ⁠⁵. Colleges may not demand a high school diploma or HSEC for a funded credential program, except a credit program that requires one, and then the college must help you earn it ⁠⁵. State spending on these grants is capped at $2,000,000 per academic year ⁠⁵. At LCCC, nearly every approved program is in the critical tier ⁠⁸.

Wyoming has no state alternative to the FAFSA

Wyoming has no state aid form for students who cannot file the FAFSA. The Hathaway need supplement, Wyoming’s Tomorrow and Wyoming Works all require a FAFSA ⁠⁵. All three, plus Hathaway merit, require U.S. citizenship or eligible-noncitizen status ⁠⁵. A resident who meets that rule but cannot file the FAFSA can still get the Hathaway merit award, which does not need one ⁠³. A student who does not meet the citizenship rule cannot get any of these state awards. Ask the college about its own scholarships.

Wyoming also has no statewide FAFSA deadline. Deadlines come from the college. At UW, the Cowboy Need Grant is a UW grant, not a state program. It requires a FAFSA filed before February 1. Students must be Pell-eligible Wyoming residents with an SAI between -1,500 and 0 and an AGI of $65,000 or less. It is awarded first come, first served and is not open to Hathaway Honors students ⁠¹⁰.

Pell, Workforce Pell and the WyIN nursing loan

For July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, the federal Pell Grant pays $740 to $7,395 ⁠¹⁴. Workforce Pell has applied since July 1, 2026 to programs of 8 to 14 weeks and 150 to 599 clock hours. Each program needs certification from the governor, approval from the U.S. Department of Education and completion and job placement rates of at least 70% ⁠¹⁵. Students who already have a bachelor’s degree can use Workforce Pell. Direct Loans are not available for these programs, but WIOA funds can be added ⁠¹⁵. The Department of Education approved its first program on August 4, 2026 ⁠¹⁵. As of October 20, 2026, neither the Community College Commission’s student aid pages nor the Workforce Services training pages list an approved Wyoming program, so ask your college’s aid office before counting on it.

WY Investment in Nursing (WyIN) is a loan for nursing students at UW or a Wyoming community college. It covers up to the cost of attendance minus Pell and other federal grants. You repay it by working as a nurse or nurse educator in Wyoming. If you do not complete the work, you repay it in cash with interest ⁠⁹.

WIOA training money through Wyoming’s 18 Workforce Centers

The Wyoming Department of Workforce Services (DWS) runs WIOA statewide through Workforce Centers in 18 towns ⁠¹¹. The Adult program serves people 18 and older who are unemployed or underemployed. The Dislocated Worker program serves people who lost a job through a layoff, a business closing or a disaster, including self-employed ranchers and farmers. Workforce Services may check income ⁠¹¹. Training must be on Wyoming’s Eligible Training Provider List, which you can browse on HireWYO.com ⁠¹². DWS names healthcare, construction and skilled trades, CDL and transportation, environmental technology and office technology as priority fields. It reviews every training request case by case and publishes no fixed dollar cap ⁠¹¹.

Federal rules require the center to count Pell, state grants and TANF before spending WIOA money. They also let the state cap training accounts, and funds can run out partway through a program year ⁠¹³. A Wyoming Works or Pell award reduces the amount a training account needs to cover.

Applying in Wyoming for 2027-28, step by step

1. File the 2027-28 FAFSA now

   It is open. Filing before February 1, 2027 meets UW’s Cowboy Need Grant cutoff and gives colleges time to work out Hathaway need awards ⁠¹⁰.

2. Confirm your Hathaway tier

   Use the Department of Education’s requirement charts with your counselor, and make sure your final transcript shows every Success Curriculum course ⁠¹⁠³.

3. Apply through your college

   Hathaway, Wyoming’s Tomorrow and Wyoming Works are all requested through the UW or community college aid office, not from the state. The college also decides your residency ⁠³⁠⁵⁠⁷.

4. Adults 24 and older: register with Workforce Services first

   Create a HireWYO account, then submit the college’s Wyoming’s Tomorrow application before the term begins ⁠⁵⁠⁷.

5. Trainees: file the Wyoming Works form before class starts

   Choose an approved program, and ask whether it is in the critical tier ⁠⁸.

6. Seeking WIOA help, visit a Workforce Center

   Bring ID, proof of income and layoff papers, and choose a program on the Eligible Training Provider List ⁠¹¹⁠¹².

7. If you lose eligibility, regain it

   Hathaway students can regain the award by meeting the GPA or credit rules again, but Hathaway does not pay for the semesters spent regaining it, and those semesters count against the six years ⁠⁶. Wyoming’s Tomorrow cannot be regained after you fail to meet its progress rules ⁠⁵.