HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania is making up to $12 million in federal funding available to schools and other educational institutions to expand training pipelines for heavy highway jobs, as contractors face persistent labor shortages and an aging construction workforce.
The competitive grant program, announced by PennDOT and the Pennsylvania Department of Education, opened July 7 and will accept applications through Sept. 1.
Eligible applicants may seek grants of up to $500,000 to create or expand programs tied to highway construction and related trades, including training for construction inspectors, mechanics, laborers, electricians, stonemasons, welders, painters, cost estimators and surveyors.
The funding is available to Pennsylvania-based public school districts, private schools, cyber schools, career and technical centers, youth development centers and colleges.
Applicants must show collaboration with industry partners, which may include employers, organized labor, workforce development boards, postsecondary institutions or community-based workforce organizations.
PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll said the grants are intended to help schools expose students to trades “that will continue building Pennsylvania.”
The program comes amid labor constraints in construction. A 2025 Associated General Contractors of America survey found 92% of contractors reported difficulty filling open positions, while the National Center for Construction Education and Research projects that about 41% of the construction workforce will retire by 2031.
PennDOT also cited demand from schools, saying nearly 100 schools or districts contacted the agency in the past month about its Heavy Highway Industry Career Day program, which begins this fall.
The grant program follows Gov. Josh Shapiro’s 2023 executive order creating the Commonwealth Workforce Transformation Program, a job-training initiative tied to infrastructure projects funded through federal infrastructure and climate laws.
PDE Secretary Carrie Rowe said career and technical centers give students hands-on skills for jobs critical to the state’s economy.
Since 2023, the Shapiro administration has increased career and technical education funding by $65 million, or nearly 50%, according to the state. The administration said more than 3,000 additional students have enrolled in career and technical education and career-readiness programming during that period.
The heavy highway workforce grants are supported by federal highway construction dollars made eligible for workforce development under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
More information is available at https://www.pa.gov/agencies/education.
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