As a result of finite funding and unprecedented levels of participation in WTFP programs, less funding is available for new grants beginning in FY25 (Jul 2024 – June 2025) than in recent years. As a result of limited resources, the program has had to implement policy changes intended to extend resources to serve more businesses and maintain grant-making throughout the year whenever possible.
As a result of our finite funding, the Express Program has made the decision to add a subsidy cap in cost per instructional hour of $300, irrespective of number of trainees attending the course (for both per-trainee rate courses, and group rate courses). Please note that this is a subsidy cap of $300 per instructional hour, which means if you are an organization with 51-100 MA payroll employees, the subsidy cap will be calculated off 50% of the course cost (the max reimbursable percentage amount for organizations with 51-100 payroll employees).
If you are taking part in a course that is offered at a per trainee rate, here is how the $300/instructional hour will be implemented:
1. If the course cost is $2000 Per Trainee, and you plan on sending 5 trainees to the course.
We will utilize the course training hours preapproved for the course in our Express Course Directory. For this example course, the training hours is 6.
Cost/Training Hour is calculated by dividing the per trainee cost of $2000 by the number of training hours, which is 6.
a. $2000/6 Hours = $333.33 per training hour
b. If the above calculated value is less than or equal to $300 per training hour, no adjustment is needed as the course falls within our subsidy cap
c. If the above calculated value is greater than $300, the award amount for the trainee will be reduced to $300 x number of training hours.
2. In this example, the cost per trainee hour is greater than $300, therefore, the adjusted course cost is as follows:
a. $300 x 6 training hours = $1800 Per Trainee
3. Final step is to check and make sure the per trainee cost does not exceed our $3000 per trainee/per course subsidy cap (all good in this example), then multiple the adjusted per trainee cost by the number of expected trainees
a. $1800 Per Trainee x 5 trainees = $9000
b. This is the amount the Express Program can cover for this course.
4. The out-of-pocket/match amount will be the total course cost minus the amount the Express Program can cover
a. $2000 x 5 Trainees= $10,000
b. $10,000-$9,000= $1,000 Match Amount
If you are taking part in a course that is offered at a group rate, here is how the $300/instructional hour cap will be implemented:
1. If the course cost is $5000 Per Group, and you plan on sending 5 trainees to the course.
We will utilize the course training hours preapproved for the course in our Express Course Directory. For this example, the course training hours is 8.
Cost/Training Hour is calculated by dividing the group rate cost ($5000) by the number of training hours, which is 8.
a. $5000/8 Hours = $625 per training hour
b. If the above calculated value is less than or equal to $300 per training hour, no adjustment is needed as the course falls within our subsidy cap
c. If the above calculated value is greater than $300, the award amount for the trainee will be reduced to $300 x number of training hours.
2. In this example, the cost per trainee hour is greater than $300, therefore, the adjusted course cost is as follows:
a. $300 x 8 training hours = $2400 Per Group
3. The final step is to check and make sure the per trainee cost does not exceed our $3000 per trainee/per course subsidy cap (all good in this example).
a. Since the course is less than $3000 per trainee, $2400 is the max amount we can award for this course.
4. The out-of-pocket/match amount will be the total course cost minus the amount the Express Program can cover
a. $5000-$2400= $2600 Match Amount
For additional details regarding this subsidy cap, you can review our two-pager attached to the end of this FAQ. Page 2 provides more detailed examples.
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