Narrative: b. 3.

WIOA requires that a training program or course whose completion results in a recognized credential must be "WIOA-certified," in order to use WIOA training dollars and get credit for that credential. Program providers, interested training providers, and their partners should comply with this policy to ensure high-quality training experiences for WIOA program customers. WIOA certification in Minnesota occurs in three steps. 1. Ensuring that the training institution is licensed, registered, or otherwise exempt by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education (OHE), or, depending on program, other appropriate state agency. 2. Entering and updating information on all programs and courses to be WIOA-certified on the state’s eligible training provider list. 3. Submitting a WIOA certification application to DEED. The ETPL and WIOA certification application for a program, course or Registered Apprenticeship collects the following information: - Program code and title - Description of program content and purpose - Program delivery model - If and how the program awards credit or contact hours (for non-credit program) - Award type - Tuition and fee costs to students - CIP code of program - Type of credential (if non-credit program) In order to be eligible to be WIOA-certified, a training program or course must be delivered by an eligible training provider as defined above. The provider must provide an industry- recognized credential upon successful completion of that program or course. The receipt of the credential must depend on the successful completion of the certified program. Being an eligible provider is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for offering WIOA-certified training. When a program is certified, it gains initial eligibility, which lasts for one year. After that year, if providers would like the training to remain certified, training providers must work with DEED to ensure continued eligibility DEED and OHE, as appropriate, will work with the providers of provisionally and permanently certified training programs and courses to acquire certain data, such as the wages of those who complete training and acquire employment. After the year of initial eligibility is completed, training providers who provide the required information may be considered for continued eligibility. Programs certified under WIA will be grandfathered in under WIOA and will not be subject to initial eligibility, but providers will need to provide any required information for continued eligibility for these programs by the end of calendar year 2015. All programs are subject to review and renewal at least every two years; failure to provide and update data may result in loss of WIOA certification. Under the law, required data on WIOA-certified training programs includes information on recognized postsecondary credentials received by participants, information on cost of attendance for participants (including tuition and fees), and information on the program completion rate of participants. DEED will generally acquire as much information (e.g., entered employment rate, wages) through existing data collection processes, without necessitating any paperwork from the training provider. DEED will leverage our inter-agency Minnesota State Longitudinal Data System (SLEDS) to meet the Workforce WIOA reporting requirements for the ETPL. Only a training institution that has a physical location in Minnesota may apply for listing on Minnesota’s ETPL - except for Registered Apprenticeship sponsors, who may apply even if located outside Minnesota. And only a training institution approved for listing on Minnesota’s ETPL may request WIOA certification of its programs or sources. WIOA specifically requires training providers to apply for program or course certification. Any Registered Apprenticeship sponsor in Minnesota whose program is registered with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) can apply to DEED to be listed on Minnesota’s ETPL. Any out-of-state Registered Apprenticeship sponsor whose program is registered with the US Department of Labor can apply to DEED to be listed on Minnesota’s ETPL. In 2016, Minnesota will complete a new ETLP build, which allows more. Minnesota’s ETPL will be embedded in a comprehensive Career and Education Explorer tool being developed by Minnesota’s Labor Market Information Office and is intended to better meet the needs of the state’s customers and counselors. Finally, Minnesota has a dedicated staff person to oversee the state’s ETPL and WIOA certification process. The State’s policy of WIOA Certification for Training Programs that providers definitions, detailed procedures, general and performance reporting requirements, is available online. To be listed on the state’s eligible training provider list (ETPL), a training institution’s programs must be licensed, registered, or otherwise legally exempt through the Minnesota Office of Higher Education. There are a few programs that are authorized by other state agencies (for example, nursing assistant training programs are authorized by the Minnesota Department of Health, not OHE). If a training provider is not sure of their status, they are to contact OHE to obtain full information about what if anything, is required of them for full legal authorization. The State is updating the Career Profile Tool to with WIOA (displaying required performance metrics, cost, completion rates, etc.) and to better meet the needs of the state’s customers and counselors. The State’s policy of WIOA Certification for Training Programs that providers definitions, detailed procedures, general and performance reporting requirements, is available online.