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Forecast notice publicly released that indicates $145 million is available for the pay-for-performance incentive payments program.
The claim states that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released a forecast notice announcing the upcoming availability of $145 million in funding for a pay‑for‑performance incentive payments program to expand Registered Apprenticeships. The relevant timeline centers on early January 2026.
A January 6, 2026 news release from DOL’s Employment and Training Administration explicitly says that “the U.S. Department of Labor today released a forecast notice announcing the upcoming availability of $145 million in funding to support a pay-for-performance incentive payments program to further expand the national apprenticeship system.” The release frames the initiative as supporting “performance-based Registered Apprenticeship expansion” and ties it to the goal of meeting and exceeding 1 million active apprentices nationwide.
Apprenticeship.gov’s official “Open Funding Opportunities” page includes a “COMING SOON – Pay-For-Performance Incentive Payments Forecast Notice.” It states that DOL “has issued a forecast notice announcing the upcoming availability of $145 million in funding to support a Pay-for-Performance Incentive Payments Program as a vehicle for generating further expansion of the National Apprenticeship System,” and notes DOL plans to award up to five cooperative agreements over four years focused on expanding new and existing Registered Apprenticeship programs.
The same Apprenticeship.gov summary specifies that the Pay‑for‑Performance Incentive Payments Program will incentivize expansion of high‑quality Registered Apprenticeship programs on a national scale, particularly in industries with well‑established apprenticeship infrastructures. It lists target sectors such as AI/semiconductor/nuclear energy infrastructure buildout, shipbuilding and defense industrial base, information technology, healthcare, transportation, and telecommunications, reinforcing that the initiative is designed as a Registered Apprenticeship expansion mechanism.
An article in McKnight’s Senior Living dated January 8, 2026, reports that “funding of $145 million will be available to support a pay-for-performance incentive payments program to further expand the national apprenticeship system, the Department of Labor said Monday in a forecast notice.” The piece quotes Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez‑DeRemer’s comments from the DOL release and reiterates that DOL expects to award up to five cooperative agreements over a four‑year period, confirming the program structure and the link to Registered Apprenticeships.
A grant listing derived from Grants.gov (opportunity ID 361087, Pay‑for‑Performance Incentive Payments Program, PfP IPP) indicates that the Employment and Training Administration plans to award up to five cooperative agreements, each between $10 million and $40 million, for a total estimated funding of $145 million. It notes that the opportunity aims to expand the National Apprenticeship System and that applications are due March 20, 2026, which aligns with the forecasted nature of the funding described by DOL.
The claim is specifically about DOL having released a forecast notice and announced the forthcoming $145 million pay‑for‑performance incentive payments program to expand Registered Apprenticeships, not about funds already being awarded or impacts realized. Multiple official and reputable sources confirm that this forecast notice has been issued with the described amount and purpose. On that basis, the claim is fulfilled.