By Emily Lytle / Open Campus, Daily Yonder · August 10, 2026

Editor’s Note: A version of this story first appeared in Mile Markers, a twice monthly newsletter from Open Campus about the role of colleges in rural America. You can join the mailing list at the bottom of this article to receive future editions in your inbox.

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For many rural learners, they need a few essential things to access job training: funding to pay for the program, reliable transportation, proximity to the college and an assurance that this will be worth their time and money. Specifically, will this credential actually lead to a higher-paying role?

Keith Harkins, vice president of academic and workforce programs at Southside Virginia Community College, said Virginia’s FastForward program is checking those boxes.

“It’s a massive economic development game changer for our rural communities,” Harkins said.

FastForward, which is the Virginia Community College System’s name for the statewide program born from a bill passed in 2016, helps residents access short-term training for high-demand jobs in the state. The student pays for one third of the cost of the program — usually a training somewhere between 6 and 12 weeks that works toward an industry-recognized credential — and then the state pays the rest.

The state releases the next portion of that grant when the student completes the training, and the final amount when the student earns the certificate or license.

Until FastForward came about, Harkins said there was no real financial support for short-term programs. Community colleges like Southside had to stretch nurse aide programs, for example, to fit into a semester. Once they converted it to a non-credit program, Harkins said they saw five times as many graduates.

Randy Stamper, associate vice chancellor for career education and workforce programs with Virginia’s Community Colleges, said that this model has been especially helpful for rural students. Nearly 40% of all FastForward students are enrolled at one of Virginia’s 14 rural colleges, according to Stamper.

Some community colleges like Brightpoint and Reynolds, which serve rural students but are located near Richmond, see even more opportunities to connect these students with FastForward. Elizabeth Creamer, who is the vice president of workforce development for the division serving both those colleges, said they have a mobile lab, but they need to find ways to get rural students to the campus where they can access things that can’t fit on a truck — like heavy equipment simulators or pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment.

FastForward also reports an average $14,869 increase in wages after completing one of these programs that are often more affordable for students. Still, Creamer said it’s often the full-time benefits that come with these jobs, including sick leave, that makes the biggest difference for FastForward graduates.

Students can use other scholarships to pay for their portion of the program, and community colleges like Southside have built industry relationships that often step in to cover that first third, especially for students pursuing high-demand jobs like powerline work.

“Every single one of the electric cooperatives, just about, in Virginia has said, ‘If you get a student from our area, let us know. We’ll pay the first third,’” Harkins said.

At Brightpoint and Reynolds, Creamer said they have more recently seen increased funding and support for their FastForward programs from businesses. Sometimes that’s in-kind support, such as job coaching and internship opportunities from the local medical center VCU Health.

One of the biggest challenges Virginia faces with FastForward is tracking when students complete their credential — a requirement for community colleges to receive that final payment. While 94% of students complete their courses, the average credential completion rate is 72%. In some cases, Stamper said students may not be taking the related exam, especially if they get offered a job before completing it. But this gap can also be attributed to the difficulty of tracking and communicating with the third parties that offer the exams.

Putting This Into Workforce Pell Context

FastForward is similar to Workforce Pell in that it is focused on accelerated training to help people earn a valuable credential for a high-demand and high-paying job. One area where it differs, Stamper said, is the length requirement.

Eligible Workforce Pell programs must run at least 150 hours and last at least 8 weeks, but FastForward eligible programs are often shorter.

Even though many of the FastForward programs would likely meet the Workforce Pell requirements for completion and job placement, Stamper said these length requirements mean Virginia will be slow to adjust their programs to fit Workforce Pell.

“If you can enroll in a program, and in four weeks and 80 hours of instruction be successful in earning a commercial driver’s license,” he said, “we are very reluctant to expand that to 150 hours and 8 or 9 weeks simply to access Workforce Pell because that is a burden on the student that is unnecessary.”

He also mentioned the paperwork burden: Many students applying for a non-credit short-term program do not fill out FAFSA, something that is required for Workforce Pell eligibility.

That doesn’t mean Virginia is going to ignore Workforce Pell, completely either, though.

“Do I see it ever replacing FastForward? No, and I don’t see it as being bigger than FastForward in Virginia,” Creamer said. “But I think it could be an additional tool for some programs that meet all of the criteria.”

The Commonwealth of Virginia has clearly noted the benefit of FastForward, too, increasing funding from $4 million to $40 million over the past decade. This is increased funding that community college leaders like Harkins want to see continue no matter what happens with Workforce Pell.

“I think this is the model,” Harkins said.

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