At the House Bill 1013 conference committee meeting, State Superintendent Kirsten Basler described an integrated adult education and workforce training pilot that pairs GED preparation with immediate vocational training and certification, funded by a supplemental $500,000 grant.

Basler said the integrated education and training grants allowed participating adult learning centers to combine GED instruction with credentialing programs such as CNA certification or commercial driver’s license (CDL) training. “For $500,000 we’ve been able to, just in the last year and a half, get over a hundred people not only receiving their GEDs, but also getting a certificate, CNA certification and or CDL license,” Basler said.

Basler explained that the department’s baseline adult education formula funding is $5,500,000, which is distributed to adult learning centers; the extra $500,000 is an add-on that centers may apply for to support integrated training. She said the model is workforce-supported and came at the recommendation of the state workforce committee.

Committee members asked whether adults pay tuition. Basler said there is no tuition charged to adults under the program: centers receive base operational funding and the training grants fund the additional credentialing supports. Representative Lauser asked for specifics on how centers are funded per student or per hour; Basler said she would follow up with the committee on operational funding details.

Basler and committee members also discussed claims about GED graduates’ postsecondary success. One committee member suggested that GED completers may be the largest single graduating cohort in North Dakota and that GED completers often persevere and perform well in postsecondary settings; Basler agreed and said she would confirm enrollment or graduation counts.

The transcript records no formal committee action or appropriation vote on the adult education supplemental grants during this session; Basler said the request had been part of prior House and Senate considerations and that committee members should discuss funding in further conference negotiations.