| Federal ABE Funding
The state of Minnesota receives federal adult education funds under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) of 1998. Specifically, adult education is Title II of WIA and has its own name as an act within an act – The Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA). AEFLA replaced the Adult Education Act and the National Literacy Act of 1991.
The three purposes stated by AEFLA are:
- To assist adults to become literate and obtain the knowledge and skills necessary for employment and self-sufficiency;
- To assist adults who are parents to obtain the educational skills necessary in the educational development of their children; and
- To assist adults in the completion of a secondary school education.
This Act recognizes the high correlation between economic development and basic literacy. Combining adult education legislation with workforce legislation is intended to build and strengthen connections between state and local job training programs and the state’s basic education delivery system. For more information about WIA, go to: http://www.doleta.gov/programs/factsht/wialaw.cfm
Funding under AEFLA is distributed to all states by the USDOE using a US census-based formula that considers the number of state residents 18 years old and above who are not in school and do not have a high school diploma or equivalency. Minnesota receives approximately 1.2% of the national AEFLA appropriation. Federal funding received by Minnesota is distributed to ABE consortia using a formula based on prior year contact hours. For example, if a consortium has 8 percent of the state’s prior year contact hours, they would receive 8 percent of the available federal funds as revenue for the next fiscal year.
A five-year State Plan is required by USDOE for AEFLA funds along with annual revisions. State ABE law authorizes Minnesota to follow the accountability and reporting requirements of AEFLA for both the federal and the state accountability process. Core performance indicators are established under AEFLA and indicator targets are negotiated annually with the federal adult education office. Although the Minnesota ABE program has consistently exceeded its negotiated core performance indicator targets, individual ABE consortia that fall below the state’s performance expectations are subject to the Minnesota ABE compliance policy and process which include significant consequences for low performance.
State ABE Funding
ABE State Aid Funding Formula Design and Explanation - This document gives a complete overview of Minnesota's ABE state funding formula.
ABE TREND DATA 1998-2009 – This document provides a longitudinal analysis of Minnesota ABE state and federal funding, enrollment, contact hours, and a state aid funding legislative history.
Top 20 ABE Programs – a current year analysis of how ABE programs rank on three sets of funding criteria.
The twenty largest and smallest consortia in terms of:
- State Aid Revenue
- Prior year Contact Hours
- Gross Revenue per Prior Year Contact Hour
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