Pre-Training Income Policy
For our training to remain cost-free and serve the communities our mission intends, enrolled learners must meet our pre-training income policy requirements, described below.
Eligibility
To be eligible for Per Scholas training, an applicant’s Individual or Household Income must fall below 80% of the campus-based Area Median Income (AMI), as determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Military-connected applicants (Veteran, Active Duty, Reserve, Guard, Military Spouse) are eligible if their Individual or Household Income falls below $200,000.
Income includes all forms of earned income — wages, salaries, tips, and other taxable employee pay. It does not include savings, benefits, passive income, child support, or inheritance funds.
Individual Income is based on your current employment situation:
- Currently employed → your current income.
- Unemployed, last job ended within 90 days → last job’s income counts.
- Unemployed for more than 90 days → $0.
- Freelance, contract, or gig work → estimate what you’d earn in a full year of that work.
Household Income is the combined annual income of you and everyone in your household or place of residence over the last 12 months.
On a case-by-case basis, applicants may be granted an exception to this policy, as determined by senior leadership.
How Your Data Is Used
Income data is used to calculate our org-wide average learner pre-training income, and may be shared with our philanthropic supporters — helping us continue to provide no-cost training.