"The Money Is Real. But So Is the Friction." — A Response to Judah Farkas, CEO of Workforce 360

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Last week, I asked you all what you actually wanted me to write about. Over the next few segments, I'm going to answer one question at a time. Most of you I responded to directly. But some questions, I felt like everyone needed to hear the answer.

This is the first one.

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Judah didn't just send me a question. He sent me a challenge. And it was a good one.

Judah didn't just send me a question. He sent me a challenge. And it was a good one.

He pointed out something worth addressing openly the gap between knowing WIOA exists and knowing how to actually work it. I talk about WIOA funding constantly. I tell people the money is there. I tell people most schools are leaving it on the table. All of that is still true.

But here's the part that deserves a real answer: the experience is not the same everywhere.

The Reality of WIOA — Market by Market

Let me say something I don't think gets said enough in this space.

WIOA is not universally complicated. In a lot of markets, it's surprisingly straightforward. Schools get on the ETPL, students walk into the One Stop, case managers process approvals in a reasonable timeframe, and funding flows. I've seen it work that way. Most school owners I have helped operate at roughly 70% WIOA funding. That's not an accident and it's not luck, it's by design.

But in other markets? Judah's experience is real. The One Stops are understaffed. Case managers have massive caseloads. The income eligibility verification drags out. The employability assessment adds another layer. And if you're running cohort-based training with a start date, you can end up with a half-empty class waiting on approvals that are still three weeks out.

The difference usually comes down to two things: the local workforce board and the relationship you've built with them.

That's the variable most people don't account for when they're planning their school.

What the Process Actually Looks Like

For anyone who's new to this, here's a plain-English version of how WIOA tuition works at the student level.

A student walks into a One Stop Career Center, sometimes called an American Job Center. They go through intake, get assigned a case manager, and that case manager determines whether they qualify for WIOA funding based on income eligibility. Once that clears, the case manager evaluates whether the training makes sense, does it align with in-demand occupations in the local labor market, and does this person have a realistic shot at employment in that field.

If the answer is yes on both counts, the student gets a training voucher. That voucher comes to your school. You get paid.

In a well-functioning One Stop with a cooperative workforce board, that process can move in days. In a slower market, it can stretch to weeks. The school doesn't control the timeline, the case manager does.

This is why building a relationship with your local One Stop before you open is one of the highest-leverage things you can do as a school owner. Show up at workforce board meetings. Introduce yourself to the director. When your students walk in, their case managers should already know your name and what your graduates go on to do.

That relationship doesn't eliminate the bureaucracy. But it compresses the timeline significantly.

How We Structure It So the Friction Doesn't Hurt Us

Here's what I've found works and what I help school owners build when they come to me trying to figure out their funding model.

The goal isn't to avoid WIOA. The goal is to build a school that doesn't get hurt when WIOA moves slowly.

My model runs about 70% WIOA and 30% self-pay. That mix is intentional. The self-pay piece whether that's out-of-pocket, payment plans, or employer-sponsored tuition means your cohorts run on your schedule, not the One Stop's. You've got students in seats generating revenue while the WIOA approvals are processing for other students in the same cohort. The 30% often times is your breakeven point.

When you flip that ratio when you're 90% or 100% dependent on WIOA vouchers before you can fill a class you've handed your cash flow to people who don't know your rent is due.

The other piece is layering in OJT and IWT agreements alongside tuition-based WIOA. On-the-Job Training works at the employer level the business receives a wage reimbursement for hiring and training a WIOA-eligible participant. Incumbent Worker Training funds upskilling for existing employees, also at the employer level. Both of these bypass most of the individual student intake friction because you're working on the contract side with the workforce board directly. They don't replace tuition WIOA — they stack on top of it.

If you get your funding structure right, a slow One Stop is an inconvenience. If you get it wrong, a slow One Stop is an existential threat.

The Part Nobody Tells You

The schools that struggle with WIOA aren't struggling because the program is broken. They're struggling because they went in with a single-source funding model and no relationship with their local workforce board.

WIOA works. It works well in most markets. But it works best when you understand the local landscape before you open — which One Stop covers your area, who the workforce board director is, what the priority occupations list looks like, and how fast approvals typically move. That intelligence shapes everything from your cohort schedule to your pricing to your enrollment timeline.

This is exactly the kind of groundwork I walk through with school owners who are serious about building something that lasts. The funding is available. The process is learnable. Most people just don't know where to start.

If Judah's question resonated with you, if you're looking at WIOA and wondering whether it can actually work for your market, that's worth a real conversation, not a blog post.

Judah, thank you for pushing on this. You're asking the right questions. The friction is real in some markets. The answer is knowing your local landscape and building a model that accounts for it — not avoiding the funding altogether.

More Q&A segments coming. Keep the questions coming.

Until next time, control what YOU can control, take action on something, and don’t forget to smile. Like what you read?

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ind me at @Trade Schools Secrets-WIOA Whisperer