Grants & Funding

The Adult Education system in Minnesota is funded through federal and state funding.

Federal Adult Education funding is authorized in federal law through AEFLA, which is title II of WIOA. This funding is allocated and distributed annually by the Federal Department of Education to all states and territories. In Minnesota, the agency that receives those funds is the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). A portion of the Federal AEFLA funding is used by MDE to fund the Adult Education team positions. Another portion is designated for Integrated English Language and Civics Education (IELCE) and is distributed in a competitive grant process. The remainder of the Federal AEFLA funding is distributed in grants to Adult Education consortia across the state to run their local programs. Read more about how these local grant amounts are determined by visiting the Funding Formulas page.

State Adult Basic Education is authorized through Minnesota Statute, particularly 124D.52. The MN state legislature allocates Adult Basic Education funding, which is distributed to MDE annually. Three percent of the annual total of State Adult Basic Education funding is distributed in Supplemental Services grants, which fund the Adult Education Support Network. The other 97% of state funding is distributed in grants to Adult Education consortia to run their local programs.  Read more about how these local grant amounts are determined by visiting the Funding Formulas page.