Federal law lets a local workforce board reimburse an employer for up to half the wages of a new hire while that hire is being trained. Not a tax credit you claim next April. Cash back while the training is happening.
The mechanism is on-the-job training under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. The employer signs a contract with the local board, and the board reimburses up to 50% of the participant's wage rate for the extraordinary costs of training and supervision. In limited circumstances the rate can reach 75%. The contract covers only the time needed for the participant to become proficient, and the employer is expected to keep the participant on as a regular employee afterward.
This money goes to employers, not to schools. That is exactly why it belongs in your pitch. The employers in your town who say they cannot afford to train are wrong, and the school that shows up with the workforce board's phone number and the one page form is the school that gets the hiring contract.
Do not quote dollar figures from social media posts about this program. The terms vary by local board, and the posters' numbers are unverified. What is verified is the mechanism and the 50% cap. Call your local board this week, ask for its on-the-job training contract terms, and put them in front of your three largest employer partners before someone else does.
The bottom line: stop selling seats. Start selling subsidized hires.
Sources: 20 CFR 680.700 and 680.720; U.S. Department of Labor Training and Employment Notice 25-24.