Student Eligibility Policy

Effective Date: To Be Determined | Date Issued: August 26, 2025 | Last Version: August 14, 2025

Policy Summary

  1. AE students must meet eligibility requirements in order to receive services.
  2. Students must be at least 16 years old.
  3. Students must be basic skills deficient, lack a high school diploma/equivalency, or be an English language learner.
  4. Students must be a U.S. citizen or have lawful immigration status; local staff must verify citizenship/immigration status, upload digital copies of documentation to the data system, and then destroy sensitive student records.

Revisions Summary

  • Added driver’s license to the list of documents for citizenship and immigration status verification.

Policy

1. Eligible Individuals

Local Adult Education (AE) programs must only allow eligible individuals to participate in services.1 The term “eligible individual” means an individual —

A. who has attained 16 years of age;

B. who is not enrolled or required to be enrolled in secondary school under State law; and

C. who—

i. is basic skills deficient;

ii. does not have a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent, and has not achieved an equivalent level of education; or

iii. is an English language learner.

In addition, AE programs must only provide services to individuals who are U.S. citizens or have lawful immigration status.

2. Determining Age Eligibility

Local program staff must determine that a prospective student meets the minimum age requirement during the intake process. A prospective student must disclose their age during initial conversations with staff or when completing program registration information.

If an individual indicates that they are under 16 years of age, they are ineligible for Adult Education services. If an individual indicates that they are 16 or 17 years of age, then they must comply with the State’s compulsory school attendance laws, and may only enroll in the program if their parent or guardian unenrolls them from secondary school and approves enrollment in the Adult Education program.

3. Determining Academic Need Eligibility

Local staff must determine that a prospective student meets the academic need requirement during the intake process. A prospective student demonstrates academic need through (1) being basic skills deficient; or (2) disclosing that they do not have a high school diploma or equivalency diploma; or (3) being an English language learner. Each of these is discussed further, below.

A. Basic Skills Deficient

An individual is considered basic skills deficient if they are “unable to compute or solve problems, or read, write, or speak English, at a level necessary to function on the job, in the individual’s family, or in society.”2

To determine a student’s educational functioning level and specific academic needs, the student must be given an assessment during the intake process. These assessments are TABE (for ABE students) and CASAS (for ESL students). Assessment scores can be used by local staff to help design a program of instruction best-suited to the student’s learning needs (see the TDLWD Assessment Policy for additional details).

Every student who meets the eligibility requirements for the Adult Education program must be indicated as “basic skills deficient” in Jobs4TN for federal reporting purposes.

B. High School Diploma or Equivalency

During intake, an individual may choose to disclose that they do not have a high school diploma or equivalency diploma, thereby automatically meeting the academic need eligibility requirement. However, individuals who do have a high school diploma or equivalency may still receive services if they demonstrate academic need through one of the other options (i.e., they are basic skills deficient or are English language learners).

C. English Language Learner

During intake, an individual may choose to disclose that they are an English language learner, or local staff may make this determination through initial conversations. An individual is considered an English language learner if they have “limited ability in reading, writing, speaking, or comprehending the English language, and —

i. [their] native language is a language other than English; or

ii. [they] live in a family or community environment where a language other than English is the dominant language.”3

A CASAS assessment must be used during the intake process to determine students’ educational functioning levels and academic needs.

Governance

Local program directors are responsible for disseminating this policy to their staff members and for providing staff with associated training, checking for understanding, enforcing compliance, and seeking technical assistance from TDLWD staff as necessary.

To ensure compliance with this policy, TDLWD staff will review student enrollment records and verification documents entered into the data system.

1 See WIOA Title II Sec. 203(4).
2 See WIOA Title I Sec. 3(5).
3 See WIOA Title II Sec. 203(7)