The Iowa Department of Education announced it has awarded $500,000 in competitive grants across 15 Iowa school districts focused on aligning secondary career and technical education programs with student attainment of industry-recognized credentials. With this most recent round of awards, the Credentials to Careers grant program has provided over $3.5 million since its inception in 2024. The school districts selected to receive the grants include the Ballard, Boyden-Hull, Chariton, Des Moines, Dubuque, Durant, Fort Dodge, Glenwood, Hinton, Keokuk, Knoxville, Missouri Valley, Starmont, West Des Moines and Winterset community school districts. Each of these districts will be awarded up to $50,000 during the 2025-26 school year to align career and technical education programs with the attainment of one or more industry-recognized credentials.