A better way to find career training in Mississippi

Mississippi's ETPL (Eligible Training Provider List) is the official record of workforce training programs approved for WIOA funding. This tool puts a worker-facing layer on top of that data. A short five-question quiz helps narrow things down before you browse.

• Workers in or near Mississippi looking to upskill, change careers, or find out what training exists near them, especially if they may qualify for WIOA funding
• Case managers and navigators helping someone sort through options

For compliance review, eligibility verification, or official enrollment, use the state system directly.

WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) is a federal law that funds job training and employment services, administered locally through American Job Centers. Every program in this tool is on the approved provider list, which means if you qualify for WIOA services, that funding may offset or cover tuition costs.

The ETPL is built for compliance and accountability, not for workers browsing on a phone. Some of what makes it hard to use as a discovery tool:

• Program names that assume prior knowledge
• No plain-language descriptions of what a program teaches
• Limited location-based filtering
• No feedback from people who have actually completed a program
• Limited ways to narrow results by interest, schedule, or budget
• No side-by-side comparison across programs
• No clear next step once you find something, which makes it hard to act without a case manager to help you along

This tool is an attempt to close some of that gap.

These are ideas, not commitments, but they represent where we'd like to go:

• Worker reviews and real completion feedback
• Provider-supplied details like cohort schedules and enrollment status
• Non-WIOA programs alongside ETPL listings in one search, surfaced through Advance CTE alignment and our own discovery tools
• Clearer next steps and connection to local support

The roadmap depends on data access, partner coordination, and available resources.

This tool was built by Leah Lykins, who co-founded WhereWeGo in 2018. Before that, she spent a decade in New Orleans public schools as an environmental science teacher and director of teaching and learning, coaching teachers across subjects in career and college readiness. She brings worker user research and behavioral science to the design process, with a focus on lowering cognitive load and making the next step feel reachable.

The underlying data is sourced from official federal and state records. This tool is an independent build by WhereWeGo, not an official state product. Verify details through official channels before making enrollment or funding decisions.

• TrainingProviderResults.gov — Mississippi's Eligible Training Provider List (ETPL), the federally-maintained record of workforce training programs approved for WIOA funding.
• CareerOneStop — Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (DOL/ETA) and developed by the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development (DEED). Provides supplemental program and provider data.
• O*NET OnLine — Occupation titles, codes, and wage data from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license.