New Health IT Workforce Grants

Program of Assistance for University-Based Training

The purpose of the Information Technology Professionals in Health Care: Program of Assistance for University-Based Training grants is to rapidly increase the availability of individuals qualified to serve in specific health information technology professional roles requiring university-level training. Four-year colleges or universities are eligible to apply for funding under this program, which will emphasize programs that can be completed by the trainee in one year or less. Awardees will be expected to promptly establish, fill, and begin graduating students from new training positions as rapidly as is feasible without compromising the adequacy of training such graduates will have received.

The six roles targeted by this funding opportunity are:

  1. Clinician/Public Health Leader
  2. Health Information Management and Exchange Specialist
  3. Health Information Privacy and Security Specialist
  4. Research and Development Scientist
  5. Programmers and Software Engineer
  6. Health IT Sub-specialist

Learn more about the Program of Assistance for University-Based Training:


For questions relating to the Program of Assistance for University-Based Training, email university-based-training@hhs.gov.


Competency Examination Program

The Competency Examination for Individuals Completing Non-Degree Training program, one component of the workforce program, will provide $6 million in grants to an institution of higher education (or consortia thereof) to support the development and initial administration of a set of health IT competency examinations. The examinations will assess basic competency for individuals trained through short-duration, non-degree health IT programs, and for members of the workforce with relevant experience or other types of training who are seeking to demonstrate their competency in certain health IT workforce roles integral to achieving meaningful use of electronic health information.

Learn more about the Competency Examination Program:


For questions relating to the Competency Examination Program, email HITCompetencyExam@hhs.gov.