There have been many questions about this on the forums, so I decided to take it upon myself to find out more about this program. The Workforce Investment Act is a federal program that is administered by the states and very, very county-specific. I could not find out how the different counties get their share of the money, however. In Washington State, I went to the Employment Security Department and looked at the various training programs. It has the Commissioner Approved Training (CAT), but nothing about the WIA. The closest thing I saw was that Dislocated Workers get some other added benefits unavailable to the garden variety person who is eligible for unemployment.

Next, I attacked the problem from the other way. Since I could not find anything on the State website, I looked for aviation training facilities that offer (and indeed tout) a type rating course paid for by WIA funds. Lo and behold, I found such a place in King County, Washington. The lady I spoke with was helpful enough. She said that applicants should contact her first to "get the proper verbiage" into the application form. This is not an unusual thing, by the way. Then you apply directly online, but she could not say where exactly even though she and I tried simultaneously to look for the proper website. She promised to send me some stuff via email, but I have not seen anything yet.

According to her, the WIA usually pays 80% to 100% of the total cost of the type rating. Her facility charges $13,000 for a 737NG and $8,700 for a 737EFIS(?). They also do the 767 and A320. There is a $2500 deposit which will be reimbursed to you once the WIA funds come through. Classes start twice a month. There is an 80 hour home study where you study stuff of your own (through a CD filled with things about systems etc), then you go into the facility itself, presumably for the sim for 2 weeks.

If you live in Washington and King County specifically, feel free to contact me about the things I described above. I have gone to hundreds and hundreds of hearings before administrative law judges, but have never had a WIA case. Not that they are not out there, but I have personally never encountered one. If you are interested, spoke with this woman, applied and was denied, let me know and I'll see if I can help with your appeal.

Well, that's all I have for now, folks.