The phrase "a handful of programs" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to refer to a small number of programs, typically implying that the quantity is manageable or limited.
Example: "The company has developed a handful of programs to improve employee productivity and engagement."
Alternatives: "a few programs" or "several programs".
But for the moment, only a handful of programs accept Tablet PC-style handwriting.
Varèse's music turns up on a handful of programs every season and occasionally in an ambitious retrospective.
Where only a handful of programs existed a few years ago, there are now 239, with scores in development.
But the Legislature waited until 2006, when it authorized a handful of programs that were permitted to distribute clean needles to addicts.
If Google does enter the e-book market, it would be one of a handful of programs under which the company sells content directly to consumers.
Over the years, women's basketball has been dominated by a handful of programs, and most of the surprise teams in the Final Four quickly become spectators.
On a recent morning, a handful of program managers and other executives huddled around a long table in Building 43 on the Google campus here in Mountain View to review changes to products in development.
As the above table demonstrates, a handful of JD/MBA programs allow students to complete the program in three years.
There are only a handful of graduate programs in career counseling across the United States, and the program at the University of Maryland is being eliminated.
After that, there is nothing except a handful of nonmandated programs with long waiting lists that live hand to mouth, dependent on the ups and downs of the state budget each year.
I have seen first-hand this movement adapt and grow over twenty years from a handful of pioneer programs to a robust network of innovative organizations.
