A new Department of Labor report reveals the Job Corps program spends hundreds of thousands per graduate, yet most participants end up with low-wage jobs, fueling calls for major reforms or cuts.
Key Facts:
- The Job Corps program serves low-income young adults aged 16-24, with a $1.7 billion budget for Program Year (PY) 2023.
- Graduation rates range from only 32% to 38% across 124 job centers analyzed.
- The average cost per student per program year was $79,631, with a total cost per graduate ranging between $155,600 and $187,653.
- Graduates earn just $16,695 per year on average after completing the program.
- The 10 least efficient centers averaged $512,800 per graduate, while the top 50 least efficient centers averaged $319,085 per graduate.
The Rest of The Story:
The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration released a transparency report on the Jobs Corps program, shedding light on troubling inefficiencies.
Although the program has been a favorite among unions and aims to assist disadvantaged youth, its results suggest otherwise.
The average student cost is high, and the graduation rate disappointingly low.
Even worse, many of those who do graduate land only low-paying, minimum wage jobs.
Reports have also surfaced of criminal activities occurring within Job Corps facilities, raising additional questions about management and oversight.
The Department has recently taken steps to clean up inefficiencies, including canceling a $4 million DEI consulting contract and returning over $1 billion in unused pandemic funds to taxpayers.
Commentary:
Programs like Job Corps are sold to the American people with noble intentions — helping young adults escape poverty and find careers.
Yet when hard-earned taxpayer dollars fund programs that cost over $150,000 per graduate, only to lead to minimum wage jobs, it’s clear something is broken.
Taxpayers don’t mind paying for genuine safety nets and opportunities, but they expect results and responsible stewardship.
Instead, bloated budgets and low success rates have become the norm, and bureaucrats have known about these issues for years.
Rather than being corrected or eliminated, these expensive and ineffective programs are protected fiercely by those who benefit politically and financially from their existence.
Efforts to reform or cut waste are often met with loud resistance, especially from those who prioritize keeping the money flowing over achieving real outcomes for the people they claim to help.
If anything, this report proves the need for ruthless transparency, strong accountability, and the courage to shut down programs that fail to deliver.
The Bottom Line:
The Job Corps program has become another costly government project producing disappointing results.
Instead of lifting young adults into meaningful careers, it traps them in low-wage jobs while draining taxpayer resources.
Without serious reform or elimination, Job Corps risks becoming a permanent symbol of bureaucratic failure and misplaced priorities.
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