Job Corps says DOL presents misleading data in push to shut down centers

Photo by Tom Rivers: This sign on Route 63 in Shelby notes the Iroquois Job Corps, a center with space for up to 225 students served by 104 full-time equivalent employees.

The data presented by the federal Department of Labor to justify “pausing” Job Corps centers around the country is deeply flawed, the National Job Corps Association said.

On Thursday, DOL Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced 99 Job Corps would be paused with programs suspended by the end of June, including at the local Iroquois Job Corps Center in Medina.

The DOL said the graduation rate nationwide at the centers is at 38.6 percent, with the average cost per student a year at $80,284. The average cost per graduate is $155,600, according to the DOL.

The program also doesn’t tend to be a pathway to a career. On average, participants earn $16,695 annually on average when they leave the program, the DOL said.

But the National Job Corps said the DOL skewed the data, using information from 2023 when centers were still impacted by Covid restrictions.

“Job Corps has transformed the lives of millions of Americans,” Donna Hay, president & CEO of the National Job Corps Association, said in response to the DOL decision. “We agree with Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins that Job Corps saves lives. This decision, based on a deeply flawed report, needlessly endangers the futures and the lives of thousands and potentially millions more young Americans.”

Job Corps is currently operating at about half of its capacity because the DOL hasn’t allowed centers to do their own background checks on students. Since the DOL took over that duty in March, students haven’t been admitted.

Allowing more students would drive down the per-student costs, Job Corps noted on its website in response to the DOL statements.

Job Corps is the nation’s largest residential career training and education program, serving people ages 16 to 24. The centers have a capacity for about 50,000 students but currently have about 25,000.

The students at the 99 centers need to be gone no later than the end of the month. Hay said more than 4,500 of those students were homeless before joining Job Corps and potentially face a perilous future. That figure amounts to 20 percent of current students but is as high as 50 percent at some campuses, she said.

Job Corps responded to many of what it said were false or misleading statements presented by the Department of Labor and widely reported in the media.

Graduation rate: The Job Corps graduation is historically closer to 60 percent, not the 38.6 percent from July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024.

“Like other schools and colleges, enrollment and graduates rates were depressed by Covid-19 policies,” Job Corps said. “Historically, Job Corps graduation rates have been above 60%.”

Job Corps said many students left the program because they were pushed to “college-ready” classes that did not align with their career goals.

Cost per student: The DOL said the cost per student for the program is less than $50,000. A report from the first Trump Administration put the cost at $34,301 per enrollee.

“The increase is due almost entirely to Covid-19 restrictions on the number of students Job Corps is allowed to serve, some of which are still in place,” Job Corps said.

The DOL said in its more recent report the Job Corps cost per student is more than what t costs to send a student to a four-year college. But Job Corps said a four-degree program can top $300,000 and only 49 percent of students in a four-year college program complete the degree on time.

Job Corps said that prior to Covid restrictions in 2020, the average cost per Job Corps graduate was $57,312.

Program failing to meet its mission: The DOL said Job Corps students are largely hired in minimum-wage positions, earning $16,695.

But Job Corps students placed in positions earned an average wage of $17.13 in 2023, more than twice the minimum wage of $7.25. Graduates earned annualized wages of more than $31,000, Job Corps said.

Incidents of violence: The DOL said there were 14,913 serious incident reports filed in 2023 at centers across the country.

“Per DOL’s reporting requirements, these ‘serious’ incidents include power outages and inclement weather, athletic injuries that require treatment, and adult students leaving campus without prior approval,” Job Corps said.

The National Job Corps Association urged people to contact their Congressional reps to help preserve the program before students are sent off campus in the next few days.

“ Job Corps plays a vital role in our economy,” the association said. “It strengthens local communities by preparing young people for the workforce, supplying local businesses with skilled, ready workers, and driving economic growth.

“Across the country, Job Corps graduates fill essential roles in healthcare, construction, IT, and more – industries where talent is urgently needed. Eliminating Job Corps would not only hurt individuals, it would undermine businesses and communities that rely on a pipeline of trained workers to thrive. For many reasons, Job Corps is needed now more than ever.”