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Exclusive: The Department of Labor is suspending operations of Employment Corps Centers across the country after revelation that a program that costs more than $1.7 billion a year will no longer achieve the intended outcomes and put students at risk.
Job Corps was originally created to help young people build paths to better lives through education and community. However, Trump administration officials told Fox News Digital “A detailed financial analysis and a surprising number of serious incident reports make it clear that the program does not help students achieve or maintain their intended outcomes safely.”
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The decision to suspend the program came after Job Corps’ transparency report was compiled and released in April, indicating that the program’s average graduation rate is only 32%.
Former Representative Lori Chavez Deremar, a candidate for US President Donald Trump, is currently undergoing a confirmation hearing hearing hearing held in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, February 19, 2025.
The average total cost per graduate ranges from $155,600 to $187,653, the report says. According to the Department of Labor, the average cost of a four-year university in the United States is $153,080.
Furthermore, when these students moved through the program, the survey found that they were primarily employed in minimum wage positions.
Currently, there are over 25,000 students enrolled in the Job Corps program. Participants’ safety is “often at risk.”
Authorities said there were 14,913 serious incident reports filed in 2023. In 2023, 373 cases of inappropriate sexual behavior and sexual assault were reported. 1,764 violent acts have been reported. 1,167 safety or security breaches have been reported. 2,702 instances of drug use have been reported. 1,808 hospital visits for students were reported.
Trump administration officials told Fox News Digital that the Labor Department has launched a phased suspension of operations at Job Corp Centers, which operates contractors nationwide, and is beginning an orderly transition for students, staff and communities.
Work Facility (Getty)
Currently, there are 123 job centers in the United States. The 99 of the Center is run by contractors managed by the Ministry of Labor. Officials said those contracts will end to suspend operations. The remaining 24 centres are operated by USDA and are not affected by suspension.
Operational suspensions at Job Corps Centers, operated by all contractors, will take place by June 30th. During the transition, the Department of Labor will work with state and local workforce partners to help modern students advance training and connect education and employment opportunities.
When a gradual outage occurs, students are connected to other resources and registered with the American Job Center, closest to their home and their hometown labor exchange system.
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“Job Corps was created to help young people build paths to better lives through education, training and community,” Secretary Lori Chavez Deremar told Fox News Digital. “However, an astounding number of serious incident reports and our detailed financial analysis reveal that the program no longer achieves the intended outcomes students deserve.”
Chavez-Deremer added: “We continue to be committed to ensuring that all participants are supported through this transition and are relevant to the resources needed to succeed in assessing the program’s potential.”
Jobs Corps will cost $1.7 billion taxpayers in 2025.
The program began in 1964 as part of former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s war of poverty under the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. The program was intended to provide young people from low-income backgrounds with the opportunity to acquire academic, professional and social skills in a residential setting.
For the 2024 program, Job Corps was operating at a $140 million deficit, which required a moratorium on the centre to save around $119 million to reach the end of the program.
DOL officials are projected to grow the deficit to $223 million in the 2025 program.
“The program has been in a financial crisis for years, creating constant uncertainty for participants and managers,” a DOL official told Fox News Digital.
However, civil servants emphasized that the Ministry of Labor “has not removed the employment corps,” and that the legislature alone has the power.
In December 2024, the Biden administration’s Labor Department enacted a similar moratorium on operations at two Job Corpse Centres amid concerns over issues and rising program costs.
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Authorities said at this point that the Employment Corps program is financially underwater and that the funds allocated by the annual Congress would not cover operational costs for the remaining program year.
Officials said the suspension would allow the department to reevaluate the program’s coordination with the Trump administration’s “workforce priorities, budget framework and its overall vision for building modern and effective workforce development programs for American youth.”
Brooksingman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and Fox Business.
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