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Administered by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the Job Corps program trains approximately 60,000 participants on workforce skills in a residential environment each year. The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act requires DOL to present the cost per enrollee and cost per graduate of each Job Corps center every year. The report presents the methodology used to estimate cost per enrollee and cost per graduate for program year 2017. The average Job Corps center cost is $34,301 per enrollee and $57,312 per graduate.

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Research Questions

• What is the extent to which different methodologies for calculating Job Corps costs per enrollee and costs per graduate meet WIOA reporting requirements, result in accurate estimates, provide transparency, and require minimal computational resources?

Key Takeaways

• For the program year (PY) 2017 methodology, the cost of enrollees and graduates are calculated by summing the Job Corps Center’s total expenses (including its share of regional and national allocated expenses) and dividing it by either the number of enrollees or the number of graduates.
• The PY 2017 methodology estimates that the average Job Corps center cost per enrollee was $34,301 and the average Job Corps center cost per graduate was $57,312 between July 2017 and June 2018.
• The center average cost per enrollee ranged from $21,920 to $781,087, with a median of $33,651 and the center average cost per graduate ranged from $28,989 to $512,596, with a median of $59,863.
• The study analyzed the pros and cons of adopting different definitions of enrollment, compared three alternative methodologies to the PY 2017 methodology, and identified how different data collection methods and adjustments to calculating the number of graduates could provide better estimates in the future.

Citation

Liu, A. Y., Perry, C., Skinner, R., Cody, S. (2020). Insight Policy Research. Estimating Job Corps Cost per Enrollee and Cost per Graduate. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

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The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy and CEO’s research development process.