About the Study
In 2017, the Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) partnered with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) and funded contractor Insight Policy Research to conduct the Estimating Job Corps Cost per Enrollee and Cost per Graduate study. This study examined six methodologies for estimating the cost per enrollee and cost per graduate for program year 2017 to help inform ETA’s performance reporting on the Job Corps program, as required by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
Job Corps is the nation’s largest residential education and job training program for at-risk youth, administered by the Department of Labor’s (DOL) ETA. The program reaches an estimated 60,000 participants each year at numerous locations across the country.
This Department of Labor-funded study project supports ETA in fulfilling requirements under WIOA Section 169 to report performance measures. It contributes to the labor evidence-base to inform employment and training programs and policies and addresses Departmental strategic goals and priorities.
- Estimating Job Corps Cost per Enrollee and Cost per Graduate (Final Report, July 2020)
- Determine 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.
- 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.
Liu, A. Y., Perry, C., Skinner, R., Cody, S. (2020). Insight Policy Research, Inc. Estimating Job Corps Cost per Enrollee and Cost per Graduate. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.
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. CEO’s research development process includes extensive technical review at the design, data collection and analysis stage, including: external contractor review and OMB review and approval of data collection methods and instruments per the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), Institutional Review Board (IRB) review to ensure studies adhere to the highest ethical standards, review by academic peers (e.g., Technical Working Groups), and inputs from relevant DOL agency and program officials and CEO technical staff. Final reports undergo an additional independent expert technical review and a review for Section 508 compliance prior to publication. The resulting reports represent findings from this independent research and do not represent DOL positions or policies.