New report exposes how government program with eye-popping budget is failing vulnerable students

FIRST ON FOX: A new transparency report looking at a popular multibillion-dollar program in the Department of Labor has found a meager success rate, setting the stage for possible cuts amid the Trump administration's push to slash waste.

The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration has released a detailed report investigating the financial performance and efficiency of the Jobs Corps Program, a federally funded residential career training and education program popular with unions and designed for eligible low-income young adults aged 16-24.  

The report, which analyzed 124 job centers, looked into the definitions of what constitutes "graduating" from the program and found that the average graduation rate ranges from 32% to 38%, depending on which criteria are used for a program with a budget of $1.7 billion in PY2023.

The report states that the average cost per student overall came out to $49,769.53 in PY2023, and the average cost per student per program year is $79,631.25. 

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The average total cost per graduate ranges from $155,600 to $187,653, the report states.  

Additionally, once those students move through the program, the study found that they are largely being hired in minimum wage positions, with participants earning $16,695 annually on average after they leave the program.

"Taxpayers deserve to know the facts and outcomes of their multi-billion-dollar investment," ETA Acting Assistant Secretary Lori Frazier Bearden said in a statement. 

"This report underscores the Department’s commitment to program transparency and accountability — both of which are essential for effective oversight, informed policymaking, and maintaining public trust," she continued.

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In a press release, the department said after looking through the highest center costs per graduate, it found that "the 10 least efficient programs average $512,800 per graduate" and "the top 50 least efficient programs average $319,085 per graduate."

Concerns about more than the efficiency of Job Corps have been raised in recent years, including a report from the Daily Wire outlining data that shows criminals and runaway teens were often housed in Job Corps dorms, which resulted in crimes like rape, drug dealing and assault. 

The Department of Labor has been active in recent weeks pushing for transparency under the backdrop of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Earlier this month, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer announced that her department will return over $1 billion in unused COVID-era funding back to the taxpayer.

In February, Fox News Digital reported that the Department of Labor will cancel a $4 million contract for DEI consultation services and training in its Jobs Corps program.