Job Corps centers, including one in Central Texas, pausing operations
Job Corps centers will be pausing operations by the end of June
One has operated in Central Texas for decades
Dept. of Labor says the decision follows an internal review of the program
HAYS COUNTY, Texas - The U.S. Department of Labor has announced it is pausing operations at Job Corps centers nationwide, including one that's operated in Central Texas for decades.
What we know
On May 29, the US Department of Labor announced it would be starting a "phased pause" in operations at 99 contractor-operated Job Corps centers nationwide.
The department says that the decision followed an "internal review of the program's outcome and structure and will be carried out in accordance with available funding, the statutory framework established under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and congressional notification requirements."
The pause is expected to happen by June 30.
DOL says that it is collaborating with state and local workforce partners to help current students advance their training and connect them with education and employment opportunities.
Center operations are now implementing transition plans to get students home and funding will then be used to pause operations, including managing facilities and maintaining student records.
"The department's decision aligns with the President's FY 2026 budget proposal and reflects the Administration's commitment to ensure federal workforce investments deliver meaningful results for both students and taxpayers," says DOL.
By the numbers
DOL says that this program has faced "significant financial challenges" under its current operating structure and has been in a "financial crisis" for years.
In PY 2024, the program operated at a $140 million deficit, requiring the Biden administration to implement a pause in center operations to complete the program year. The deficit is projected to reach $213 million in PY 2025, says DOL.
The recent Job Corps Transparency Report, which is based on an analysis of internal data from PY 2023, says that the highest graduation rate among all the centers was 65.4% and the average cost per student per year is just over $80,000 and the average cost per graduate is about $155,000.
Dig deeper
Job Corps is the largest free residential education and job training program for young adults aged 16-24.
According to the DOL website, Job Corps has trained and educated over two million people since 1964.
The program helps eligible young adults complete their high school education and career training, as well as obtain employment. Graduates go on to the workforce, apprenticeships, higher education or the military.
Students can earn a high school diploma or equivalent, and college credits and get tuition-free housing, meals, basic healthcare, a living allowance, and career transition assistance.
Job Corps also offers training in 10 high-growth industry sectors:
Advanced Manufacturing
Automotive and Machine Repair
Construction
Finance and Business
Healthcare
Homeland Security
Hospitality
Information Technology
Renewable Resources and Energy
Transportation
There are 99 centers spread across six regions of the US, and four centers are based in Texas: David L. Carrasco (El Paso area), Laredo, Gary (Central Texas), and North Texas (Dallas area).
Local perspective
Gary, one of the four centers in Texas, has been in operation since 1965, says Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra.
The campus sits near the San Marcos Regional Airport on SH 21 and is "long known as the largest of its kind in the country," says Becerra.
The facility is operated by Equus Workforce Solutions, based out of Kentucky.
The Source
Information in this report comes from Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra and the US Department of Labor.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
an hour ago
- CNBC
Why a new UK internet safety law is causing an outcry on both sides of the Atlantic
It was well intentioned but a U.K. law mandating age verification on adult sites and a number of other platforms has sparked a backlash from both internet users in the country, and U.S. politicians and tech giants. Last month, new provisions in the Online Safety Act requiring large online platforms to implement age checks to prevent children from accessing pornographic and appropriate material came into force. The measures have led PornHub, RedTube and other porn sites to force U.K. visitors to sign up and verify their age to gain access to their services. Broadly, the Online Safety Act is a law that imposes a duty of care on social media firms and other user-generated content sites to ensure they take responsibility for harmful content uploaded and spread on their platforms. In particular, the legislation aims to prevent children from being exposed to pornographic content and material that promotes suicide, self-harm, eating disorders or abusive and hateful behaviour. The regulation has been years in the making and faced numerous delays in its development — not least due to concerns that it may infringe internet users' right to privacy and result in censorship. The latest measures have been imposed with the aim of ensuring children aren't able to view harmful and inappropriate content. However, they have led to complaints from internet users due to the requirement of having to share personal information such as their ID, credit card details and selfies — in some cases for platforms that don't even qualify as porn sites. Spotify, Reddit, X and a number of other platforms have introduced their own respective age verification systems to stop users under the age of 18 from consuming explicit content. These moves have subsequently led to providers of virtual private networks (VPNs) to report that their services, which allow users to mask their location, are surging in the U.K. Meanwhile, on Monday, Wikipedia was dealt a legal blow in the U.K. as a High Court judge ruled the platform should be treated as a "category one" service, which would subject to certain user verification requirements. The Online Safety Act requires category one platforms to offer users the ability to verify their identity and access tools that reduce their exposure to content from non-verified users. Wikimedia, the parent company of Wikipedia, has said previously that it could limit visitor numbers from the U.K. in order to exempt it from category one status. A number of U.S. politicians have blasted the new rules in recent days. Last week, Vice President JD Vance — who has previously criticized the U.K.'s internet safety rules — again raised concerns with the law, fearing it could unfairly restrict American tech companies. "I just don't want other countries to follow us down what I think was a very dark path under the Biden administration," Vance told reporters during a trip to the country last week. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who also visited the U.K. recently, said in a statement after his return that sweeping online safety laws in Europe are having "a serious chilling effect on free expression and threaten the First Amendment rights of American citizens and companies." There has been speculation over whether the U.S. may press Britain to relax the regulations during trade talks — however, U.K. officials say the issue is not open to debate. Other countries are already adopting their own respective internet age verification laws. Australia and Ireland have both passed similar age verification measures, while Denmark, Greece, Spain, France and Italy have started testing a common age verification app to protect users online. In the U.S., Louisiana passed a law in 2022 requiring age verification on websites where at least a third of the content is of an adult nature, while several other states are seeking to pass similar legislation.
Fox News
3 hours ago
- Fox News
Over 100K Americans rush to join Trump's massive ICE hiring spree nationwide, DHS says
FIRST ON FOX: More than 100,000 Americans have applied for roles with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since the organization began a recruiting drive at the end of last month, the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. President Donald Trump's administration launched a drive to hire 10,000 additional ICE agents at the end of July, offering incentives to candidates and removing certain limits on who can apply. The total number of applicants has now eclipsed 100,000 in barely two weeks. The agency had received 80,000 applicants as of August 6. "Our country is calling you to serve at ICE. In the wake of the Biden administration's failed immigration policies, your country needs dedicated men and women of ICE to get the worst of the worst criminals out of our country," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News Digital in a statement. "This is a defining moment in our nation's history. Your skills, your experience, and your courage have never been more essential. Together, we must defend the homeland." All ICE law enforcement recruits will be required to go through medical screening, drug screening, and complete a physical fitness test, the agency clarified. ICE is seeking to entice more applicants with a signing bonus of up to $50,0000, options to repay or forgive student loans and other benefits. "Your country is calling on you to serve at ICE and defend the Homeland," Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said in a statement. "In the wake of the Biden administration's open border policies, the dedicated men and women of ICE now face unprecedented challenges in removing millions of criminal illegal aliens from our country. Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill, we now have funding to recruit and hire Americans who want to patriotically serve their country and protect American communities." The recruitment drive comes amid what has been at least an 830% increase in assaults on agents amid riots and protests throughout the country, according to DHS data. Noem said last week that number has since spiked to 1,000%. ICE's recruitment website highlights three key roles: deportation officer, criminal investigator and general attorney, but there are a variety of listings on the federal government's job site that it links back to. The site also lists "How dangerous is the work?" as a frequently asked question. "ICE law enforcement officers should expect a certain level of risk when performing their duties; however, they are expertly trained and every precaution is taken by ICE when it comes to protecting its officers' well-being," the website states.
8 hours ago
Republicans, Democrats alike exhort Trump: Keep security pact with Australia and UK alive
WASHINGTON -- U.S. lawmakers from both parties are urging the Trump administration to maintain a three-way security partnership designed to supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines — a plea that comes as the Pentagon reviews the agreement and considers the questions it has raised about the American industrial infrastructure's shipbuilding capabilities. Two weeks ago, the Defense Department announced it would review AUKUS, the 4-year-old pact signed by the Biden administration with Australia and the United Kingdom. The announcement means the Republican administration is looking closely at a partnership that many believe is critical to the U.S. strategy to push back China's influence in the Indo-Pacific. The review is expected to be completed in the fall. 'AUKUS is essential to strengthening deterrence in the Indo-Pacific and advancing the undersea capabilities that will be central to ensuring peace and stability," Republican Rep. John Moolenaar of Michigan and Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois wrote in a July 22 letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Moolenaar chairs the House panel on China and Krishnamoorthi is its top Democrat. The review comes as the Trump administration works to rebalance its global security concerns while struggling with a hollowed-out industrial base that has hamstrung U.S. capabilities to build enough warships. The review is being led by Elbridge Colby, the No. 3 Pentagon official, who has expressed skepticism about the partnership. 'If we can produce the attack submarines in sufficient number and sufficient speed, then great. But if we can't, that becomes a very difficult problem," Colby said during his confirmation hearing in March. 'This is getting back to restoring our defense industrial capacity so that we don't have to face these awful choices but rather can be in a position where we can produce not only for ourselves, but for our allies." As part of the $269 billion AUKUS partnership, the United States will sell three to five Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia, with the first delivery scheduled as soon as 2032. The U.S. and the U.K. would help Australia design and build another three to five attack submarines to form an eight-boat force for Australia. A March report by the Congressional Research Service warned that the lack of U.S. shipbuilding capacities, including workforce shortage and insufficient supply chains, is jeopardizing the much-celebrated partnership. If the U.S. should sell the vessels to Australia, the U.S. Navy would have a shortage of attack submarines for two decades, the report said. The Navy has been ordering two boats per year in the last decade, but U.S. shipyards have been only producing 1.2 Virginia-class subs a year since 2022, the report said. 'The delivery pace is not where it needs to be" to make good on the first pillar of AUKUS, Admiral Daryl Caudle, nominee for the Chief of Naval Operations, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last month. Australia has invested $1 billion in the U.S. submarine industrial base, with another $1 billion to be paid before the end of this year. It has agreed to contribute a total of $3 billion to uplift the U.S. submarine base, and it has sent both industry personnel to train at U.S. shipyards and naval personnel for submarine training in the United States. "Australia was clear that we would make a proportionate contribution to the United States industrial base,' an Australian defense spokesperson said in July. 'Australia's contribution is about accelerating U.S. production rates and maintenance to enable the delivery of Australia's future Virginia-class submarines.' The three nations have also jointly tested communication capabilities with underwater autonomous systems, Australia's defense ministry said on July 23. Per the partnership, the countries will co-develop other advanced technologies, from undersea to hypersonic capabilities. At the recent Aspen Security Forum, Kevin Rudd, the Australian ambassador to the United States, said his country is committed to increasing defense spending to support its first nuclear-powered sub program, which would also provide 'massively expensive full maintenance repair facilities" for the U.S. Indo-Pacific fleet based in Western Australia. Rudd expressed confidence that the two governments 'will work our way through this stuff.' Bruce Jones, senior fellow with the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy and Technology, told The Associated Press that the partnership, by positioning subs in Western Australia, is helping arm the undersea space that is 'really crucial to American deterrence and defense options in the Western Pacific.' 'The right answer is not to be content with the current pace of submarine building. It's to increase the pace," Jones said. Jennifer Parker, who has served more than 20 years with the Royal Australian Navy and founded Barrier Strategic Advisory, said it should not be a zero-sum game. 'You might sell one submarine to Australia, so you have one less submarine on paper. But in terms of the access, you have the theater of choice from operating from Australia, from being able to maintain your submarines from Australia," Parker said. 'This is not a deal that just benefits Australia." Defense policy is one of the few areas where Republican lawmakers have pushed back against the Trump administration, but their resolve is being tested with the Pentagon's review of AUKUS. So far, they have joined their Democratic colleagues in voicing support for the partnership. They said the U.S. submarine industry is rebounding with congressional appropriations totaling $10 billion since 2018 to ensure the U.S. will have enough ships to allow for sales to Australia. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told the AP that support for AUKUS is strong and bipartisan, 'certainly on the Armed Services Committee.' "There is a little bit of mystification about the analysis done at the Pentagon,' Kaine said, adding that 'maybe (what) the analysis will say is: We believe this is a good thing.'
