On May 29, the US Department of Labor announced a phased shutdown of Job Corps, the nation’s largest free residential education and job training program for young adults ages 16 to 24, which Congress created in 1964.
The announcement called for the closure of approximately 100 Job Corps campuses across the country, which serve thousands of low-income youth, providing them with career pathways, GED preparation, and vocational training. Many young people rely on Job Corps not only for training and educational programs but also for housing. When the program’s closure was announced, some were left with nowhere to go.
In locations around the country, students and staff were given days to move out. As Louisiana Weekly reported, some of the impacted students were already dealing with homelessness and other compounding crises—one Job Corps student in Detroit noted that he had just recently settled into the program when he and dozens of others were told they had to leave. This created yet another challenge for his mother, who was recovering from breast cancer and recently became unhoused.
The Uncertainty of Job Corps
Historically, Job Corps has received bipartisan support. Although the Department of Labor stated that it was ending the program because it was not cost-effective and had a low graduation rate, advocates for the program have noted that, when the comprehensive services Job Corps provides are considered, the cost is comparable to that of community college. Additionally, the graduation rate actually surpasses the national average for two-year community colleges.
“One of my proudest professional moments to date is a framed GED presented to me from one of my [Job Corps] students with tears in his eyes who thought he would never achieve it.”
Since the initial announcement of the program’s closure, the National Job Corps Association has filed a lawsuit in federal court, claiming that the Trump administration lacked the authority to end the program because Congress created it. In response, US District Judge Andrew Carter in New York has issued a temporary restraining order blocking the nationwide closure of the program. Still, uncertainty remains, and students are left scrambling to figure out their next steps.
HBCUs and Job Corps
Amid the upheaval for these students, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) across the country are prepared to welcome them.
Several HBCUs, including Jarvis Christian University and Wiley University in Texas, and Morris Brown College in Georgia, have sent correspondence to Job Corps students, informing them that they have places available on their campuses. In posts on LinkedIn and Instagram, Jarvis Christian University, in particular, has welcomed Job Corps students who hold a GED or high school diploma to apply to the university.
Some of the impacted students were already dealing with homelessness and other compounding crises.
“I just thought with me having dorms here on campus, housing here on campus, services here on campus, that it was a natural good fit for us to offer an opportunity for those young people to come here, have a safe place to benefit from the services that we offer here at Jarvis Christian University,” said Glenell M. Lee-Pruitt, president of the university, in an interview with NPQ.
Lee-Pruitt, who has been the president of the university since 2023 and has a background in social work, added that even before the recent cuts were announced, the University had been working on a reciprocal partnership with the North Texas Job Corps.
As she described it, the partnership included three main components:
- Job Corps sending students interested in pursuing their postsecondary degrees to the university
- The university sending students who did not perform well at the four-year institution to Job Corps to receive training, rather than being sent home
- The university serving as a workforce training site, where Job Corps students trained in skills such as HVAC, painting, and carpentry could work alongside university personnel to gain experience
Although the partnership will not be realized as initially intended, Lee-Pruitt still feels there is an opportunity to meet the moment: “My thoughts were, if we were going to partner with Job Corps in good times, we needed to partner with them when there were some challenges.”
Stepping up in this moment, Lee-Pruitt points out, is in line with what HBCUs have historically done: welcoming and educating students that might not be welcomed elsewhere. HBCUs, like Job Corps, often support students who experience housing insecurity and homelessness.
“It’s what we do naturally,” Lee Pruitt said.
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What Comes Next?
When NPQ spoke with Lee-Pruitt on June 6, she said Job Corps students were preparing to visit campus the following Monday. After posting on LinkedIn, she received numerous responses from Job Corps students looking for their next steps.
Lee-Pruitt notes that one way the institution is preparing for new students, particularly those who may be housing insecure, is by ensuring that the university is ready to house students all year round, even during the typical university holidays. Although the school has already been providing these accommodations for international students, Lee-Pruitt knows that this will likely need to be expanded.
“We understand that Jarvis will no longer be a ‘we’re closed for Thanksgiving, we’re closed for Christmas, we’re closed for summer’ campus,” she said.
She also said the university is creating a task force to explore potentially employing Job Corps staff, allowing students to continue working.
“If we were going to partner with Job Corps in good times, we needed to partner with them when there were some challenges.”
Lee-Pruitt is not alone in these efforts. Some of her fellow HBCU leaders are also offering resources to Job Corps.
In Arkansas, for instance, Shorter College in North Little Rock has already welcomed about 20 Job Corps students who are now officially enrolled at the college. In a statement for the Arkansas Times, Ashanti Davis, the communications director for Shorter College, noted that even after the issuance of the federal injunction, the students had not been asked to return to their Job Corps site, so leaders at the college are doing what they can to meet their needs.
Davis noted that “the biggest challenge…is that the students arrived with very little notice and limited personal belongings.” The institution is helping the students get what they need: an education, but also “health care, hygiene supplies, clothing and other essentials,” she added.
“We are committed to helping them have a strong and successful summer,” Davis said.
For some HBCU leaders, the opportunity to step up right now presents a full-circle moment.
In an open letter circulated on LinkedIn, Kevin James, the President of Morris Brown College in Atlanta, GA, encouraged Job Corps students who have earned their high school diploma or GED to consider applying to his college. He noted that a pivotal moment in his career was working as a teacher at a Job Corps center in Albany, GA, over 20 years ago.
“One of my proudest professional moments to date,” James wrote, “is a framed GED presented to me from one of my students with tears in his eyes who thought he would never achieve it.”
