Job Corps is a residential program where students live in dormitories, although some students live at home and commute to the center. A total of 123 centers are located throughout the United States and Puerto Rico as of 2009.
Students in the Job Corps program earn a high school diploma or equivalency if they do not have one. They also can complete college-level coursework.
Job Corps offers training in over 100 careers, and most of the centers offer between 10 to 20 career choices. Job placement services are provided, and the program also can place interested students in the military or in higher education opportunities.
Job Corps began in 1964 as part of President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty. It is the country's oldest and largest national residential education and training program for undereducated young people.
A study published in the December 2008 issue of the American Economic Review found that participation in Job Corps America increased earnings for several years, but those gains did not continue except for the oldest participants.