Job Corps' stated mission is to “attract eligible young adults, teach them the skills they need to become employable and independent, and place them in meaningful jobs or further education.”

Job Corps offers career planning, on-the-job training, job placement, residential housing, food service, driver's education, basic health and dental care, a bi-weekly basic living allowance and clothing allowance. Some centers offer childcare programs for single parents as well.

Besides vocational training, the Job Corps program also offers academic training, including basic reading and math, GED attainment, college preparatory, and Limited English Proficiency courses. Some centers also offer programs that allow students to remain in residence at their center while attending college.[citation needed] Job Corps provides career counseling and transition support to its students for up to one year after they graduate from the program

Because Job Corps is a self-paced program, training can take anywhere between eight months to two years to complete, depending on the career area chosen and the learning pace a student sets for themself.

Job Corps was initiated as the central program of the Johnson Administration's War on Poverty, part of his domestic agenda known as the Great Society. Sargent Shriver, the first Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, modeled the program on the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). Established in the 1930s as an emergency relief program, the CCC provided room, board, and employment to thousands of unemployed young people. Though the CCC was discontinued after World War II, Job Corps built on many of its methods and strategies.[citation needed][original research?]

The current national director of the Office of Job Corps is Edna Primrose, who was appointed on March 12, 2010. The Job Corps program is currently authorized under Title I-C of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998.

Since its inception in 1964 under the Economic Opportunity Act, Job Corps has served more than two million young people.[citation needed] Job Corps serves approximately 60,000 youths annually at Job Corps Centers throughout the country.

To enroll in Job Corps, students must meet the following requirements:

In order to stay in the program, students must not violate the "Zero Tolerance" policy against violence and drugs and various minor rules, such as dress and appearance, as well as dormitory inspection rules.[citation needed]

Applicants to the Job Corps program are identified and screened for eligibility by organizations contracted by the U.S. Department of Labor. Each student in the Job Corps goes through four stages of the program: