This paper examines the benefits and costs of Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Title II-A programs for economically disadvantaged adults and out-of-school youths. It is based on a 21,000-person randomized ex­periment conducted within ongoing Title II-A programs at 16 local JTPA Service Delivery Areas (SDAs) from around the country. In the paper, we present the background and design of our study, describe the method­ology used to estimate program impacts, present estimates of program impacts on earnings and educational attainment, and assess the overall success of the programs studied through a benefit-cost analysis.

At the time of the study, the authors’ affiliations were as follows: Howard Bloom and Johannes M. Bos, New York University; Larry L. Orr, Stephen H. Bell and Winston Lin, Abt Associates Inc.; George Cave and Fred Doolittle, MDRC. Their paper is based on research funded by the U.S. Depart­ment of Labor under contract No. 99-6-0803-77-068-01, although it does not necessarily reflect the of­ficial position of the Department. For making this research possible, the authors would like to thank Raymond J. Uhalde and his staff from the U.S. Department of Labor; Isabel V. Sawhill, Chair, and the members of the National JTPA Study Advisory Panel; and the many committed SDA staff mem­bers from the 16 study sites. The data used in this article can be obtained beginning November 1997 through October 2000 from Larry Orr, Abt Associates, Hampden Square, 4800 Montgomery Lane, Suite 600, Bethesda, Maryland 20814.