A federally funded residential job training center in Palmer must close completely by the end of June and begin sending students home next week under an “operations pause” ordered this week by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The Don Young Alaska Job Corps Center in Palmer is one of more than 100 no-cost residential training centers nationwide operated by Department of Labor contractors. About two dozen additional centers are run by the U.S. Forest Service and focus on conservation-related training, according to the Job Corps website.

Nationwide funding for Job Corps is not currently included in the proposed federal budget for next year.

The program is being paused now because it operated at a $140 million deficit last year and because closing it “reflects the administration’s commitment t

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