WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 08: The Pentagon, heaquarters of the U.S. Division of Protection, is seen from the air on February 8, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Picture by J. David Ake/Getty Photographs)
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This week, faculties and universities throughout america will welcome their college students as they start the brand new spring semester. For a lot of of those college students, it can even be the final time they set foot on campus, as hundreds of undergraduate seniors can be finishing their tutorial research in Might. What lies forward for these upcoming graduates, nonetheless, stays to be seen as these job seekers will enter a tough and competitive job market.
In response to a survey carried out by the Cengage Group, an American schooling content material, expertise, and companies firm, solely 30% of 2025 school graduates discovered entry-level jobs of their fields of examine. The Cengage report added that almost half of current school graduates felt unprepared to enter the workforce.
In the meantime, CNBC reported that recruiter job postings on school campuses are down 15%, whereas the variety of school candidates for entry-level positions has elevated by 30%. This has made it tough for these current school graduates to search out positions, as CNBC reported that the unemployment price for younger adults is now at 10%. Moreover, Forbes reported that 33% of 2025 school graduates are presently unemployed and looking for work. Federal funding cuts to U.S. authorities businesses and packages, assume tanks, universities, nonprofit organizations, and information shops, in addition to layoffs within the personal and public sectors, and the rise of synthetic intelligence have all contributed to the tightening of the job market.
Given this era of problem and uncertainty, present school college students and up to date graduates have needed to pivot of their job searches as they search to develop new abilities and abilities. Some have resorted to enrolling in a university program that gives scholarships, internships, abilities, and mentorship. That is none apart from the Protection Civilian Coaching Corps.
DCTC Develops America’s Future Civilian Leaders Whereas Creating A Pathway To Full-Time Federal Employment For Faculty Graduates
Launched in September 2023 by the U.S. Division of Protection (renamed to the Division of Battle in September 2025), DCTC is a “congressionally-mandated talent development program that provides multidisciplinary, active-learning curriculum” for school and college college students. The DCTC pilot program provides stipends and paid internships to undergraduates. On this rigorous program, accepted college students will find out about protection acquisition, science, engineering, expertise, and synthetic intelligence.
“Congress first licensed DCTC within the FY 2020 Nationwide Protection Authorization Act to handle workforce gaps within the DOW’s civilian acquisition ecosystem, the place conventional hiring and on-the-job coaching alone have fallen wanting producing expertise at scale with the talents wanted for in the present day’s fast-changing and complicated challenges,” Tory Cuff, DCTC Program Director and Acquisition Innovation Analysis Middle Fellow, informed me in an interview. “DCTC produces mission-ready professionals who can contribute to DOW’s priorities and velocity capabilities to the warfighter on day one. By specializing in experiential studying, multidisciplinary collaboration, and real-world drawback fixing, this system is designed to make sure the civilian workforce is provided to drive innovation, agility, and operational impression for the warfighter. Within the midst of ongoing acquisition transformation efforts, DCTC places the concentrate on folks to attain organizational tradition change.”
Upon completion of this scholarship-for-service program, DCTC seeks to arrange school and college college students for high-demand positions inside DOW, with an obligation to work in a civilian position within the federal authorities upon commencement. It’s just like the Reserve Officers’ Coaching Corps program, wherein graduates have an obligation to serve within the U.S. army. (ROTC is current at quite a few faculties and universities throughout america.)
“College students in DCTC develop a mix of technical, cognitive, {and professional} abilities grounded in multidisciplinary, experiential schooling,” John Willison, an AIRC Fellow, informed me in an interview. “Within the classroom, the DCTC curriculum emphasizes important pondering, digital literacy, and agile strategies. These abilities are aligned with DOW’s shift from compliance-based processes to revolutionary, iterative approaches that drive velocity and effectiveness in acquisition.”
4 universities have been chosen for the inaugural DCTC program in September 2023. On this pilot program, 85 undergraduate college students from North Carolina A&T, Purdue College, the College of Arizona, and Virginia Tech College have been welcomed into this public service pathway. Since then, dozens of scholars have accomplished the DCTC program. These DCTC graduates have been then employed by DOW, serving in civilian capacities throughout the Military, Navy, Air Drive, Area Drive, and different protection businesses.
“DCTC college students be taught collaboration and complicated problem-solving by team-based initiatives primarily based on actual DOW situations. The cohort mannequin builds communication, facilitation, and cross-functional integration abilities by having college students work alongside friends from engineering, knowledge, finance, coverage, and different disciplines. This project-based studying prepares college students to function successfully in advanced, fast-paced environments that require competence and the flexibility to depend on teammates,” Willison informed me.
The DCTC program is now in its third 12 months. Given the success of the 2023-2024, 2024-2025, and 2025-2026 cohorts, DCTC hopes to broaden its efforts, aiming to succeed in six universities by 2027. This is able to current internship, mentorship, and employment alternatives for a whole bunch of different school and college college students in america.
At a time when school college students and graduates are struggling to safe internships and full-time jobs, DCTC has been one possibility that helps college students navigate the present job market and financial setting. Over the previous three years, DCTC has offered a whole bunch of school college students with alternatives to achieve expertise by engaged on real-world DOW initiatives and issues. It has helped these younger adults develop their important pondering abilities, be taught to make use of numerous on-line science and expertise packages and platforms, improve their communication abilities by collaboration with employees and completely different authorities businesses, and acquire publicity to the workforce.
“DCTC fosters future management by embedding college students in experiential studying that mimics actual DOW challenges and decision-making environments. DCTC college students get in depth observe in management abilities reminiscent of reflective studying, strategic pondering, and mission-driven decision-making lengthy earlier than they enter the workforce. The DCTC blueprint might be scaled right into a community of expertise factories. A community developed by shared funding will yield advantages past a selected group and might produce moveable abilities that allow a easy stream of expertise between authorities and business companions primarily based on wants and priorities,” Cuff informed me.
The abilities undergraduate college students have realized from this protection coaching program have helped these younger job seekers safe employment after commencement. DCTC additionally helps develop the long run leaders and thinkers of the American workforce. Whereas this protection coaching program is just not supplied at each school and college, for now, DCTC serves as a mannequin for future job seekers within the present job market. This may be ultimate for school graduates as they enter the workforce.
Disclaimer: Mark Temnycky was a protection contractor who offered contract assist to numerous divisions throughout the U.S. Division of Protection’s Workplace of the Underneath Secretary of Protection for Acquisition and Sustainment from June 2018 to March 2025. On this capability, he wrote congressional studies, carried out legislative audits, and ready briefings and motion memos for senior authorities officers on subjects pertaining to protection acquisition and protection innovation. Whereas he labored in parallel with the Protection Civilian Coaching Corps program throughout his time offering contract assist to DoD’s Acquisition Innovation Analysis Middle from November 2021 to July 2024, he didn’t work on initiatives for DCTC, nor did he have or does he have an affiliation with DCTC. As of March 2025, he’s not a protection contractor.
