Collbran Job Corps Center Reviews

A good opportunity to learn and grow, it requires hard work and dedication but the pay off is more than most people can usually even ask for.

Great food
Good staff
Solid schedules
Opportunity
Comfortable

Vocational training: 7
Education: 9
Residential: 2
They could worry more about their instructors and staff. Unorganized I had 3 different instructors, our welding shop had no instructor for several months.
Education is like alternative high school work at your own pace.
Living there was absolute hell do not go here unless you are from Grand Junction or surrounding area.

Old school here, I was a student here back in early 1980 to the end of 1981. Everyone I know is long gone and retired or went to see the Lord. I see there's some that still complain about the food, was like that when I was there also, it'll be like that 20 years from now but hey it's a free meal. I was in the carpentry trade had 4 great teachers all Master craftsmen. Can't get that title no more in this country only journeyman. It was Union when I was there. Got my GED there also real grateful for a kid that never got out of 7th grade. Climbed big red a bunch of times, never saw so many stars at night it was like being next to heaven in my mind. Met a bunch of good people some jerks but that's life. Hopefully everyone I ever met there is doing well. Life is what you make it so chuck the complaining and make the best of it before you know it 20- 30 years will have gone by in your lives and maybe you'll drop a post for another generations hope of becoming something better. Alot of the buildings there were built by the carpentery students and we put our best in our work so alot of souls are still there in spirit. Alot of us never looked back but we didn't forget are time. It's a beautiful place for a job corps center can't beat the view. I ran the gym also always something to do there. It's real up to date now so you guys and the future students have it made. Get the best out of it while your there before you know it it'll be part of your history like it is with my history. Peace and hope for everyone that goes through here. Good fortunes, Ray Barahman 1980-81

I have been here since January of 2018, In the past 2 months I have been told that I am worthless and never going to get a job by the administration staff as a whole. I have been told they are going to kick me out for the past 4 months and I am still here and this place is making me miserable. There was only one African-American staff on center for the last 7 years, He could not change anything in the kitchen even as the Supervisor, He quit December 4th, 2018. You get into trouble for knowing about a problem and not reporting it, but if you go to report it and it isn't immediate then you will also get a write up and won't be able to leave the center. I will never come back to this place after I leave.

Helps people who have no idea what they'll do or where they will go education and career wise

I stayed for a few months and was able to complete my trade; thank you, Mrs. Anderson and the staff for making that happen. If you are thinking of coming here, you need to be willing to work, willing to learn, and willing to change. There More

During my time at Collbran.

I became a Gold jacket leader, SGA Secretary, I studied Cisco Networking, and earned my GED. Job Corps i find is a good option for home school kids like myself.
If you happen to be there or are going to be there, my name can be seen at the top of the 2015 monument. Isaiahmichal Barash.

The staff, and general situations there can be a challenge, a challenge you should already be expecting.
you have to have a real reason to be there, a reason to wake up everyday, a drive in your life.

My drive was wrong... I had done amazing things all in the name of someone I loved, who... threw me away. I had worked for over a year at job corps in hope of seeing her again. I did not graduate, i left... I had gotten over my depression for her, and now i have a $14 an hour job doing computer support, I'm moving up.

my point is that Job corps if anything, will help you find yourself, and if your willing to take the challenge, in the end the tools the staff try their best to give you, even through their aggressive natures, will help later on.

It's not a program for everyone. You have to want to be there. If not you are waisting yours as well as everyone else's time. However the rewards are well worth the small amount of effort it takes to pass the program. I graduated almost 17 years ago and have had a very successful and interesting lyfe. You just can't be a "dummy" and not follow rules or do whatever you please.

I was only able to stay about a month last year in October but then I was forced to leave for health reasons. My short stay there was a good one even if I was unable to continue further. The people were nice and it's a very good place in my experience.

Shout out to Ms. Laird! Even if I couldn't continue with the program, you've helped me far more that what I could have asked for, thank you!

Job Corps is the worst place to go i spent three months up there and they simply didn't further my education at all and just ended up forcing my education to fall back farther than it should have. The food sucked and most of the staff were not that good either but there were some good staff so thank you to all of you guys that were cool and helped me out. I miss all of the friends i made up there so ya miss you all.

CHOOSE SOME WHERE ELSE! DO NOT GO HERE! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Terrible staff. Unhealthy culinary staff. Just terrible

It's an amazing opportunity for those that need to complete their High School Education and would like to learn a trade (or three). The Staff are extremely supportive and helpful. This program launched my daughter into a career and being an adult! She also made many close friends.

Gave me everything I needed to succeed in life. Thank you.

Beautiful Scenery. Very secluded to allow students to focus on themselves. The dorms are well managed by student leaders who earn their way up to their positions. Two staff per dorm. 4 dorms; 1 female and 3 male. Well run and includes vocational training 5 days a week from 8 am to 4 pm. Weekends are very lax and allow students to rest and recuperate before starting the next week in vocational training and/or educational teaching. Would recommend if you still need help with figuring out what you want to do for your life.

The main reason why I give it a three is because the Center is outdated. I understand that the funding the Center gets from DOL and DOA is not sufficient. Coming from a student who lives 24/7 there, everything could be better. Trades could get better tools and better machines. But DOL and DOA are still living in the 90's. Some things that are gang related here are not related to gangs at all within the last half decade. Whenever we go to Junction for a trip, we don't get any negative looks because of the colors we wear. We get looks because of how ridiculous we look climbing out of a white bus looking like we are ready to do some mandatory community service.

Considering that some staff are probably going to see this, I'm not dissing the Center in any way. There are rules that need to be put in and rules that need to be taken out in order to account for new cultural norms within our society. Wearing a belt more than six inches hanging out of the front isn't gang related. It looks stupid, not to mention that was "gang related" in the fifties when the Mafia would recruit in public areas. A Mafia member would overhang his belt to show he was recruiting. It's not the fifties anymore, and we're not living in the age of the Mafia. Many gangs nowadays stay in their own area and only worry about trespassers and people who look like a threat or a rival. The center needs to adapt to new times.

Just took a tour today and it seemed so much like a cult/prison. The rules are ridiculous, no cell phones (there is payphones in the dorms ) and you can't even have your own car at the site, even though it's in the middle of no where. You have to be a certain "level" to be able to leave, and you only can only leave on the weekends. There is no winter, summer, spring breaks, ect to my knowledge ethier. Very very weird people and atmosphere.

I'm thankful that I was able to go back to job Corps again. They have excellent staff my favorite was Mr. Fichter. He was an awesome dorm staff. He wasn't afraid to tell you how it was. He was a great role model in my book

This place is a cult it's run buy stuck ups and the only black staff cheff d quit due to the staff being racist

Not a bad place for trade and edu its pretty laid back and relaxed

Collbran job coprs is a place that you have to be here for you and you cannot screw up a lot. Some of the staff are real jerks but others are really chill. The food is ok most of the time. The students are nice for the most part just dont piss them off they will have a major problem with you. The weekends here suck there is a lot to do but you do it weekend after weekend so it gets really repetitive. The dress code is a little too strict but obviously staff knows as some of the dress code isn't enforced. Some rules are too easy to break like going AWOL is super easy just step on some grass. Honestly job coprs is a weird place to be.

I love the staff i love the people i love being top 5 the enviorment is peaceful ...choose friends wisely

One of the worst places I could have stayed in my opinion. They are extremely controlling with the most ridiculous rules, everything seemed to be about image there. If it wasn't a picture perfect center, they weren't happy. The food there tasted and looked absolutely horrible, they didn't even try to make tasty food, only once in awhile, when a cook knew what they were doing, would the food actually taste ok. For instance for breakfast, you could get raw bacon that drooped over your fork like spaghetti, and white hash-browns with blackened pieces. They played favorites, judged anyone who wanted to be an individual (such as gays) and tried forcing you to do extra curricular activities on your time off. And that's not even mentioning that several of the trades are USELESS in the outside world. Apparently OAT and CISCO can't even get jobs in the trades we went there for, we are stuck doing call centers. I completely believe that my 2 years spent there were a complete waste of time, and I would never recommend it to anybody. There were only a few staff members there that I respect there, such as Wayne Castro, Ms. Becky Groves, Mr. Smiley, and Mrs. Anderson.

I would recommend anyone that's the ages 16-24 to come here because it's a extremely Wonderful Program!!

This place has many rules and is a student ran center in the sense that every student here is expected to care about the rules and be a positive influence on their peers. We have leadership opportunities for everything you can possibly think of. We offer many certifications and job training from top instructors as well as the chance to get a High School diploma, GED and a driver's license all paid for by the tax payers. Our students live on center and have thier meals provided for them. The best part is we get paid weekly allowance every two weeks on top of all the opportunities to make yourself a productive member of society. This place is not for everyone. This place is only for those who want to take the opportunities offered here to succeed and are willing to abide by it's rules and respect the staff and students. I have been at this center for 1 year and 3 months and have seen many people come and go for negative and positive reasons. I have recently graduated with a High School diploma and a GED as well as over 10 industry certifications offered in Office Administration Technology. Since coming here, I have changed myself in more ways than I can can possibly count. If there is one thing that I this place has taught me it is, "successful people do what unsuccessful people are unwilling to do." I have recently browsed through the comments and some were negative and some were positive but one commentor noted that there are some rules here that people think are strange. These rules are here to better us as people. If you can deal with these rules, rise up to the standards we have in place and complete this program as I did, there would be little to no reason why you could not succeed in a job setting. The hardest part about this center is leaving because throughout your stay here, you make close friends here that you would consider family. So out of a 5 star rating I rate this a 10. All praise goes to God for this center and what it has given me.

Worst place ever! Bad staff! And the main director is judgemental! Their's a lot of racist teachers!

Honestly, lots of mixed feelings. Some of the staff are great (especially trade instructors), some of the staff aren't. I've had staff lie to me and almost cost me a lot of money

There are definitely some general issues with the center, but at the same time this whole center is a great opportunity. Sure our KP sprayers only work half the time, sure the food is dependent on which student is working and most the time isn't good, and sure one of the dorms has no heating or air, but there are a lot of good things. If you bust down and try really hard you can do cool things like go skiing, rafting, swimming, bowling, all off center. While on center you can play video games in the studio, play pool, work out, shoot hoops, chill in your dorm. Pretty much whatever.

If I had to honestly say the reason I gave a 2 star, its because this center needs to be updated. We are one of the few centers with no phones, the dangerous dress hasn't been updated since the 90's (or they just don't know what to look for and what isn't an issue anymore), half the place is falling apart, and we don't have nearly enough staff.

Also, due to the rules several people start smoking when they get here. On center we are not allowed to vape, and with it being a common practice among the age group allowed on center, it causes problems. The reasoning for the vape ban is (or at least this is how I've been told) because it is possible to put cannabis in the device. While understandable, it seems like there could be other ways to control that.

Lastly, I'm going to call out a few specific staff members. Mr. Dylan should not work here. He lies to students, is generally rude to most individuals on center, and does not care about their well being. In a more positive light, the coaches here are incredible. They take care of rec, spend their days off taking us off center, and genuinely care about their jobs.

It has its issues but its a great opportunity to make something better from yourself. I went to Collbran Job Corps for two years, I've never seen racism coming from staff.