The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program serves young people ages 16 to 18 who risk not completing a high school credential. This annual report includes data and analysis describing cadets who entered the program in 2024, as well as some high-level information about Job ChalleNGe, a program that serves some Youth ChalleNGe graduates. The authors offer recommendations for program and site leadership to continue to enhance program success.

National Guard Youth ChalleNGe

Program Progress in 2024–2025

Jennie W. Wenger, Stephani L. Wrabel, Linda Cottrell

ResearchPublished Mar 31, 2026

National Guard Youth ChalleNGe is a residential, quasi-military program serving young people ages 16 to 18 who risk not completing a high school credential. The report focuses on participants who entered the program in 2024, with some follow-up on participants who entered in 2023. The authors present metrics for the 39 Youth ChalleNGe sites that operated at least one class in 2024 and provide site- and class-level data to support decisionmaking and continuous improvement efforts. They also include high-level trends for Job ChalleNGe.

As in prior reports on Youth ChalleNGe, the authors selected dimensions of the program to provide more in-depth documentation and analysis. This year, the authors document trends in the age of participants and examine the implementation of a pilot program taking a new approach to mentoring program graduates in the post-residential phase.

The tenth in a series of annual reports focused on program performance, this publication is intended for Youth and Job ChalleNGe program staff and the personnel who provide program oversight. The authors provide recommendations for program and site leadership to enhance the programs and bolster participants' success. Policymakers and researchers who are focused on designing and implementing effective youth programs may also find this report useful.

Key Findings

  • The total numbers of applications, entrants, and graduates trended upward in 2024 from earlier years.
  • Cadets who entered Youth ChalleNGe in 2024 were, on average, nearly three months younger than cadets in past years. This could have implications for programs in terms of recruiting, operations, and/or placements.
  • Many Job ChalleNGe graduates reported employment, but the majority who were employed were working outside their Job ChalleNGe training fields.
  • Program staff who participated in the mentoring pilot program were consistently enthusiastic about the new model and its potential to improve cadet outcomes.
  • The same staff also identified a need for additional training and supports and possibly additional staff, should the pilot program be continued or expanded.
  • The pilot program creates the potential for increased interactions and longer relationships between mentees and mentors, which would be expected to have a positive impact on Youth ChalleNGe graduates.
  • The pilot program and its use of an app have the potential to create issues around data privacy, security, and access.

Recommendations

  • Program leadership should continue tracking the ages of cadets to better understand how these changes will influence program operations and outcomes. This tracking will be especially pertinent in states with Job ChalleNGe sites.
  • If the new mentoring pilot program is adopted widely, program leadership should develop or adapt training, policy, and guidance to support sites and staff.
  • Program leaders should seek to understand more about Job ChalleNGe graduates' employment patterns, especially the determinants of working within versus outside their credentialed areas.
  • Program and site leadership need to ensure that both data ownership and data permissions of any data systems used to support Youth and Job ChalleNGe operations align with the program's permissions and required protections.

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Wenger, Jennie W., Stephani L. Wrabel, and Linda Cottrell, National Guard Youth ChalleNGe: Program Progress in 2024–2025. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2026. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2120-3.html.
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This research was sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and conducted within the Personnel, Readiness, and Health Program of the RAND National Security Research Division (NSRD).

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