SBA size standard
$21 million
Measured by average annual receipts over the last 5 fiscal years
Exception
- Job Corps Centers
- $47 million
The solicitation names the standard that applies.
SBA table effective March 2023
Official definition
This U.S. industry comprises establishments primarily engaged in offering job or career vocational or technical courses (except cosmetology and barber training, aviation and flight training, and apprenticeship training). The curriculums offered by these schools are highly structured and specialized and lead to job-specific certification.
FY2025 federal spending
The Department of Labor bought 85% of the $1.2B obligated under 611519 in FY2025.
- Contract awards
- 706
- Contract vehicles (IDVs)
- 120
Top buying agencies
- Department of Labor$1.0B
- Department of Defense$121.4M
- Department of Energy$29.6M
- Department of Homeland Security$18.8M
- Department of State$2.3M
FY2025 federal contract obligations, USAspending.gov
NAICS 611519 obligated $1.2 billion in FY2025 across 706 contract awards, and DOL accounts for $1 billion of it. Labor appears in almost no other federal NAICS top five, and its 85 percent share here is Job Corps center operations, which are contracted out as complete residential training campuses. DoD follows at $121 million, DOE at $30 million, DHS at $19 million, State at $2 million.
What belongs here
Job and career vocational or technical courses other than cosmetology and barber training, aviation and flight training, and apprenticeship training. Curricula are structured, specialized, and lead to job-specific certification.
- Aviation and flight instruction is 611512.
- Management and professional development training is 611430.
- Non-instructional services that support education systems are 611710.
Competing in this code
120 IDVs against 706 awards at an average of $1.7 million means a small number of large, long-duration operating contracts. Job Corps center operation is an entirely different business from delivering courses: the contractor runs a residential campus including housing, food service, security, health services, and workforce placement, and is evaluated on student outcome metrics that the government publishes. Firms without residential operations experience should look at the DoD and DOE slices instead, where technical and safety training is bought as instruction rather than as campus management.
NAICS 611519 FAQ
What is the SBA size standard for NAICS 611519?
SBA sets it at $21 million in average annual receipts, averaged over your last five completed fiscal years. Job Corps center contracts, most of this code's federal dollars, use $47 million instead. The solicitation names the standard that applies.
Which agencies buy technical and trade training under NAICS 611519?
FY2025 obligations: DOL ($1 billion), DoD ($121 million), DOE ($30 million), DHS ($19 million), State ($2 million). DOL at 85 percent is Job Corps center operations, which makes this code much more about running residential campuses than about teaching courses.
What is actually being bought when DOL contracts under NAICS 611519?
Job Corps center operations. The contractor runs a residential training campus including housing, food service, security, health services, and job placement, and is measured against published student outcome metrics. DOL obligated $1 billion in the code in FY2025 across a small number of large operating contracts.
Where can a training company compete in this code without running a campus?
In the DoD and DOE shares, which totaled about $151 million in FY2025. Those requirements buy technical and safety instruction as courses delivered to an existing workforce, evaluated on curriculum, instructor qualifications, and certification outcomes, not on residential program management.