Detroit's summer youth employment initiative is showing some positive educational outcomes for those who have participated in the program, according to a new University of Michigan study.

UM researchers studied Detroit youth who worked summer jobs through the program in 2015 and 2016 and found they were more likely to remain enrolled in high school, graduate and take the SAT college entrance exam. They also were less likely to be chronically absent, a problem that has plagued Detroit's public schools for years.

About 8,000 Detroit youth ages 14-24 worked six-week jobs in July and August last year through the city's Grow Detroit's Young Talent program. The jobs range from cleaning up city parks to being junior police and fire department cadets or working downtown for private businesses.

Researchers compared a cohort of students who participated in the program to another group of students who applied for summer jobs but did not participate.

About 87 percent of Detroit youths who worked in the program in the summer of 2015 graduated from high school, while the graduation rate among those who didn't participate was 82 percent, according to the study.

Jason Lee, executive director of Grow Detroit's Young Talent, said the UM study reinforces the value of having job opportunities for teenagers to gain workplace skills and be exposed to different career fields.