Active Component Enlisted Force
Education

 

The majority of the enlisted force have high school diplomas (96 percent), as indicated in Table 3.7. In FY 1999, 98 percent of female and 96 percent of male enlisted personnel were high school diploma graduates (Tier 1). There were fewer people with no credentials in the military than in the civilian labor force (1 versus 12 percent), and fewer people with college experience (28 versus 56 percent). This latter comparison is misleading because enlisted occupations are generally comparable to civilian occupations that do not require college degrees. Most military members with college degrees are officers (97 percent of officers have undergraduate or advanced degrees). The education levels of the officer corps are discussed in Chapter 4.

The Army, Navy, and Marine Corps had roughly the same proportion of high school diploma graduate enlisted members in FY 1999, 96, 93, and 95 percent, respectively. Almost all Air Force members held diplomas (99+ percent). The Navy had the largest proportion without at least a high school diploma (7 percent). The Air Force had the smallest proportion (one-tenth of one percent).

The Services encourage enlisted members to continue their education while in the military. Many college-level classes and degree programs are offered on military installations around the world. In-service tuition assistance programs pay 75 percent of tuition costs. Members also can use the Montgomery GI Bill to cover the majority of the cost of off-duty college and technical courses. The investment in continuing education is a sound one. Enlisted personnel who used tuition assistance had higher promotion rates and stayed in the service longer than those who did not.

Table 3.7. FY 1999 Education of Active Component Enlisted Members, by Service, and Civilian Labor Force 18-44 Years Old (Percent)

Education Level

Army

Navy

Marine
Corps

Air
Force

DoD

18- to 44-Year-Old
Civilians*

Tier 1: Regular High School Graduate or Higher

96.0

92.8

95.4

99.9

96.0

 

88.6

Tier 2: GED,Alternative Credentials

3.6

5.2

4.5

0.1

3.3

Tier 3: No Credentials

0.5

2.0

0.2

**

0.7

11.5

Total

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

College Experience1
(Part of Tier 1)

9.8

4.7

2.6

91.8

27.8

55.5

* Civilian percentages combine Tiers 1 and 2.
** Less than one-tenth of one percent.
1 Due to coding differences, the Air Force reports one year of college, whereas the other Services report 2-year college graduates. Military data represent only enlisted members. Officers, who usually have college degrees, are not included. See Chapter 4 for a discussion of officers.
Also see Appendix Table B-27 (Education by Service and Gender).
Source: Civilian data from Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey File, September 1999.

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