Education
More than 40 years of research indicates that enlistees
who are high school graduates are much more likely than non-graduates
to complete their first term of enlistment (80 percent versus 50 percent). In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Services gave high school
graduates, including those with alternative education credentials, higher
priority for enlistment. In the mid- to late 1970s, the Army, Navy, and
Air Force classified GED holders and high school graduates differently
because evidence showed that persons with GED certification experienced
higher first-term attrition. Today, in all Services, applicants with GEDs
need higher AFQT scores to enlist than do high school diploma graduates.
In fact, the Services strive to meet a 90 percent Tier 1 benchmark established
by the Department of Defense.
Additional research indicates that those with other
alternative credentials, such as adult education and correspondence school
diplomas, also have attrition rates greater than regular high school graduates. In 1987, DoD implemented a three-tier classification of education
credentials. Table 2.7 shows the percentage of FY 2002 active duty NPS
accessions by education tier. Ninety-one percent of recruits possessed
high school diplomas and/or some college education (Tier 1); 8 percent
held alternative high school credentials (Tier 2); and 1 percent had not
completed high school (Tier 3). It should be noted that entry-level enlisted
occupations are generally comparable to civilian jobs not requiring college
education. Moreover, since nearly 37 percent of NPS accessions are age
18 or younger, they have not yet had as much opportunity for college as
have individuals in the 18-24 year-old civilian population.
Although 99 percent of FY 2002 accessions were in Tiers 1 and 2, only
79 percent of 18- to 24-year-old civilians were high school graduates
or possessed a GED certificate. Differences among Services in FY 2002
high school graduate accessions were small, ranging from 99 percent (Air
Force) to 86 percent (Army). The Army had the highest proportion of recruits
with Tier 2 credentials (14 percent); the Air Force had the lowest (1
percent). In FY 2002, the Army and Air Force did not enlist any applicants
without education credentials; the Navy and Marine Corps accepted very
few recruits with no high school credentials (3 percent and less than
1 percent, respectively).
Table 2.7 Levels of Education
of FY 2002 Active Component NPS Accessions, by Service, and Civilians
18-24 Years Old (Percent) |
Education
Level1 |
Army |
Navy |
Marine Corps |
Air Force |
DoD |
18- to 24-Year-Old
Civilians* |
Tier 1: Regular High School Graduate
or Higher |
86.4
(91.4**) |
91.9 |
97.4 |
98.6 |
91.9
(94.0**) |
79.4 |
Tier 2: GED, Alternative Credentials
Alternative Credentials |
13.6 |
4.6 |
2.8 |
1.4 |
7.2 |
Tier 3: No Credentials |
0.0 |
3.4 |
0.2 |
0.0 |
0.8 |
20.6 |
Total |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
100.0 |
College Experience
(Part of Tier 1)2 |
10.6 |
6.4 |
1.9 |
12.7 |
8.5 |
46.7 |
|
During FY 2000, the Army established the experimental
GED+ program, in efforts to identify non-high school diploma graduates
who would have low attrition rates. The Army allows up to 4,000 Active
Component and 2,000 Reserve Component applicants who have earned a GED
certificate or have no education credential to enlist without counting
against the 90 percent Tier 1 benchmark for NPS enlisted accessions. To
qualify for the GED+ program, recruits must have left high school for
a non-disciplinary reason, be too old to return to high school, have no
moral character problems, and score high on a test of motivation to enlist.
The proportion of accessions with high school diplomas by Service for
FYs 1973 through 2002 is shown in Figure 2.5. During most of the first
decade of the volunteer military (FYs 1973–1982), the Services differed
significantly in the proportion of high school diploma graduates. In addition,
there were significant variations across years. Across Services, the proportion
of accessions with high school diplomas fell from 75 percent in FY 1978
to 66 percent in FY 1980. The drop was most pronounced in the Army, declining
from 73 to 52 percent over that period.
During the mid-1970s, the Services operated with reduced recruiting budgets.
At the same time, there were highly publicized reports of smaller military
benefits and significant gaps in pay compared to the civilian sector.
Media articles cited the hemorrhage of talent from the Services due to
loss of benefits, and the percentage of Servicemembers eligible for food
stamps.
Because of lower education levels of new recruits,
lower test scores, and increasing minority representation during this
period, debates began on whether to replace the volunteer force with a
form of national service or a return to the draft. The Executive and Legislative branches of government funded major
initiatives to reinvigorate the volunteer military, enhance recruiting
programs, and improve Servicemembers' quality of life. Military pay and
benefits and recruiting resources were increased substantially in 1981,
resulting in a rapid increase in the quality of accessions. The proportion
of high school graduate recruits jumped from 66 percent in FY 1980 to
83 percent in FY 1982. Further incentives, such as the Montgomery GI Bill
and the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps College Funds, and Service emphasis
on improving the quality of life for Servicemembers and their families
led to improved recruiting. The proportion of high school graduates climbed
to a peak of 98 percent in FY 1992. From that peak, the proportion gradually
declined to 91 percent in FY 2001. In FY 2002, the Services recruited
accessions with slightly higher educational credentials (92 percent; the
FY 2002 number is from Service data as described in Table 2.7 rather than
the DMDC data sources used in Appendix Table
D-11.)
Figure 2.5. Active Component NPS accessions with high
school diplomas, FYs 1973–2002.
Figure 2.6 compares FY 2002 accessions with civilians of similar age
on the percentage of high school graduates (Tier 1) and those with alternative
credentials (Tier 2), by gender and race/ethnicity. Although nearly all
military recruits are in Tiers 1 and 2, the same is not true of 18- to
24-year-old civilians. Some dramatic differences in education level, by
race/ethnicity, are evident in Figure 2.6. Only 74 percent of Black civilians
and 60 percent of Hispanic civilians have high school diplomas or alternative
credentials. Given these percentages and the 90 percent Tier 1 requirement,
the Services' minority recruiting pool is limited. Thus, the race/ethnicity
representation comparisons should be interpreted with these data in mind.
Figure 2.6. FY 2002 accessions and 18- to 24-year-old
civilians who earned high school diplomas (Tier 1) or alternative credentials
(Tier 2), by gender and race/ethnicity.
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