Population Representation 2004 - Selected Reserve Officer Accessions and Officer Corps

SELECTED RESERVE OFFICER ACCESSIONS AND OFFICER CORPS

Education. The Reserve Components also tend to vary in the educational attainment levels of its officer accessions (Table 6.7). Overall in FY 2004, 70 percent of Reserve officer accessions were at least college graduates (bachelor and/or advanced degrees). The USMCR and the USAFR had the highest proportions of officer accessions with at least a college degree (94 and 86 percent, respectively). In the other components, the percentage of officer accessions with degrees ranged from 52 percent in the USNR to 73 percent in the Army Reserve. Overall in the Reserve Components, the proportion of officers with at least an undergraduate degree or advanced degree is higher than that of its officer accessions. This difference is most evident, however, in the ANG where 58 percent of accessions and 94 percent of the officer corps have least a college degree.

Table 6.7. FY 2004 Educational Attainment of Selected Reserve Officer Accessions and Officer Corps (Percent)
Educational Attainment*	Army National Guard	Army Reserve	Naval Reserve	USMC Reserve	Air National Guard	Air Force Reserve	DoD Total
SELECTED RESERVE OFFICER ACCESSIONS
Less than College Graduate	31.7	15.9	1.5	5.4	29.5	6.7	16.0
College Graduate (B.A., B.S., etc.)	58.5	56.1	36.1	74.0	42.5	50.0	52.0
Advanced Degree (M.A., Ph.D., etc.)	9.8	16.4	16.0	20.4	15.9	36.1	17.6
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
SELECTED RESERVE OFFICER CORPS
Less than College Graduate	12.9	9.3	1.3	0.4	4.1	2.4	7.2
College Graduate (B.A., B.S., etc.)	64.5	50.2	44.9	68.7	64.6	47.1	54.8
Advanced Degree (M.A., Ph.D., etc.)	22.6	38.8	32.7	30.9	29.7	49.7	34.0
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Columns may not add to total due to rounding. * Excludes unknowns. Also see Appendix Table C-28 (Selected Reserve Officer Accessions and Officers by Education and Component).

Several factors help explain why more officers have college degrees than do officer accessions. A number of Selected Reserve accessions have college credits but have not yet earned a degree when they join the Selected Reserve. Because of Service emphasis on an educated officer corps, many individuals join to take advantage of educational opportunities and education financing (e.g., the Montgomery G.I. Bill), and many non-degreed officers complete their college education while serving in the Selected Reserve.

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