Education of AC Enlisted Force

Education. The majority of the enlisted force have high school diplomas (95 percent), as indicated in Table 3.7. In FY 1998, 97 percent of female and 95 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 (2 versus 12 percent), and fewer people with college experience (28 versus 55 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 (98 percent of officers have undergraduate or advanced degrees). The education levels of the officer corps are discussed in Chapter 4.

Table 3.7. FY 1998 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	92.9	93.4	95.3	99.9	95.1	88.1
Tier 2: GED, Alternative Credentials	3.1	4.7	4.6	0.1	3.0	88.1
Tier 3: No Credentials	4.0	1.9	0.2	**	1.9	11.9
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
College Experience (Part of Tier 1)1	10.0	4.9	2.7	90.8	27.7	54.6
* Civilian percentages combine Tiers 1 and 2. ** Less than one-tenth of one percent. 1 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 1998.

The Army, Navy, and Marine Corps had roughly the same proportion of high school diploma graduate enlisted members in FY 1998, ranging from 93 to 95 percent. Almost all Air Force members held diplomas (99+ percent). The Army had the largest proportion without at least a high school diploma (7 percent), while the Air Force had the smallest (one-tenth of one percent). Because of the way in which its forces are deployed, Air Force members can more readily schedule and attend off-duty education programs. As a result, more than 90 percent of Air Force members have some college experience—much more than in the other Services (3, 5, and 10 percent, for the Marine Corps, Navy, and Army, respectively).

The Services encourage members to continue their education while in the military. 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.(9) 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.(10)