Expert: Rod Powers - 11/12/2007

Question
I was told by a Navy recruiter that there is a congressional order that has placed restrictions on recruits with GED's and they cannot currently be processed.  I was told this happens seasonally and that it will open again in the future.  Can you explain?

Answer
Hi Debra,

Under Congressional Law, the Military services categorize recruits, based on their education level:

The most "desirable" recruits are those in educational category "Tier I." These are recruits who have a high school diploma, or are home-schooled under an "accredited home school program," or those who have *at least* 15 college credits.

Tier II are those with a GED, or other high school credential, other than an actual high school diploma.

Tier III are those who are non-high school graduates (those with no high school diploma, GED, or other high school education criteria).

Federal Law (passed by Congress) limits the percentage of total enlistments in the Category of Tier II and Tier III that are allowed to enlist each year. The number of Tier III isn't really a factor, as none of the services are currently allowing Tier III education applicants to enlist.

The Army (this includes the Army Reserves, Army Active Duty, and Army Natinal Guard) is currently undergoing an "experiement," (authorized by Congress) to treat GED holders as "Tier I."

However, for the other services, under Federal Law, the *maximum* number of GED-holders (Tier II) that a particular service can accept each year is 20 percent of their entire enlistment quota.

Note that I said this is the "maximum," under Federal Law. In actuality, the various services accept far fewer, depending on their "needs." For example, the Air Force accepts fewer than one percent of their total recruits each year with a GED. The Navy accepts between 5 percent tand 10 percent of their total applicants each year with a GED, and the Marine Corps between 10 percent and 15 percent.

The good news is, if you get at least 15 college credits, you are considered to be a "Tier I," and won't fall under any restrictions. Probably a pretty good idea, considering the Navy has just announced that those with college degrees will have a greater chance of promotion to the ranks of E-5 to E-9, if they have a college degree (see the article at: http://usmilitary.about.com/b/2007/11/12/navy-to-give-sailors-promotion-points-f...