Table 1: Educational Attainment, FY 2008

The Army missed its benchmark for the number of recruits with a high school diploma in FY 2008. For the fourth year in a row, the Army has fallen short of its goal of having 90 percent of its non-prior service enlistees in 'Tier 1' of educational attainment. Tier 1 recruits have regular high school diplomas, according to the army, while Tiers 2 and 3 are reserved for enlistees with Graduation Equivalency Diplomas (GEDs), other alternative high school credentials, or no diploma at all.

According to Army studies, recruits with a regular high school diploma are more likely to complete basic training and complete the first term of enlistment.  A high school diploma is the single best predictor of such success, according to the Army. The following table shows the percentage of new recruits who meet the benchmark, for the United States as a whole, and for each of the fifty states.

These statistics are part of an analysis of recruiting data obtained by NPP from the Department of Defense through a Freedom of Information Act request. 



RANK IN 2008 State TOTAL ARMY RECRUITS IN 2008 PERCENT TIER 1 2008 PERCENT TIER 1 2007 PERCENT TIER 1 2006
  U.S. and abroad 69,357  73.4% 70.7% 73.1%
  U.S. 67,939  73.8% 70.4% 73.3%
39 Alabama 1630 68.6% 62.3% 64.7%
46 Alaska 215 65.1% 65.3% 63.4%
33 Arizona 1996 69.4% 68.8% 74.9%
48 Arkansas 753 63.7% 59.9% 64.5%
18 California 6087 75.6% 73.3% 79.1%
32 Colorado 1041 69.6% 69.3% 72.1%
1 Connecticut 388 82.5% 78.6% 83.7%
5 Delaware 146 81.5% 76.3% 77.1%
42 District of Columbia 40 67.5% 79.5% 77.0%
36 Florida 5147 69.0% 66.1% 68.0%
35 Georgia 3119 69.1% 64.6% 65.1%
9 Hawaii 260 79.6% 78.3% 75.4%
43 Idaho 446 67.5% 64.8% 66.2%
16 Illinois 2220 77.1% 72.6% 75.1%
40 Indiana 1518 67.9% 64.8% 66.4%
10 Iowa 588 79.4% 77.8% 80.2%
21 Kansas 689 73.6% 72.8% 75.6%
22 Kentucky 927 73.2% 71.8% 69.1%
38 Louisiana 922 68.7% 64.6% 67.3%
25 Maine 369 72.4% 71.9% 65.0%
14 Maryland 952 77.6% 69.4% 76.7%
15 Massachusetts 873 77.2% 76.8% 77.3%
24 Michigan 2176 73.0% 69.3% 74.3%
4 Minnesota 733 81.7% 79.8% 75.0%
47 Mississippi 684 64.2% 59.2% 64.8%
19 Missouri 1562 75.0% 73.7% 74.9%
45 Montana 286 65.4% 58.2% 66.6%
2 Nebraska 386 82.1% 80.6% 83.9%
50 Nevada 774 59.7% 54.1% 56.0%
30 New Hampshire 252 70.6% 75.4% 72.4%
8 New Jersey 999 80.4% 78.3% 80.9%
26 New Mexico 528 72.3% 72.6% 77.1%
20 New York 2971 73.6% 67.7% 71.4%
11 North Carolina 2650 79.0% 76.6% 76.8%
28 North Dakota 56 71.4% 66.7% 79.6%
12 Ohio 2523 78.2% 74.9% 78.1%
29 Oklahoma 1012 70.8% 65.8% 69.7%
44 Oregon 867 65.6% 62.3% 63.3%
17 Pennsylvania 2171 76.5% 75.2% 79.4%
49 Rhode Island 151 62.3% 63.8% 70.8%
23 South Carolina 1387 73.2% 70.4% 71.5%
6 South Dakota 162 81.5% 75.4% 77.6%
31 Tennessee 1501 70.6% 65.1% 65.0%
13 Texas 8077 77.7% 75.0% 76.1%
34 Utah 494 69.2% 62.6% 63.9%
3 Vermont 116 81.9% 80.8% 69.0%
27 Virginia 2103 71.8% 66.9% 70.6%
41 Washington 1368 67.8% 65.1% 69.9%
37 West Virginia 448 69.0% 66.5% 68.4%
7 Wisconsin 1041 81.2% 77.7% 81.6%
51 Wyoming 135 59.3% 66.9% 71.1%


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