Enlisting in the Army With a College Degree
Although applicants with college degrees are eligible to enter the United States Army as commissioned officers, serving as an enlisted soldier is also an option. There are a number of benefits to enlisting in the Army with college experience, including opportunities for advancement not available to new recruits directly out of high school. It also has its drawbacks, however, and applicants with degrees should weigh all their options before deciding on enlistment.
Other People Are Reading
-
Rank
-
Normally, new recruits enter the Army as privates (E-1) and must work their way up from the bottom of the service's rank structure. Those with college experience, however, can enter the Army with advanced rank. Those enlisting with 48 credit hours of college experience (far less than required for a college degree) can join the Army with the rank of Private First Class (E-3). This grants those with college degrees more authority directly out of training and enables them to collect more pay than their counterparts with high school diplomas.
Bonuses
-
In addition to entering with a higher rank and salary, Army enlistees with college degrees are entitled to a bonus when signing on the dotted line. Those with either bachelor's or associate's degrees are entitled to an $8,000 bonus upon enlisting in the Army for two years or more in any specialty or job.
-
Advancement
-
While entering the Army directly as a commissioned officer is quite possible for those with a college degree, becoming an officer entails a selection process and is more difficult than enlisting. For those who may not be competitive to commission out of college, enlisting can provide an excellent chance to eventually become an officer. Enlisted members with college degrees can apply to Officer Candidate School in Fort Benning, Ga. While enlisting is not a prerequisite to attend this program, a majority of the attendees are prior enlisted members.
Pay
-
While enlisting in the Army out of college does entitle applicants to additional pay and bonuses, the average private first class in the Army does not earn as much money as a second lieutenant (O-1). In 2010, a private first class with no service experience earned $1,705.80 a month in basic pay. A second lieutenant, meanwhile, earned $2,745.60. Thus, even accounting for the one-time $8,000 bonus enlistees with college degrees receive, enlisting out of college instead of commissioning produces roughly a 14 percent pay cut.
Authority
-
Enlisting in the Army with a college degree can also place applicants in jobs that are not commensurate with their education or experience. For example, a student who majored in finance who enters the Army in the finance field would be forced to serve as a subordinate due to being outranked by those with more time in service. Thus, despite maybe having more knowledge and know-how than those ranked above him, the college-educated enlistee would be placed in a position well below his capabilities.
-
References
- Photo Credit A High-School Graduate image by TMLP from Fotolia.com
