How to Compare the Enlisted Military Education Level to the Civilian Population

Service members enlisted in the U.S. Armed Forces and the general civilian population may have very different education levels. Enlisted service members are a different group than commissioned service members; commissioned service members are required to have a college degree, while enlisted members are not. The National Center for Education Statistics, in partnership with the American Council on Education, maintain education statistics on American citizens throughout the country, both in the service and out.

Instructions

1. Visit the National Center for Education Statistics website at NCES.Ed.gov.

2. Click the tab labeled "Tables and Figures" along the top banner on the NCES page.

3. Enter a keyword if you have one in mind. For example, you can enter "enlisted military" or "military" if you are ready to find military statistics.

4. Select the year you are researching from the drop-down menu on the left side of the page. Generally, there is a one- to two-year lag time between the year and the time the study is published.

5. Choose a topic area for your search. You can choose between several options, including "Postsecondary" and "International."

6. Click "Search Now" when you have entered all your search preferences.

7. Select the document most closely related to your search. For example, a search including "military" as a keyword for the year 2009 yields three results. Selecting the first result tells you how many service members took advantage of the military's Tuition Assistance Program, the total cost of the program and the number of students enrolled in postsecondary education in 2009.

8. Repeat the search, only this time using civilian demographics.

9. Print the results of each search if it will help you compare. Look for the dynamics you wish to compare from each set of results. For example, if you want to compare the number of service members with master's degrees to the number of civilians earning master's degrees in 2009, highlight those results in each study.

References

• National Center for Education Statistics; A Profile of Military Service Members and Veterans Enrolled in Postsecondary Education in 2007-08; Alexandria Walton Radford, et al.; April 2009
• National Center for Education Statistics: Federal On-Budget Funds for Education
• American Council on Education; Military Service Members and Veterans in Higher Education; Alexandria Walton Radford; July 2009