New Report: Poor Education Can Prevent Entry to Military

We have long known that an inadequate education prevents far too many young people in this country from getting into college and attaining a job with decent pay.  A surprising new study finds it also blocks another critical pathway to the middle class, the military.

A new report from the Education Trust dispels the myth that the military will take any high school graduate (or GED holder) who wants to enlist.  In fact, in Shut Out of the Military, the first-ever public analysis of the Army’s Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), Ed Trust finds that more than one in five young people interested in enlisting do not meet the minimum eligibility standard required for the Army (as measured by the Armed Forces Qualification Test, comprised of four academic subtests of the ASVAB).

Once again, we find that minority students are disproportionately impacted.  Ed Trust found that 29 percent of Hispanic Army applicants and 39 percent of African Americans were found ineligible. Furthermore, when minority candidates did gain entry into the armed services, they achieved lower scores on average than their white peers. These ratings exclude them from higher level educational, training, and advancement opportunities provided by the Army.

In Massachusetts, the news is particularly grim.  The report shows that Massachusetts is number one in percent of Hispanic applicants ineligible for enlistment at 40.5%.   35.2 percent of African American applicants in Massachusetts were deemed ineligible compared to 15.2 percent of white applicants.  Overall, 19.6 percent of the 5301 applicants from Massachusetts were considered ineligible for enlistment.

This report provides further evidence of the staggering achievement gap we face in Massachusetts and the opportunities it is robbing from our most vulnerable populations.