Educational Expectations and Enlistment Decisions

This report focuses on the role of educational expectations in the enlistment decisions of young men who are high school seniors or non-student, high school graduates. It examines the differences in enlistment behavior between individuals who expect more education after high school graduation and those who do not, and considers the implications of those findings for recruitment policy. Among the study's findings are the following: (1) the enlistment behavior of young men differs substantially between the senior and graduate market segments, and within these segments by educational expectations: (2) as an individual's civilian wage rate rises, he becomes less likely to enlist, particularly if no further education is expected; and (3) enlistment is negatively related to family income only for seniors expecting more education, while enlistment for the other groups is unrelated to income. Keywords: Enlisted Personel; Recruiting; Students.