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GUEST: Anita Dancs, Research director of the National Priorities Project

Over the course of last year, the U.S. Army failed to meet its benchmark for enlisting recruits by nearly 20 percentage points. According to the National Priorities Project, the Department of Defense fell short of its 90 percent goal, as it only enlisted 70.7 percent of recruits meeting high school diploma educational attainment standards. The Department of Defense claims that in the course of four decades of studies, recruits with a high school diploma are much more likely to complete their first enlistment term and not drop out. The NPP, a non-profit research group that obtained the federal data through a Freedom of Information Act request, also found in its analysis that the Army’s failure to meet the benchmark last year is part of a downward trend since 2005. Looking at it through a class analysis lens, the group also found fewer upper and middle income recruits since 2004.

For more information, visit www.nationalpriorities.org.