According to a 2016 study by the Pew Research Center, only 7 percent of active duty enlisted military personnel have a bachelor’s degree, and only 1 percent have an advanced degree.[1] For a group of highly dedicated and motivated people who have the G.I. Bill and other tuition assistance programs available to them, I believe that those numbers should be higher. Much higher.

Military leadership should make a commitment to encouraging, enabling, and rewarding the pursuit of higher education by our enlisted members. I will preface my argument with an admission: I am extremely biased on this topic.

As of the time of this writing I am three classes away from completing a masters of business administration (MBA) program online while serving active duty as a machinery technician third class aboard an 87-foot United States Coast Guard patrol boat. We don’t have internet access at sea, we have very limited quiet areas suitable for studying, and we have a relatively high operational tempo, among other challenges in the shipboard pursuit of higher learning. Despite these hurdles, it is worth it. I am passionate about education because I’ve seen the benefits it has had in my own career in terms of decision making, problem solving, managing projects, and more.

Survey Says …

People with college degrees tend to be more civically involved, more productive, more financially secure, and so on. Countless studies and surveys reveal a laundry list of benefits for those who pursue higher education as well as to their communities.[2]

On average, people who are college-educated:

• Are more likely to be employed (especially in high-skill jobs)
• Earn more money
• Contribute more to government tax revenue
• Are healthier (make better health-related choices, have access to better healthcare)
• Rely less on government-funded assistance programs
• Commit fewer crimes (especially violent crimes)
• Vote more
• Volunteer more
• Donate more to charitable organizations
• Are generally more socially conscious and champion equality

But what could this mean for the armed services? I would argue that a more educated military workforce is better equipped to:

• Think critically and develop creative solutions to challenges faced at all levels of the military, from individual to service-wide
• Make better risk-management decisions
• More competently operate sophisticated computer systems for a multitude of tasks, as our military has come to rely more and more on advanced and complex technologies
• Act with more social awareness and emotional intelligence in the workplace and beyond, becoming better representatives of the service
• Fight against gender/race/sexual orientation-based prejudices
• Use free time more wisely
• Reduce alcohol-related incidents
• Lower the frequency of sexual harassment and assault in the military
• Help to combat veteran homelessness by providing service members with the tools to create a better future for themselves after their service ends

Barriers

Why then do so few active-duty service members take advantage of the educational benefits available to them during their time in service? I hesitate to refer to these benefits as “free,” given the sacrifices the men and women of our armed forces endure to receive them, but essentially, they’ve already been paid for. There are billions of dollars set aside by the VA to fund G.I. Bill benefits, but a relatively microscopic portion of it is taken advantage of by our enlisted folk.[3]

I believe that there are discouraging barriers for service members to overcome, including a widespread lack of awareness by enlisted folk as to the benefits available, difficulty in accessing information regarding these benefits, and confusion and frustration in navigating the processes of obtaining educational benefits.

Get the Word Out

Many service members simply don’t know what educational opportunities are available to them. In Coast Guard basic training, very little time is spent covering the G.I. Bill and Tuition Assistance programs. Many members don’t know exactly what these benefits are or how to use them, because they learn about it during one of the most stressful times of their lives when they are more concerned with whether their boots are properly shined or whether they have memorized the Eleven General Orders of a Sentry. It is a brief footnote at best. Even after boot camp, there seems to be a very low bar set for how well the G.I. Bill is advertised to enlisted service members.

The military can do a better job of getting the word out. I would like to see all branches of the military make it a priority to organize informational events, similar to job fairs, where members can meet with local military educational service officers, Veterans Affairs employees with specific G.I. Bill expertise, and representatives from local schools and online schools that offer flexible degree programs and online degree programs that are best suited to the varying and challenging schedules of active duty personnel. Commands should make service members aware of these events and be encourage them to attend.

There’s an App for That

To be blunt, the Department of Veterans Affairs is the butt of many a joke, if not a punching bag for criticism by service members across all branches. Underfunded and understaffed, the VA often struggles to answer questions, respond to emails, and process requests. Learning about and using the G.I. Bill could be made much quicker, simpler, and more streamlined than calling or emailing a VA official or trying to navigate the often-confusing VA website. With the technology available, we can do better.

Military leadership should set aside some of our annual budget to develop a G.I. Bill smartphone app. This app should include quick links to user-friendly explanations of available benefits, step-by-step instructions for how to use them, payment monitoring for those already using the G.I. Bill, lists of Yellow Ribbon Program participating schools, etc.

There are millions and millions of smartphone apps, including one that tells you how high you threw your phone in the air; one that tells you if it is dark outside; and one that says the word “yo” when you press a button. That these exist, but there is not an app enabling military service members and veterans to quickly and easily access information about and monitor usage of G.I. Bill benefits is absurd.

Navigating Murky Waters

The Coast Guard has mandated training visits from civilian and military officials regarding first-aid training, what to do in the event of a radioactive attack, how to report sexual assault or harassment, and many other topics vital to the success and well-being of our members. We need to add mandated trainings about educational opportunities to that list.

Every branch of the military should have annual mandated educational benefits training events where VA G.I. Bill specialists and military educational services officers travel to every unit to provide members with educational benefits information training. Training topics should include what the G.I. Bill is, who is eligible for it, how to access G.I. Bill benefits, what the Yellow Ribbon Program is, tips for how members can fit college classes into their duty schedules, benefits to earning a college degree, information about veterans hiring programs by Fortune 500 companies, etc. If interactive, in-person trainings like this were made mandatory, far more members would receive the information than when it is disseminated via an often-ignored mass-email or an unnoticed pamphlet pinned on a cork board.

When Our Watch Ends

After just over five years of service, I will leave the Coast Guard and return to civilian life early next year. When people ask me if I see my time in the military as a “stepping stone” I say no, because that wouldn’t do it justice. I tell them that for me the military has been a catapult. The G.I. Bill has given me an opportunity to shape my future in a way I never thought possible. I hope that our military’s leadership will recognize the benefits of a more educated workforce and that they will enable and encourage our fellow service members to take advantage of the opportunities available to them, so that more enlisted people can chase the dream of a better future, as the G.I. Bill has allowed for me, once they trade in their combat boots for a suit and tie. 

Endnotes 

[1] Kim Parker et al. “6 Facts about the U.S. Military’s Changing Demographics.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 13 April 2017, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/13/6-facts-about-the-u-s-military-and-its-changing-demographics/.

[2]“Benefits of College Still Outweigh Costs, Fed Study Says,” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, 24 June 2014, www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/06/24/benefits-of-college-still-outweigh-costs-fed-study-says; “College Education Linked to Higher Pay, Job Security, Healthier Behaviors and More Civic Involvement: New College Board Report,” The College Board, 29 March 2017, www.collegeboard.org/releases/2016/college-education-linked-to-hgher-pay-job-security-healthier-behaviors-and-more-civic-involvement; David Edelson, “How Do College Graduates Benefit Society at Large?” Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities, 14 October 2016, www.aplu.org/projects-and-initiatives/college-costs-tuition-and-financial-aid/publicuvalues/societal-benefits.html.

[3] “The Post-9/11 GI Bill: Beneficiaries, Choices, and Cost,” Congressional Budget Office, 2016, www.cbo.gov/publication/55179.