The Chicken or the Egg? A Timeline of U.S. Military Staffing Policy and Educational Benefits Available to Active Duty Service Members and Veterans

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Changes in Human Capital by Veteran Status The
percent of college-educated men in all groups
increased between 1950 and 2000. However, among
blacks the difference in college graduation rates
between veterans and non-veterans remained
trivial the share of young men with a college
degree increased roughly 10 for both groups.
Among whites, an educational disparity emerges
between veterans and non-veterans. Young
veterans lag significantly behind non-veterans in
rates of college graduation beginning in 1970.
While the percent of young white veterans who
were college graduates increased roughly 7 -- a
slower rate of increase than among blacks the
percent of white non-veterans who were college
graduates increased more than 20.
1950 1970 1990 2000
Conclusions Black veterans and non-veterans
appear to have increasingly similar human capital
profiles throughout the latter half of the 20th
century, as measured by both educational and
occupational achievement. Among white men,
however, the more limited educational benefits
available to veterans in the All Volunteer Force
era, combined with the lower social origins of
whites serving in the AVF military, has generated
a disparity of outcomes between veterans and
non-veterans. These facts persist in levels of
educational attainment as well as occupational
status.
The Chicken or the Egg? A Timeline of U.S.
Military Staffing Policy and Educational Benefits
Available to Active Duty Service Members and
Veterans
1979 Army College Fund uses additional funds for
education as tool to attract quality recruits.
1973 Draft eliminated All Volunteer Force era
begins.
WWII and Earlier Small, racially segregated
standing army. Large wartime forces are raised
through volunteers and conscription. Blacks and
southerners are under-represented.
1948 Armed Forces ordered to desegregate as
rapidly as possible, WWII draft extended.
1976-87 Veterans Educational Assistance
Program employer matching eligibility depends
on service member contributions.
1987 Montgomery GI Bill continues employer match
approach to post-service education.
1966 Educational benefits extended to all
veterans, but value declines precipitously.
1944 Generous, universal GI Bill allows millions
to complete high school, vocational school, or
college.
1952 Korean GI Bill goes into effect.