The table below shows the percentage of each state's active-duty Army recruits in fiscal year 2005 and 2006 that held a regular high school diploma or above, otherwise known as 'tier 1' by the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense has a goal of 90% of new recruits holding a regular high school diploma and 2005 is the first time in at least 20 years that the Army has not met the goal. In 2006, the proportion of new recruits with a regular high school diploma dropped for every state and nationally, with the exception of North Dakota.
These statistics are from an analysis of the recruiting data that was obtained by NPP through a FOIA.
| Location |
2006 Army Recruits |
2006 % Tier 1 |
2005 % Tier 1 |
| U.S. |
68,556 |
73.1 |
83.5 |
| U.S. w/territories |
69,383 |
73.3 |
83.7 |
| Alabama |
1,518 |
64.7 |
80.4 |
| Alaska |
238 |
63.4 |
77.4 |
| Arizona |
1,554 |
74.9 |
85.2 |
| Arkansas |
981 |
64.5 |
74.7 |
| California |
6,339 |
79.1 |
90.2 |
| Colorado |
1,134 |
72.1 |
82.7 |
| Connecticut |
386 |
83.7 |
89.7 |
| Delaware |
105 |
77.1 |
87.3 |
| District of Columbia |
61 |
77.0 |
85.7 |
| Florida |
4,301 |
68.0 |
80.2 |
| Georgia |
2,525 |
65.1 |
80.4 |
| Hawaii |
346 |
75.4 |
84.5 |
| Idaho |
388 |
66.2 |
77.9 |
| Illinois |
2,534 |
75.1 |
84.7 |
| Indiana |
1,763 |
66.4 |
79.2 |
| Iowa |
663 |
80.2 |
88.1 |
| Kansas |
863 |
75.6 |
86.9 |
| Kentucky |
990 |
69.1 |
76.7 |
| Louisiana |
921 |
67.3 |
77.1 |
| Maine |
432 |
65.0 |
75.5 |
| Maryland |
1,135 |
76.7 |
84.5 |
| Massachusetts |
777 |
77.3 |
83.7 |
| Michigan |
2,595 |
74.3 |
85.1 |
| Minnesota |
751 |
75.0 |
86.8 |
| Mississippi |
582 |
64.8 |
68.9 |
| Missouri |
1,676 |
74.9 |
87.1 |
| Montana |
335 |
66.6 |
72.2 |
| Nebraska |
447 |
83.9 |
90.6 |
| Nevada |
577 |
56.0 |
80.6 |
| New Hampshire |
293 |
72.4 |
80.9 |
| New Jersey |
936 |
80.9 |
88.3 |
| New Mexico |
538 |
77.1 |
81.4 |
| New York |
3,219 |
71.4 |
79.0 |
| North Carolina |
2,533 |
76.8 |
86.2 |
| North Dakota |
103 |
79.6 |
79.5 |
| Ohio |
2,615 |
78.1 |
86.7 |
| Oklahoma |
1,296 |
69.7 |
80.6 |
| Oregon |
943 |
63.3 |
77.6 |
| Pennsylvania |
2,058 |
79.4 |
86.0 |
| Rhode Island |
144 |
70.8 |
84.5 |
| South Carolina |
1,298 |
71.5 |
80.9 |
| South Dakota |
183 |
77.6 |
84.0 |
| Tennessee |
1,468 |
65.0 |
76.6 |
| Texas |
8,214 |
76.1 |
85.6 |
| Utah |
396 |
63.9 |
82.3 |
| Vermont |
84 |
69.0 |
81.8 |
| Virginia |
1,925 |
70.6 |
77.4 |
| Washington |
1,414 |
69.9 |
84.1 |
| West Virginia |
462 |
68.4 |
76.7 |
| Wisconsin |
1,396 |
81.6 |
87.5 |
| Wyoming |
121 |
71.1 |
79.9 |
