Pros and Cons of Joining the Military

Are You Completing or Directly After Graduation From High School into Work and Deciding Between University or Joining the Military?

People frequently inquire whether it would be more prudent for them to attend university and join the military, rather than enroll in college classes at once.

Each option does not represent one right answer – each presents different opportunities to achieve your desired goals and offers unique pros and cons that should help determine which path best meets the demands of your situation.

Before Military Service

College enrollment is often the preferred path taken by high schoolers after graduating, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates from October 2019 showing 66.2% of 16-24 year-old high schoolers attended an academic institution or college as a first step on their educational path.

High schoolers looking into becoming military officers will gain experience attending college through this transition period. Should any military-minded students decide they’d like to remain an officer longer term, college life provides ample time for consideration of such possibilities.

Attending school before entering the military offers many benefits, including these advantages:

• Have a university degree and looking to join the army as an officer? To do so, according to U.S. Army regulations you’d require at minimum a bachelor’s degree for commissioning officers while master’s level degrees would help elevate you further to captain or higher ranks.
• According to the U.S. Navy, you could increase your chances of promotion based on characteristics such as expertise and university degrees; these characteristics tend to place officers into management or leadership teams more easily than non-officers.
• As part of your military commitment, the College Loan Repayment Program (CLRP) may offer assistance. Each branch may have differing regulations; in the Army for instance, its CLRP program is open only to “highly qualified applicants entering the Army”. It offers repayment of up to 33.3 percent per annum up to $65,000 total loan payments made towards loans with three year commitment before withdrawing participation for Montgomery G.I. Bill(r). To be eligible you will also have to meet other criteria before withdrawing participation – among them being three year service commitment plus Montgomery G.I. Bill(r).
• There is the chance that after having experienced college you could enter military service instead of vice versa.

One downside of attending school before joining the military may be the cost of tuition; military members tend to get lower costs of tuition compared to civilians when enrolling in colleges, so costs like tuition, room and board costs, fees for books meals plans etc. may need to come out of your pockets before any loans may need to be borrowed; almost 69% of teens in 2019 took out student loans!