Comparing the Post-Secondary Plans and Aspirations of Military-Connected and Nonmilitary Connected Children

Background and Purpose:

Research suggests that children from military families are more likely to enlist in the military in comparison to those with no family history of military participation. Less is known about plans to attend college or how deployment and mobility influence said plans. The current study used data from the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) to compare the post-secondary plans and aspirations of military-connected and nonmilitary connected students. This study also examined whether deployment and mobility are related to students’ post-secondary plans and aspirations, defined as plans to attend college (1=not at all likely/a little likely and 2=pretty much true/very much true), desire to join the military (1=not at all likely/a little likely and 2=pretty much true/very much true), and plans and aspirations to both attend college and join the military (1=no and 2=yes).

Methods:

Data were collected during the 2010-2011 school year. For the purpose of this study, a subsample of 2,811 secondary school students was selected based on their completion of the core module, the military-connected school module, and the resilience and youth development module. Frequency distributions and cross-classification tables (c²analyses) were used to compare the post-secondary plans and aspirations of military-connected and nonmilitary connected students and to examine the relationship between students’ plans and aspirations, number of family deployments (past 10 years), and number of school moves (past 5 years).

Results:

Plans to attend college were high (pretty much true/very much true=88.1%) and similar regardless of military-connectedness (p=0.702), number of family deployments (p=0.679), and number of school moves (p=0.127). Desire to join the military was lower in comparison (pretty much true/very much true=16.9%), as was the percentage of students reporting dual plans and aspirations (pretty much true/very much true=13.9%). Both varied by military-connectedness, number of deployments, and number of moves (p<0.01). Students with a sibling currently serving in the military were most likely to report a strong desire to join the military (pretty much true/very much true=32.3%), as were those who had experienced two or more family deployments (pretty much true/very much true=26.0%). Students with a sibling currently serving in the military were also most likely to report dual plans and aspirations (yes=26.2%), as were those who had changed schools two or more times (yes=22.1%).

Conclusions and Implications:

Children from military families want to go to college and appear to be getting the deployment and transition support they need to maintain high aspirations. The source of this support remains unclear and must be investigated further. Future research must also explore the factors associated with reporting dual plans and aspirations as it’s the least understood and least researched outcome but a path more and more students may choose to pursue as the cost of attending college continues to increase. Finally, future studies must examine why students who have experienced multiple family deployments and/or school moves are most likely to want to join the military or to report dual plans and aspirations.