A retention analysis of United States Naval Academy immediate graduate education participants

Abstract

This thesis studied the retention of United States Naval Academy Voluntary Graduate Education Program (VGEP) and Scholarship participants in graduating classes of 1983-1998. The comparison group of nonparticipants consisted of USNA graduating classes 1983-1998 with an Academic Quality Point Rating (AQPR) comparable to the early graduate education students. AQPR was used in order to make the academic backgrounds similar for the participants and non-participants. The retention behavior of program participants and nonparticipants was compared to determine if participation in early graduate education affected retention. The models analyzed retention to each year of service between six and twelve years. In the retention models for unrestricted line officers, both VGEP and Scholarship had a small positive effect on retention to 7 YCS. Although the adjusted differences in retention are not large in magnitude, the results dispel the notion that early graduate education programs are used as vehicles by junior officers to facilitate transition to the civilian labor market following expiration of their initial service obligation. No changes to the service obligations for these programs were recommended.