Sevice Members with college degrees?

<div>They don't pay officers differently based on Bachelors, Masters, etc.</div><div><br></div><div>Soldiers receive Tuition Assistance to go to college - they are already getting paid to attend college.</div><div><br></div><div>Additionally, they receive promotion points for college education which gets them promoted faster which equals getting paid for attending college.</div><div><br></div><div>Seems like there are plenty of incentives and good reasons (better communication skills, better management/leadership skills, etc) to attend college.</div><div><br></div>

I agree that having a degree makes you no better a leader or a Soldier than someone who does not have a degree.   But, let's not kid ourselves in terms of opening doors for promotion.  It's been a while since I needed to look at points, but when I was going through points-based promotions my Bachelors earned me the same number of promotion points as any other Soldier with 60 random credit hours.  I subsequently went on and completed my Masters while in service.  Did that advanced degree earn me a promotion, no.  Did it earn me a pay raise, no.  I needed to be promoted before another pay raise and my particular MOS provides very few sequence numbers and eventual pins.  I didn't pursue my Masters for the Army, I stuck with it through PCS moves and deployment for myself, but I am not convinced the Army truly values continued education. 

I agree with CSM Maynard. &nbsp;The college education was for me. &nbsp;I didn't do it for more pay, I did it to better myself and stand out among my peer group. &nbsp;It doesn't change the work I do as an enlisted member, therefore there's no reason I should be paid more for doing the same work.&nbsp;

No. &nbsp;A college degree helps you get promoted. &nbsp;That's your higher pay.

I agree whole heartedly CSM Maynard. I just finished my last class for my associates degree and start classes for my bachelors in January. I didn't get the degree for anyone but myself. I hear a lot of soldiers complain that they think they should get paid more to have a degree and I always tell them the same thing. "The Army has enough incentives for education as it is. The schooling is free and it helps tremendously with promotions which leads to more money. If you want to earn more money then earn a degree and get promoted." It amazes me how many soldiers, junior and senior, don't take advantage of the free education they're eligible for. 

If Soldiers want to be paid more for having degrees, maybe they should look at "Green to Gold" or ETS and finsh college and come back in commissioned. I fully support college and have always encouraged Soldiers to take advantage of T/A. But I also know alot of Soldiers with degrees that cannot lead a Soldier and spend more time focusing on thier college classes than do taking care of thier Soldiers.

If you think about it, having a degree already contributes to your paygrade indirectly. If you start off with a 4 year degree, you can come in as an E-4. If you are already in any credits you take, and earning a degree jump your promotion points, making it increasingly likely that you will be promoted. 

Even in the civilian world, degrees can be comparable to years of experience. So if you are asking if a new enlisted member who comes in with a B.S. should earn more than the E-4 with several years experience, than my answer is no. 

Should a newly promoted E-5 make more money because he has a B.S. than an E-5 who got his promotion points through awards, and doing well in PT, and on the board? Again I say no. I feel they already contribute significantly enough to promotions. Especially when you consider the overall low quality of education offered though the community colleges generally stationed in, around , or online that most enlisted members take courses from.

College Degrees should be for the educational value of the degree.  If a soldier wants more money for having a degree while they are in, then they should look into OCS or WOC. Having a degree on the enlisted side does give you promotion points up to the E-6 level, beyond that there is not much promotion value other than how it looks on your NCOERs.  

In my humble opinion, a college degree is nothing more than a piece of paper that shows how well educated you are. What matters most is who you meet while attending class and how you can leverage those contacts in the real world.

I feel like a better question would be if well educated enlisted officers should have a chance to apply for the same positions as commissioned officers and gain a direct commission through on the job training and mentorship as oppossed to having to start over from scratch through OTS.

Agreed completely with CSM Maynard. His points are almost verbatim what I wanted to respond with.