Sevice Members with college degrees?

Although it would be nice since I have a bachelor degree I do not feel it is warranted. Not many enlisted member's have degrees. (I'd love to see hard stats on that). So those members that have degrees will have the upper hand by being promoted on with the "Total Soldier" concept.

Sorry, but no way. It is the quality of worker, not the degree behind him that counts. Now, how I believe that this in essence will come true though is your ability to leverage what you learned while getting the degree CAN matter. If you work hard, and apply your degree then you should have a greater chance at promotion. That's where you get paid more.

Remember, the degree does not make the man (or woman). But the degree can HELP make that man a bit better.

Besides, using TA to go to school is like getting paid more.

I think what needs to happen is commissioning preference to enlisted personnel in the same field. For instance an E5 intel sm should get hiring preference for a commission over a guy with a slightly higher GPA off the street.

SSG Zachery Mitchell, just my thoughts... being a former SSG, I would say no. The reason is because college provides opportunities for senior NCOs, warrants, and Officers. Technically, it helps at all levels (it maxed my points for SGT and SSG - being promoted with 782 points).

Earning a degree not only provides opportunities, but technically it increases one's personal knowledge, which should improve performance (technically). A result of earning a degree allowed me to go OCS and having it in the IT realm, allowed me to become an FA53. I already have my MBA/PM and half way done with my Doctorate in Business Administration. Continuous education can open up doors in both your personal and professional life. The fact the military paid mine 100% (did all with TA) and using my GI Bill for the current degree has been great to me. Being in the FA53 allowed me to also earn numerous certifications that would have cost me a lot personally, but I knew that as a PFC being 18 years old; I knew that having a proper education is vital for today's economy. This is a good question to ask because there are police departments that provide extra pay their personnel for a certain amount of education.