Table 2: High Quality, FY 2008

The following table shows the percentage of non-prior service active-duty Army recruits who are defined as 'high quality.' The Department of Defense (DoD) defines 'high quality' as those recruits who are both tier 1 (have a regular high school diploma or above) AND have scored in upper half of the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT). The DoD norms the scores of the test through its wide administration of the test on youth across the country in high schools and elsewhere.

These statistics are part of an analysis of recruiting data obtained by NPP from the Department of Defense through a Freedom of Information Act request.

RANK IN 2008 STATE NAME # RECRUITS FY 2008
 %HI QUAL 2008 %HI QUAL 2007 %HI QUAL 2006
  U.S. States and DC 67939  45.94  44.85  46.83
42 Alabama 1630 40.49 36.65 36.63
36 Alaska 215 44.19 45.95 42.44
28 Arizona 1996 45.84 45.75 51.35
46 Arkansas 753 38.65 35.54 38.02
34 California 6087 44.93 44.71 48.11
17 Colorado 1041 48.22 51.75 51.68
10 Connecticut 388 50.00 51.37 55.44
3 Delaware 146 59.59 39.18 44.76
51 District of Columbia 40 30.00 46.15 44.26
37 Florida 5147 43.77 41.52 43.11
44 Georgia 3119 39.40 38.88 39.68
47 Hawaii 260 38.08 43.42 41.04
10 Idaho 446 50.00 47.56 47.16
21 Illinois 2220 47.03 47.83 47.83
16 Indiana 1518 48.68 46.18 48.10
8 Iowa 588 51.87 51.32 56.26
15 Kansas 689 48.77 49.38 51.80
32 Kentucky 927 45.52 45.04 41.72
49 Louisiana 922 36.55 33.30 38.98
27 Maine 369 46.07 50.25 42.59
18 Maryland 952 48.21 40.92 48.63
13 Massachusetts 873 48.80 51.10 54.05
31 Michigan 2176 45.54 45.78 49.21
4 Minnesota 733 58.66 55.79 51.93
50 Mississippi 684 34.06 31.56 35.05
25 Missouri 1562 46.41 45.45 48.27
23 Montana 286 46.50 41.18 43.58
5 Nebraska 386 57.51 51.57 57.94
45 Nevada 774 38.89 33.63 39.17
24 New Hampshire 252 46.43 55.24 54.95
29 New Jersey 999 45.75 45.24 46.79
39 New Mexico 528 41.86 41.49 42.94
30 New York 2971 45.67 42.70 45.54
14 North Carolina 2650 48.79 47.78 46.94
2 North Dakota 56 60.71 53.62 59.22
9 Ohio 2523 51.29 51.17 53.77
38 Oklahoma 1012 43.18 40.79 42.90
26 Oregon 867 46.37 43.63 43.80
12 Pennsylvania 2171 49.98 50.16 53.64
43 Rhode Island 151 39.74 43.75 40.97
48 South Carolina 1387 38.00 40.20 40.99
7 South Dakota 162 53.70 54.35 53.01
33 Tennessee 1501 45.17 43.86 41.14
19 Texas 8077 48.15 46.32 47.88
22 Utah 494 46.96 41.12 45.96
1 Vermont 116 61.21 53.42 51.19
35 Virginia 2103 44.56 42.34 43.90
20 Washington 1368 47.59 45.86 49.72
40 West Virginia 448 41.74 44.06 43.94
6 Wisconsin 1041 56.00 52.13 55.52
41 Wyoming 135 40.74 48.20 41.32

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