What Degrees Do the Military Look for? 2024 Updated (2024)

To qualify as an enlisted soldier in the military, you need to hold a high school diploma or equivalent. It is not necessary to have a degree. But if you want to become an officer, you will need a degree.

Therefore, if you are in this position, you will want to know “What degrees do the military look for?” and “What degree to get before joining the military?”

Unfortunately, no “best” or “ultimate” degree is fool-proof. A good degree varies from person to person (or should we say, servicemember to servicemember). You will need to decide on a degree that works best for you. Below, though, we have a few suggestions to help you get started.

Read on to find out.

How to Choose a Degree in the Military?

Choosing a degree is certainly not easy. But knowing the factors to consider can simplify the task.

First, think about why you need a degree. Knowing this will help you determine your priority, which will be the reference point you use to make other decisions related to your degree.

Decide on your degree level first, then what the degree will be in.

For your reference, the different degree levels are:

If you need a degree to become a military officer, then you should choose the degree that best supports your area of concentration upon becoming an officer. In other words, your degree should focus and help shape your skills to develop in your area of concentration. A bachelor’s degree is probably the one you seek at this stage.

Your area of concentration can be the one that you are interested in and excites you or it can be in demand.

If you need a degree to rank higher than a military officer, a master’s is needed. Again, since the priority is your upcoming military career, the degree you choose should be geared towards helping you be a good fit for that.

If you need a degree to get another (higher) one, like a doctorate for a permanent professor position, for instance, you will need one that is relevant to your ultimate teaching goal.

If you need a degree to prepare yourself for the job hunt once you transition back to civilian life, you will probably need one for a specific skill or qualification. It should help make you a fitting candidate.

After that, factors that you should take into account include:

Recommended Degrees for Military Officers

The best degree is the one that is relevant to your specialization. For example, if the area of concentration you are pursuing is 12A Engineering, then you will want a degree in engineering. Here are some common degrees for Army officers:

1. Degree in Law

A law degree is valuable for officers in these areas of concentration: 27A Judge Advocate General, 27B Military Judge, and 31A Military Police.

2. Degree in Psychology

This is for those after the AOC 37A or 37X Psychological Operations. It may also be useful for 65B Physical Therapy and 66R Psychiatric or Behavioral Health Nurse Practitioner.

3. Degree in Intelligence

A degree in Intelligence can be leveraged if you are seeking to pursue these areas of concentration: 15C Aviation Intelligence, 35D All-Source Intelligence, 35E CounterIntelligence, 35F Human Intelligence, and 35G Signals Intelligence.

4. Degree in Business

This may surprise you because business is often a civilian private career. However, a business degree can in fact be valuable in various areas of concentration, including 36A Financial Manager, 42B (HR) Human Resources Officer, and 90A Logistics.

5. Degree in Medicine/ Degree in Pharmacy

A degree in medicine can open you up to many AOC opportunities in the military, such as 60A, 60B, 60C, 60D, 61E, 61G, 61H, 64C, 64F, and 67C, which are (in the same order):

6. Degree in Nursing

With a degree in nursing, you can strive for these areas of concentration:

7. Other Degrees in the Medical Field

These are not the easiest degree for military officers, but they are the ones to go for if you are specifically geared towards certain medical areas of concentration.

8. Degree in Foreign Language(s)

This is not what most people think of when they think about degrees in the military. But it is actually very valuable. Being fluent in foreign languages is beneficial and can give you a competitive edge since the military often has missions and operations in other countries. A foreign language(s) degree is also highly recommended as a degree for military intelligence.

Other Military Degrees Recommended

1. By Indeed.com

2. By CollegeConsensus.com

3. By Noodle.com

4. By Bestaccreditedcolleges.org

To start, you will need a military bachelor’s degree. But if you want to rank up as an active-duty officer, a master’s degree is necessary. And in this case, you should continue thinking about degrees that will best support your military career.

Here are some places that offer military college degrees (Master’s-level) for active-duty military officers:

• Southern New Hampshire University
• University of Central Florida
• Arizona State University
• Syracuse University
• Liberty University
• Averett University
• Thomas Edison State University

On Reddit threads, users suggest these institutions for degrees:

• Colorado State University
• Oregon State University
• Penn State University
• Ohio State University
• Utah State University

But another situation where you may want to obtain a Master’s degree is nearing retirement or when you are preparing to transition back to civilian life. In this case, you should look into degrees that support your post-military aspirations.

The common career paths that veterans take are:

• Healthcare
• Government or Public Administration
• Defense Contracting (Especially popular among young veterans)
• Information Technology
• Finance
• Education
• Law Enforcement
• Manufacturing
• Transportation

You may already have experience and skills that make you a fit for these paths. As such, you can consider pursuing degrees that build on top of your existing foundation.

If salary is something you are concerned about, browse this list of high-paying job positions for veterans:

• Public Administrators
• Physicians
• Surgeons
• Aircraft Pilots
• Flight Engineers
• Software Developers

If you do not want to limit yourself to the veterans’ list, this general list of high-paying jobs may also be worth looking at:

• Lawyers (The median annual salary is $120,910)
• Pilots (The median annual salary is $130,059)
• Air Traffic Controllers (The median annual salary is $122,990)
• Computer and Information Systems Managers (The median annual salary is $146,360)
• Natural Sciences Managers (The median annual salary is $129,100)
• Engineering Managers (The median annual salary is $144,830)
• Podiatrists (The median annual salary is +208,000)
• Surgeons (The median annual salary is +208,000)

A Master’s degree can also be your stepping stone to a doctorate degree. With this, you can eventually be a professor at a service academy or in an ROTC program, as part of a military professor program.

In this case, your degree should be in what you would like to teach. So, if you want to become a professor in the Economics department, for instance, your degrees will need to be related to economics.

Conclusion

That’s it on what degrees do the military look for? To enlist, you just need to hold a high school diploma or equivalent, and not a degree. However, throughout your military career, you must get a bachelor’s and master’s to rank up. The degree you choose should best support your specific area of concentration.

To recap above, we have suggested getting a degree in Law, Psychology, Intelligence, Business, Medicine, Nursing, and Foreign Language(s).

And other recommendations from online sites (indeed.com, collegeconsensus.com, noodle.com, etc) are Management Information Systems, Criminal Justice, Kinesiology, Journalism, Military History, Finance, Aviation, Theology, Data Science, Social Work, Strategic Security Studies, Political Science, Philosophy, Cultural Studies, degrees — to name a few.

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