College Graduates Will Be Majority of New Draftees

The Defense Department estimated Wednesday that over half the men entering the armed forces during the coming fiscal year will be college graduates.

This prediction assumes that a large majority of the more than 225,000 graduating seniors recently made ineligible for further deferment by General Lewis B. Hershey's directive will prefer induction to enlistment because of the shorter period of service.

If the estimate is correct, the number of college graduates inducted could jump to as high as 150,000 out of a total draft of 240,000 projected for fiscal 1969, which begins July 1. This represents a jump from 5 to 60 per cent in the proportion of draftees who have completed college study.

Officials at the Defense Department estimated that enlistment of college graduates may rise from the usual 10,000 a year to between 30,000 and 40,000. All of these soldier-scholars will become enlisted men. The number of college grads entering the ranks of officers will not change for nearly all of the approximately 150,000 new officers in the past four years have been college graduates.

Prefer Draft

Dr. Harry Marmion of the American Council on Education said that as many as 80 to 90 per cent of graduating seniors may prefer the draft to enlistment.

The jump in the number of inductees with baccalaureates will drastically affect the educational make-up of the enlisted men. In December, 1965, only one percent of the enlisted men had completed college work.

Based on the estimated draft needs for fiscal 1969, Massachusetts will have a quota of 4000 men, slightly more than 1.6 per cent of the national calls. About 2500 of the 4000 will be either college graduates or first year grad students.