The Effect of College Selectivity, Grades, and Major on the Performance of Officers in the U.S. Navy

Numerous studies in the civilian sector have documented a positive relationship between college selectivity, college major, and college grade point average and job performance. This thesis investigates if such a relationship exists in the United States Navy for a sample of Officer Candidate School (OCS) officers. The OCS sample was divided into separate operational and staff officers. Two measures of performance were employed in the models: (1) promotion to Grade 0-4, and (2) the percentage of evaluations an officer was recommended for early promotion (RAP'd) from Grade 0-1 through Grade 0-3. The results supported the hypothesis that for OCS operational officers, college selectivity has a positive impact on officer performance. Collegiate grade point average also showed a positive relationship. College major results showed a slight advantage for business/management majors in the promotion model, and a negative impact for staff officers with technical majors in the evaluation model. Females performed better than their male counterparts under these performance measures. Minorities received fewer evaluations RAP'd, but were not statistically affected at the Grade 0-4 promotion board.Naval Postgraduate School Monterey CA is the author of 'The Effect of College Selectivity, Grades, and Major on the Performance of Officers in the U.S. Navy' with ISBN 9781423561286 and ISBN 1423561287.