The impacts of a fully funded Postgraduate Education on promotion and command screen for fixed-wing, carrier-based pilots and Naval Flight Officers

摘要

This thesis evaluates the effect of fully-funded graduate education on the joint outcome of promote to Pay Grade 5 and screen for squadron command for fixed-wing, carrier-based aviator lieutenant commanders (Pay Grade 4) eligible for the Pay Grade 5 board. Binomial logit models are estimated to examine the impacts of earning a graduate degree, the timing of the degree, and the technical specificity of the degree. The thesis finds no evidence that career progression at this critical point is harmed by acquiring a fully-funded graduate degree. Rather, the thesis finds significant positive effects on promote/screen for those officers earning advanced degrees at selected junctures. Logit model estimates show that aviators with fully-funded technical degrees earned one or more years after the Pay Grade 4 board are 26.9% more likely to promote/screen than aviators without graduate degrees. Additionally, officers who earned graduate degrees on their own time are 5.8% more likely to promote/screen than officers without graduate degrees.