Struggling for Recruits, US Navy Lowers Education Standard

Those who didn’t graduate from high school will be allowed to join the Navy ranks.

Members of the US Navy welcome aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan as she arrives at the US Navy base in Yokosuka, a suburb of Tokyo, on Oct. 1, 2015. Toru Yamanaka/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. Navy said on Jan. 26 that it will start to enlist those who didn’t graduate from high school in the latest attempt to fill its ranks in the wake of a recruiting crisis that troubles every branch of the U.S. military.

Under the new plan, Navy recruits without a high school diploma will be able to join as long as they score 50 or higher on the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT), which is used to determine basic eligibility for military service. The highest possible AFQT score is 99.