Military recruiters are having trouble accessing potential recruits at high schools, according to a recently released report from the Rand Corp.

“Recruiting at high schools is an effective method to successfully meet manning requirements of the all-volunteer force and ensure that the services have the troops they need to help defend the nation,” the report found. “However, recruiters have been facing challenges in accessing high schools.”

The study identified high schools with recruiting challenges using 2017 data and conducted interviews in 2022 and 2023 with military recruiters and school representatives to understand the barriers recruiters face at high schools. Just under one-third of the recruiters and supervisors interviewed in the report were soldiers.

Up to 14% of schools in some states failed to comply with the law or provided inadequate access, the report found. The most common challenges were not providing student names, which is required by federal law, and not allowing recruiters school access or highly restricting access even when it is granted.

The report identified several structural factors that increased the likelihood that recruiters may have difficulty accessing potential recruits, including larger school populations, schools where most students don’t receive free or reduced lunch and schools in urban areas.

The Army has been working hard to address high school access issues.

“More recently, U.S. Army leaders have acknowledged that high school access sometimes is a challenge and have started visiting high schools and talking to stakeholders to understand what the military can do better to reach young people and convince them that the military is a good career choice,” the report found.

Interactions with school faculty and students, including through demonstrations, can help recruiters to describe Army career opportunities and build rapport, a recruiter interviewed for the study said.

“Demos are a real connection between recruiters and the school[s]. We had one where they were able to fly … helicopters [via a flight simulator]. Students went first to try it, then school administrators went second. They were saying things like, ‘We didn’t know the Army had helicopters,’” the recruiter said. “So, it was building that bridge for students, faculty, and administrators.”

In response to access issues, the report recommends that DoD review its outreach practices to high schools, streamline its infrastructure for reporting school access issues and work with the services to ensure high schools understand federal regulations regarding military recruiter access, among other recommendations. 

Amid an already difficult recruiting environment, recruiters’ access to high school students is more important than ever. “High schools are critical venues for recruiters as they seek to provide information about military careers to the widest relevant audience,” the report found. “Most recruiters face challenges in building strong relationships with high schools. … Even when access was provided to recruiters in accordance with legal requirements, there were concerns that for some high schools the level of access fell short of what is needed for effective recruiting.”

Read the full report here.