Predictors of Plebe Summer Attrition at the United States Naval Academy

This is a NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY CA report procured by the Pentagon and made available for public release. It has been reproduced in the best form available to the Pentagon. It is not spiral-bound, but rather assembled with Velobinding in a soft, white linen cover. The Storming Media report number is A851714. The abstract provided by the Pentagon follows: This thesis analyzes the relationship between entry-level variables available to the Office of Admissions and plebe summer attrition at the United States Naval Academy (USNA). The study used independent samples t-tests and linear regression analysis to analyze the effects of individual variables on plebe summer attrition and also used binary logistic regression to develop an overall predictive model of plebe summer attrition. Analysis was conducted on the USNA classes that completed plebe summer from 1995-2002 (N = 9,554). The results of this study indicate the highest plebe summer attrition is attributed to majority females, females in general and midshipmen who exceed the limits of the height/weight table and are not recruited athletes. The lowest plebe summer attrition rates are found among children of service academy graduates, recruited varsity athletes, summer seminar attendees, minority males and older midshipmen. This study summarizes the results and also offers recommendations to the Naval Academy and for future research.