Nearly one-fourth of the students who try to join the U.S. Army fail its entrance exam

A report by The Education Trust found that 23% of recent high school graduates don't get the minimum score needed on the enlistment test to join any branch of the military. The military exam results are also worrisome because the test is given to a limited pool of people: Pentagon data shows that 75% of those aged 17 to 24 don't even qualify to take the test because they are physically unfit, have a criminal record or didn't graduate high school. The study shows wide disparities in scores among white and minority students, similar to racial gaps on other standardized tests. Nearly 40% of black students and 30% of Hispanics don't pass, compared with 16% of whites. The average score for blacks is 38 and for Hispanics is 44, compared to whites' average score of 55.