A third of my platoon had at least a year of college and had dropped out to enlist like I did. at least 4 had degrees and one some grad school. That was in 1970.
About half of my barracks had degrees and several of us were offered direct appointments to the Naval academy.
This notion was B.S. then and is more so now.
As an AF officer, more than half of the enlisted force were pursuing a degree and now I am teaching at a college and a large proportion of our students are active duty in both undergrad and grad programs.
Those who think otherwise about the Marines are ignorant, at best.
Semper Fi
I taught college courses from 1966-1973 and found that returning service members on the GI Bill as well as ROTC students had the most discipline and drive of any of my students.
That was in sharp contrast to some lazy bums who were only in college to get a IIS deferment, which often didn’t last long. I had one fellow come up to me at the end of the semester, pleading, “If you flunk me, they’ll send me to Vietnam!” I told him that he had only flunked himself and he should have thought of that at the beginning of his college work.
Since then I have met several of those who flunked out and got drafted. The service taught them discipline, the ability to approach a task with firm resolve and in steps to accomplish their goal. One of these is my daughter’s father-in-law who went on to get an engineering degree and has had a successful career.