ABSTRACT

The process of recruiting and selecting cadets naturally produces some variables from year to year in the traits of the entering class. J. Houston has reported on trends in admissions variables over a ten-year period from the Class of 1967 to the Class of 1976. By using a statistical model that rules out sampling variation, he identified small but significant changes in the characteristics of entering cadets. West Point is unique in many ways. In the debates over the admission of women as cadets, some sources asserted that co-education would cause West Point to lose important unique characteristics. This report concludes that West Point demonstrates its continued uniqueness by enrolling cadets of both sexes who differ from other college students without creating a sex x institution interaction effect. The admission of women to the West Point Corps of Cadets has raised several issues.