Coast Guard Jobs by ASVAB Score: Rating Requirements
You need an AFQT of 32 to apply to the Coast Guard with a high school diploma, and 47 with an alternative credential. Your job, called a rating, comes later: most enlistees leave boot camp as unspecialized seamen or firemen and apply for a rating's "A" school, which checks a plain sum of ASVAB standard scores of the kind the Navy uses for its ratings. Only 4 school pages publish theirs, such as MK+EI+GS of 172 for Electronics Technician, and those pages still show what they showed before a 10-point adjustment in November 2021.
Test Ninjas Research · Updated October 14, 2026
The entry score: AFQT 32
The Get Started page on gocoastguard.com gives the minimum ASVAB AFQT score for enlisting as 32. The rule behind it is section 4.B.7 of Coast Guard Recruiting, COMDTINST 1100.2I, dated June 2025: most Tier I prospects, meaning high school graduates, qualify to apply at 32 or more, and Tier II prospects, alternative credential holders, at 47 or more. Under section 4.C.3, every Tier II enlistment also needs approval from the Accessions Division.
Note the verb. A qualifying AFQT lets you apply; it is not an offer. The eligibility page adds that Coast Guard Recruiting Command can authorize waivers to some entrance standards case by case, and the recruiter decides whether any are appropriate.
Published AFQT minimums by Service. Coast Guard figures read October 2026; other Services as recorded in this site's branch data, reviewed 29 September 2026. Minimums change with recruiting conditions.
The AFQT is a percentile built from 4 subtests: Arithmetic Reasoning, Mathematics Knowledge, Word Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension. A 32 means you scored at or above 32 percent of the 1997 youth reference sample. The AFQT explainer walks through the formula, and the minimum scores by branch page keeps the other Services' notes in one place.
How Coast Guard ratings use your scores
Your ASVAB score sheet reports a standard score for each subtest, set to an average of 50. Coast Guard schools state their requirements as plain sums of those scores, the same arithmetic the Navy uses for its ratings. MK+EI+GS of 172 means your Mathematics Knowledge, Electronics Information and General Science scores must add to at least 172. Three average scores add to 150, so 172 asks for about 57 on each.
Two extra conditions show up often. A floor on one subtest, such as an AR of 52, must be met on its own even when the sum clears. An alternate route lets a high AFQT stand in for the whole composite: the Electronics Technician school accepts an AFQT of 65, which is the bottom of Category II.
Two labels on the school pages need decoding. VE, which the HS and ME schools use, is the verbal score your sheet derives from Word Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension. AFCT is the in-service version of the battery, taken by members who retest after enlisting: the IT school page names an AFCT of 65 where the ET page names an AFQT of 65, and the 2021 commentary describes the IT alternate as an AFQT of 65. The guide to line scores shows how each Service builds its composites.
Why the ASVAB matters again after boot camp
The recruiting instruction says non-prior-service applicants ordinarily enlist as Seaman Recruit, pay grade E-1. Boot camp at Training Center Cape May runs 8 weeks. Midway through, you rank your preferences for a first unit, and gocoastguard.com describes what follows: your first assignment will be as an unspecialized seaman or fireman, and once you settle in and decide on a career, you put your name on the list for specialty training.
That is the non-rate period. You work at a cutter, station or air station, see the ratings up close, then request an "A" school. Since 2023 the request goes through Direct Access, the Coast Guard's personnel system, which calculates your ASVAB composites automatically and compares them with the rating you asked for. Unless you retest on the AFCT, that check uses your entry scores.
The exception is a Guaranteed Class "A" School contract. The recruiting instruction lists it among the enlistment incentives, and you must meet the school's entrance requirements, which can include normal color vision and, for aviation schools, the aircrew physical standards. In October 2023 the Coast Guard announced the Vested Crewmember beta test for guaranteed BM, GM, ET and DC recruits: they go from Cape May to their first unit in a petty officer third class billet, attend A-school on temporary duty, and return to the same unit.
For most Coast Guard recruits, the ASVAB check that decides a job comes after boot camp, not at MEPS. Unless you retest on the AFCT, the score sheet you leave MEPS with decides which ratings stay open to you.
Published rating requirements
The 21 enlisted career pages on gocoastguard.com describe each rating's work and training but print no ASVAB score. The full list exists: the recruiting instruction points to a file titled "A School Rate Requirements Nov 2021" on a Personnel Service Center SharePoint site that requires a Common Access Card. The public can read only the school pages run by Force Readiness Command, and only some of them state their prerequisites.
ASVAB requirements as published by Coast Guard training commands (captured April to June 2026) and MyCG (October 2021). Every school page figure here also appears in 2021 captures made before the November 2021 change. Requirements change; confirm with a recruiter.
Rating
Requirement as published
Source and date
Electronics Technician (ET)
MK+EI+GS 172, with AR 52; or an AFQT of 65
TRACEN Petaluma ET school page, captured April 2026
Information Systems Technician (IT)
MK+EI+GS 172, with a minimum AR of 52 or an AFCT of 65; "175/60" for a guaranteed school
TRACEN Petaluma IT school page, captured April 2026
Information Systems Technician (IT)
MK+EI+GS 162, with AR 52 or an AFQT of 65 (after the 1 November 2021 change)
MyCG commentary, October 2021
Health Services Technician (HS)
VE+MK+GS+AR 207, with a minimum AR of 50
TRACEN Petaluma HS school page, captured June 2026
Maritime Enforcement Specialist (ME)
VE+AR 100
MLEA ME school page, captured May 2026
The two IT rows disagree because of the date. A MyCG commentary of 22 October 2021 announced that from 1 November 2021 the composite requirement for every A-school except diver was adjusted by 10 points, while the subtests in each composite and every subtest minimum stayed the same. Its own example: IT went from MK+EI+GS of 172 to 162. All four school pages show exactly the figures they showed in captures from April to July 2021, before the change, which suggests they were never updated. Treat every school page composite, including HS 207 and ME 100, as possibly 10 points high and get the current figure from a recruiter.
Aviation Maintenance Technician, Avionics Electrical Technician, Machinery Technician, Boatswain's Mate and Intelligence Specialist are missing because neither their gocoastguard.com pages nor their school pages list an ASVAB requirement. A recruiter can read you their current requirements.
Waivers since November 2021
The same 2021 change widened waivers. Recruiting accessions staff and unit commanding officers can now waive up to 10 total points, and that authority covers subtest minimums but not the AFQT. Each rating force master chief handles anything larger. The commentary reported more than 300 merit-based waivers a year over the prior 3 years, with attrition at nearly all A-schools at or below earlier levels. A member refused a waiver gets a Path to Success form explaining how to raise the score or qualify later.
A worked example
Take a recruit whose sheet shows VE 53, AR 50, MK 55, GS 56 and EI 51. The AFQT composite is 2 times VE plus AR plus MK, or 106 + 50 + 55 = 211, which converts to the 60th percentile. That clears the entry minimum of 32 with room to spare. The school checks are tighter.
One score profile checked against published Coast Guard school requirements.
School
Your sum
Requirement
Result
ET, school page figure
MK+EI+GS = 55+51+56 = 162
172, AR 52, or AFQT 65
10 points short, AR 2 short, AFQT 60. Does not qualify without a waiver
IT, 2021 commentary figure
MK+EI+GS = 162
162, AR 52, or AFQT 65
Composite meets. AR 2 short, inside a commanding officer's 10-point authority
HS
VE+MK+GS+AR = 53+55+56+50 = 214
207, AR 50
Qualifies
ME
VE+AR = 53+50 = 103
100
Qualifies
The same 162 fails against the school page and passes against the 2021 commentary, so check the date on any requirement before you trust the number. AR is the other problem: 50 against a floor of 52 for both ET and IT. Under the 2021 rules, a commanding officer can waive those 2 points for IT. ET at the school page figure needs 12 points in all, more than the 10-point limit, so that waiver would go to the rating force master chief.
To reach ET without a waiver, this recruit would need AR up 2 points and the composite up 10, or an AFQT of 65 on the alternate route. HS and ME are open with these scores as they stand.
A small Service with high-scoring recruits
The Coast Guard belongs to the Department of Homeland Security, yet the Defense Department's population report carries its own Coast Guard tables. For fiscal year 2019 it counted 2,510 non-prior-service active Coast Guard enlistees against 163,574 across the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force, about 1 Coast Guard recruit for every 65 Defense Department recruits.
Non-prior-service active enlisted recruits, FY2019, from Population Representation in the Military Services (Tables B-4, B-8, E-7, E-9). High quality means AFQT Categories I to IIIA plus a Tier 1 diploma.
Service
New enlistees
AFQT Categories I to IIIA
High quality
Army
62,068
60.6%
57.0%
Navy
38,257
71.6%
69.4%
Marine Corps
31,429
69.3%
69.0%
Air Force
31,820
80.8%
79.8%
Coast Guard
2,510
79.2%
78.4%
The published floor of 32 sits 1 point above the 31 used by the Army, Air Force and Marine Corps, yet the recruits who actually signed scored like Air Force recruits. In FY2019, 79.2 percent of Coast Guard enlistees, about 4 in 5, were in Categories I to IIIA, which means an AFQT of 50 or higher. None were in Category IV, and 99.0 percent held a Tier 1 credential. A score just over 32 meets the rule but would have put you outside that 4 in 5.
What to do with your scores
Copy every standard score off your sheet, then add the sums for the ratings you want. If a sum falls short, look at which subtests carry it: ET and IT rest on MK, EI and GS, HS adds VE and AR to MK and GS, and ME uses VE+AR alone. Check the AFQT route too, since a 65 covers ET outright. The AFQT improvement plan covers the 4 subtests behind that number.
Scores stay valid for 2 years from the test date until you enlist or enter the Delayed Entry Program, per the recruiting instruction. If you retest, the official ASVAB program sets the waits at 1 calendar month, then 1 more month, then 6 months, and the retake policy page covers the details.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Coast Guard recruiting site gives a minimum AFQT of 32. The June 2025 recruiting instruction, COMDTINST 1100.2I, says most Tier I applicants (high school graduates) qualify to apply at 32 and Tier II applicants (alternative credentials such as the GED) at 47. Meeting the minimum lets you apply; it does not guarantee a contract.
Usually not. The recruiting site says your first assignment after boot camp will be as an unspecialized seaman or fireman, and you put your name on the list for specialty training once you are at your first unit. A guaranteed Class "A" School contract, offered as an enlistment incentive, is the exception.
Add the standard scores the rating names. The Electronics Technician school, for example, uses MK+EI+GS, so MK 55, EI 51 and GS 56 give 162. Several ratings also set a floor on one subtest, such as the AR of 52 for Electronics Technician and Information Systems Technician.
The Training Center Petaluma school page, as captured in April 2026, lists MK+EI+GS of 172 with AR of 52, or an AFQT of 65. The page showed the same figure in April 2021, and a Coast Guard commentary from October 2021 says every A-school composite except diver was adjusted by 10 points that November, with IT going from 172 to 162. Confirm the current figure with a recruiter or in Direct Access.
Yes. Since November 2021, recruiting accessions staff and unit commanding officers can waive up to 10 total points, including subtest minimums but not the AFQT. Each rating force master chief can approve larger waivers, and a denial comes with a Path to Success form explaining how to qualify.
Its published AFQT floor of 32 is 1 point above the Army, Air Force and Marine Corps figure of 31. Its recruits score high, though: in the FY2019 Department of Defense population report, 79.2 percent of new Coast Guard enlistees scored in AFQT Categories I to IIIA, close to the Air Force and above the Army, Navy and Marine Corps.
The recruiting instruction says scores are valid for 2 years from the test date to the date of enlistment or entry into the Delayed Entry Program, whichever comes first. The official ASVAB program sets the retest waits at 1 calendar month after the first test, 1 more month after the first retest and 6 months after any later retest.
Sources
U.S. Coast Guard, Coast Guard Recruiting, COMDTINST 1100.2I, 3 June 2025 (revised 18 June 2025). Section 3.B.1 (rates on enlistment), Section 3.E.2.c (Guaranteed Class "A" School), Section 4.B.7 (Test Scores), Section 4.C.3 (education tiers and Tier II approval) and Section 6.E.2 (reference to the A School Rate Requirements, November 2021). Read in the Internet Archive capture of the media.defense.gov PDF dated 11 October 2026.
U.S. Coast Guard Recruiting, gocoastguard.com, Get Started page (ASVAB section), Basic Training page (After Basic Training and Specialty Training sections), Enlisting page and Eligibility Requirements page, read October 2026.
U.S. Coast Guard Recruiting, gocoastguard.com, the 21 Enlisted Careers pages linked from the Enlisted Careers index, read October 2026. None of these pages lists an ASVAB requirement.
Coast Guard Force Readiness Command, Training Center Petaluma, Electronics Technician "A" School page (Course Prerequisites) and Information Systems Technician "A" School page (Eligibility), Internet Archive captures of 11 April 2026, compared with the captures of 22 April 2021.
Coast Guard Force Readiness Command, Training Center Petaluma, Health Services Technician "A" School page (Eligibility), Internet Archive capture of 18 June 2026, compared with the capture of 19 April 2021.
Coast Guard Force Readiness Command, Maritime Law Enforcement Academy, Maritime Enforcement Specialist "A" School page (Eligibility Criteria), Internet Archive capture of 20 May 2026, compared with the capture of 29 July 2021.
Coast Guard Force Readiness Command, Training Center Yorktown school pages for BM, MK and IS, and Aviation Technical Training Center pages for AMT and AET, Internet Archive captures of April and May 2026, checked for ASVAB criteria (none listed).
MyCG (U.S. Coast Guard), "ASVAB score requirements changing for 'A' schools," commentary by Lt. Cmdr. Christie Connell, 22 October 2021.
MyCG (U.S. Coast Guard), "New: Easier process to request 'A' school," 5 April 2023, and "Coast Guard streamlines guaranteed A-school process," 11 October 2023.
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, Population Representation in the Military Services, Fiscal Year 2019, Tables B-4, B-8, E-7, E-8 and E-9.
Official ASVAB program (officialasvab.com), Applicant FAQs, answers on retest waiting periods, score validity, the 4 tests behind the AFQT and what an AFQT percentile means.