Marine Corps Jobs by ASVAB Score: MOS Requirements by Line Score
To enlist in the Marine Corps you need an AFQT of 31, or 50 with a GED or nontraditional diploma. Which jobs you qualify for then depends on 4 Marine Corps line scores, GT, MM, EL and CL, each built from a different set of subtests and rescaled so that 100 is average. The Marine Corps prints only 2 line score requirements on marines.com, both GT: 95 for the Military Police and Corrections field and 105 for MARSOC selection. For every other field, your recruiter checks your line scores against the current prerequisites.
Test Ninjas Research · Updated October 14, 2026
The AFQT gets you in, line scores pick the job
The AFQT is one number built from Arithmetic Reasoning, Mathematics Knowledge, Word Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension. The Marine Corps uses it to decide whether you can enlist at all. Its recruiting site lists a minimum of 31 for most applicants and 50 for applicants who hold a GED or a nontraditional diploma. If you are below the line, the AFQT improvement plan covers the 4 subtests that count.
Other Services' recruiting regulations call these education tiers: DAFMAN 36-2032 puts high school graduates in Tier 1 and GED holders in Tier 2. marines.com does not use the tier labels, and it puts nontraditional diplomas with the GED at 50, so ask how your credential is classified. The rules for GED holders are in enlisting with a GED.
Both Marine Corps numbers were checked against marines.com on September 29, 2026, and were unchanged when re-read on October 13, 2026. Service minimums change, so have a recruiter confirm the one that applies to you.
The marines.com FAQ adds a second check: certain Military Occupational Specialties may require a higher score. Where marines.com prints that score for a job, it is a GT line score, not the AFQT.
The 4 Marine Corps line scores
The Marine Corps computes 4 classification composites. Each starts as a plain sum of your standard scores, the mean-50 numbers on your score sheet. The sum is then rescaled with the slope and constant in equation 2.6 of the 1997 ASVAB score scale report, which puts every composite on a scale with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 20 in the national youth reference population.
Marine Corps line scores. Formulas from the 1997 ASVAB score scale report, Table 5.1 and equation 2.6.
Line score
Subtests summed
Reported score
Gain per subtest point
MM, Mechanical Maintenance
AR + MC + EI + AS
0.588215 x sum - 17.645724, rounded
About 0.59
GT, General Technical
AR + MC + VE
0.755294 x sum - 13.289535, rounded
About 0.76
EL, Electronics
GS + AR + MK + EI
0.577992 x sum - 15.599795, rounded
About 0.58
CL, Clerical
MK + VE
1.092264 x sum - 9.232992, rounded
About 1.09
VE and AS are not subtests you sit. VE, Verbal Expression, is a weighted blend of Word Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension in which a PC point counts about 0.62 as much as a WK point: VE = 0.654918 x WK + 0.405617 x PC - 3.026712, rounded. AS, Auto and Shop, combines Auto Information and Shop Information with equal weights. If every subtest comes in at exactly 50, all 4 line scores land on 100.
A Marine GT is not an Army GT. The Army and Navy add only Arithmetic Reasoning and Verbal Expression; the Marine Corps adds Mechanical Comprehension, so the same score sheet produces different GT numbers in different Services.
The gain column explains why CL moves so fast. It sums only 2 parts, so its rescaling slope is the largest: an MK or VE point moves CL about 1.09, nearly twice what a point moves MM or EL. Those 2 sum 4 parts each, so a single subtest moves them least. For how the other Services build their composites, see ASVAB line scores explained.
When the score scale report was written in 2004, CL was not yet operational; the report computed it in anticipation of eventual use. Ask your recruiter which composites your target jobs check today.
Contracts name a program, not a job
You do not sign for a single MOS. MARADMIN 405/26, the Fiscal Year 2027 Enlistment Option Program message dated 31 August 2026, states that every active component applicant enlists within a Program Enlisted For (PEF), not a specific primary MOS. A PEF groups primary MOSs by their prerequisites, so your line scores have to qualify you for the jobs inside the program you sign for. The Statement of Understanding you sign lists the PEF's requirements.
The specific MOS inside the PEF comes later. The same message says that applicants with a skill-based bonus "will be classified into one of the associated PMOSs" under their PEF. The training that follows, as marines.com describes it, is recruit training, then the School of Infantry (the 52-day Infantry Training Battalion for infantry MOSs, the 29-day Marine Combat Training course for everyone else), then MOS school for the non-infantry Marines.
Selected programs from MARADMIN 405/26, effective 1 October 2026. PEF lists change every fiscal year.
The message lists 31 PEFs in all. For fiscal year 2027 it attaches a 15,000 dollar skill bonus to 2 of them, Electronics Maintenance and Cyber and Crypto Operations, and it notes that bonuses can change during the year.
Cut scores the Marine Corps publishes
Only 2 roles on marines.com carry a line score. Fields the site describes without one, including infantry and aircraft maintenance, are left out here rather than filled from secondhand lists. Your recruiter checks your scores against the current prerequisites in the recruiting system when you choose a PEF.
As published by the U.S. Marine Corps on marines.com, read October 2026. Requirements change; confirm with a recruiter.
Job or field
Line score required
Who it applies to
Source
Military Police and Corrections (58XX): 5811 Military Police, 5821 Criminal Investigator, 5831 Correction and Detention Specialist
GT 95 or higher
Applicants for the field, plus a state driver license, U.S. citizenship, secret clearance eligibility, clarity of speech, vision correctable to 20/20, normal color vision and an age of 18 by the end of MP school
marines.com Law Enforcement page, October 2026
Marine Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) selection
GT 105 or higher
Active-duty Marines from any MOS with 3 to 6 years of service (enlisted), plus a 235 PFT, a first-class CFT and the MARSOC physical screening and swim assessment
marines.com Special Operations page, October 2026
The MARSOC row is not an enlistment option. It screens Marines who already have 3 or more years of service, so your ASVAB GT still counts years after you enlist.
Officer programs use a different gate. Among its NROTC scholarship requirements, marines.com lists an AFQT of 74, an ACT composite of 22 or an SAT math and reading total of 1000.
Worked example: computing a Marine GT
Take a score sheet with AR 55, MC 52, WK 54 and PC 52. Start with VE: 0.654918 x 54 = 35.37, plus 0.405617 x 52 = 21.09, minus 3.03, gives 53.43, which rounds to 53.
Now the GT sum: 55 + 52 + 53 = 160. Rescale it: 0.755294 x 160 = 120.85, minus 13.29, gives 107.56, which rounds to a GT of 108. That clears both published cut scores. On the same sheet, with MK 51, the AFQT composite is 55 + 51 + 2 x 53 = 212, the 61st percentile.
Where the published cut scores sit
Working backward from the formula, a GT of 95 needs an AR + MC + VE sum of 143, and a GT of 105 needs 156. An all-average sheet sums to 150 and scores exactly 100. So the military police requirement sits a little below average on those 3 parts, and the MARSOC screen sits about 2 points per part above average. The score scale report found that regular Marine Corps applicants in calendar year 2002 averaged a GT of 104.8 on the current scale, almost exactly the MARSOC cut.
How to raise a specific line score
Start from the composite your target PEF needs, then study the subtests inside it. A subtest that feeds several composites pays back the most per hour.
Which Marine Corps line scores each subtest feeds
Subtest
Marine line scores
Also in the AFQT
Arithmetic Reasoning (AR)
MM, GT, EL
Yes
Mathematics Knowledge (MK)
EL, CL
Yes
Word Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension (through VE)
GT, CL
Yes
Mechanical Comprehension (MC)
MM, GT
No
Electronics Information (EI)
MM, EL
No
General Science (GS)
EL
No
Auto Information and Shop Information (through AS)
MM
No
Assembling Objects (AO)
None of the 4
No
For GT, Arithmetic Reasoning is the first stop. Each standard-score point on AR adds about 0.76 to GT and also lifts MM, EL and the AFQT. Work through Arithmetic Reasoning practice until rate, ratio and percent problems are automatic.
Mechanical Comprehension is the part applicants coming from the Army or Navy charts overlook, because it is not in their GT. It is in the Marine one, at the same 0.76 per point as AR, and it does not touch the AFQT, so study plans built around the AFQT skip it. A few weeks on levers, pulleys, gears and fluid pressure can move GT and MM together.
Word Knowledge counts more than Paragraph Comprehension inside VE. A WK point is worth about 0.49 GT points after the VE weighting and a PC point about 0.31. Because VE is rounded before it enters the sum, small verbal gains can show up as nothing or as a full point.
CL is only MK and VE, which makes it the easiest composite to move with a short, focused plan. EL (GS, AR, MK, EI) and MM (AR, MC, EI, AS) spread across 4 parts each, so shifting them takes study across several subtests.
Retest timing
The official ASVAB program allows a retest 1 calendar month after your first test and another 1 month after that; every later retest waits 6 months. Scores stay usable for enlistment for 2 years. Before you retest for a line score, check the retake policy and ask your recruiter how a new score affects a PEF you have already discussed.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Marine Corps recruiting site lists an AFQT of 31 or higher for applicants with a high school diploma and 50 or higher for applicants holding a GED or a nontraditional diploma. That qualifies you to enlist. Each job field then checks 1 or more of the 4 Marine Corps line scores separately.
Add your Arithmetic Reasoning, Mechanical Comprehension and Verbal Expression standard scores, multiply the sum by 0.755294, subtract 13.289535 and round. The result sits on a scale with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 20. The Army and Navy GT leave out Mechanical Comprehension, so the Marine number is a different score.
The marines.com law enforcement page, read in October 2026, lists a GT of 95 or higher for the Military Police and Corrections occupational field. It also lists a valid state driver license, U.S. citizenship, secret clearance eligibility, clarity of speech, vision correctable to 20/20, normal color vision with no waivers, and an age of 18 before military police school ends. Cut scores change, so confirm the current figure with a recruiter.
Usually not. Every active component applicant enlists into a Program Enlisted For, a group of related jobs that share prerequisites, and the Statement of Understanding you sign spells out that program. The specific primary MOS inside the group is assigned after you enlist. A few programs hold only 1 MOS, such as Parachute Rigger (0451) and Motor Transport (3531), so for those the program is the job.
Arithmetic Reasoning. It feeds MM, GT and EL, and it is also 1 of the 4 AFQT subtests. Mathematics Knowledge and the 2 verbal subtests come next, each feeding 2 line scores plus the AFQT.
No. The Marine Corps GT adds Mechanical Comprehension to Arithmetic Reasoning and Verbal Expression and uses its own rescaling. An Army GT of 105 and a Marine GT of 105 can come from different subtest scores, so compare a requirement only with the score the Marine Corps computes.
The official ASVAB program says scores can be used to enlist for up to 2 years after the test date. If you retest, the waits are 1 calendar month after the first test, 1 more month after the first retest and 6 months after any later retest.
Sources
U.S. Marine Corps, marines.com, Enlistment Requirements page, ASVAB section (31 minimum, 50 with a GED or nontraditional diploma), read October 2026.
U.S. Marine Corps, marines.com, Law Enforcement roles page, requirements for the Military Police and Corrections occupational field (58XX), read October 2026.
U.S. Marine Corps, marines.com, Special Operations roles page, MARSOC selection requirements, read October 2026.
U.S. Marine Corps, marines.com, Frequently Asked Questions (minimum ASVAB score, higher scores for certain MOSs, choice of an MOS field) and Recruit Training page (School of Infantry and MOS school), read October 2026.
U.S. Marine Corps, marines.com, Become a Marine Officer page, NROTC scholarship eligibility requirements, read October 2026.
Headquarters U.S. Marine Corps, MARADMIN 405/26, Fiscal Year 2027 Total Force Enlistment Option Program and Enlistment Bonuses, date-time group 31 August 2026, paragraphs 1, 3a, 3b and 4a.
D. O. Segall, Development and Evaluation of the 1997 ASVAB Score Scale, Defense Manpower Data Center, July 2004: section 2.3 and equations 2.3 and 2.4 (Verbal Expression and Auto and Shop), section 2.4 and Table 2.5 (AFQT composite and percentiles), section 2.5.2, equation 2.6 and Table 2.6 (Marine Corps rescaling), Tables 5.1 and 5.2.
Department of the Air Force, DAFMAN 36-2032, Military Recruiting and Accessions, 16 January 2025, incorporating Change 1 of 9 December 2025, paragraphs 3.6.8.2.2.1 and 3.6.8.2.2.2 (Tier One and Tier Two definitions).
Official ASVAB program (officialasvab.com), Applicant FAQs, answers on retest waiting periods and the 2-year score validity.