Attrition for the Class of 1975 will be affected by a change in policy adopted by the Academy Board, “which decided to be more selective in the retention of cadets." In eliminating a number of cadets who might have been retained under the previous policy, the board adhered to the belief  “that the overall attrition of classes for their total stay at the Academy will not be significantly increased, but the cadets who will ultimately be separated for various reasons will be eliminated somewhat earlier in their cadet careers. Using the same reasoning, the board "...made it easier for Fourth Classmen to resign during Basic Cadet Training.”

The 31.9 percent attrition rate for the Fourth Class year, the highest in Academy history, reflected this policy change. It was the first Fourth Class to show a rate over 30 percent. The 325 losses charged to Change in Career Goals and Environmental Adjustment constituted 72.5 percent of all losses.

Class of 1975 attrition was affected by the aforementioned “selective retention” policy change made by the Academy Board. The attrition rate of 31.9 percent during the Fourth Class Year reflected this policy change. It was the first class to show a rate over 30 percent in the first year. At the end of the Third Class Year attrition totaled 577 for a 41 percent rate, the highest attrition for any previous class.

Attrition for this class will be affected by an Academy Board policy decision which was more selective in retention of cadets. In eliminating a number of cadets who might have been retained under previous policy, the board rationale was that the overall attrition of classes for their total stay at the Academy will not be significantly increased, but that cadets who will ultimately be separated will be eliminated somewhat earlier. Following the same rationale, The Academy Board also made it easier for new cadets to resign during basic cadet training. The attrition rate of 31.9 percent during the Fourth Class Year reflected this policy change. It was the first class to show a loss over 30 percent at the Academy. The 325 losses because of Career Goals and Environmental Adjustment covered 72.5 percent of all losses. There were 129 losses during the Third Class Year for a rate of 9.16 percent; this was below the five-year average. Total cumulative attrition was 577, a rate of 40.98 percent in contrast to the five-year average of 31.41 percent. Fifty-nine losses were suffered during the Second Class Year, a 4.20 percent attrition rate. This was below the five-year average, but the cumulative loss of 45.23 percent was almost 9 percent higher than the previous five-year average.

The attrition rate of 31.9 percent during the Fourth Class Year reflects the policy change described in [previous histories]. It was the first class to have more than a 30 percent loss during their first year at the Academy. There were 325 losses because of changed career goals and environmental adjustment.

During the Third Class Year there were 129 losses for a cumulative loss of 40.9 percent. Losses during the year were 9.2 percent, which was below the preceding five-year average. The cumulative loss was above the five-year average of 31.4 percent.

Cumulative attrition at the end of the Second Class Year was 45.2 percent. There were 59 departures for a yearly rate of 4.2 percent below the last five-year average, but the overall rate was still higher than the average by 8.75 percent. Most of the losses were for changed career goals (35). There were six losses for environmental adjustment and six for honor. The rest were for academic, medical or other causes.

Attrition during the First Class Year was one percent with 14 losses. At graduation the Class of 1975 had a total attrition of 46.23 percent, the highest of any graduating class. Attrition for the last two years was below five-year averages, but not low enough to reduce overall attrition to that of previous classes. Cumulative statistics are shown in the chart below.