Jennie W. Wenger

Director, Economics, Sociology, and Statistics Department; Senior Economist

Santa Monica Office

Education

Ph.D. in economics, University of North Carolina

One Page Bio

Media Resources

This researcher is available for interviews.

To arrange an interview, contact the RAND Office of Media Relations at (310) 451-6913, or email media@rand.org.

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Overview

Jennie W. Wenger (she/her) is director of the Economics, Sociology, and Statistics Department and a senior economist at the RAND Corporation, where she studies education and training, military compensation, and recruiting. Over the last 15 years, she has been the principal investigator of a series of studies examining the effectiveness of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program, a DoD-sponsored program for high school dropouts. Wenger has led and contributed to other recent projects examining options for retaining the Army's cyber expertise, the ways in which the Post–9/11 GI Bill influences military recruiting and retention, the implications of integrating women into combat arms occupations, changes in diversity in the military over time, balancing quality of life with mission tempo on Coast Guard cutters, and factors that influence the decision to transition to the Reserve Components. Before joining RAND, she was a senior research scientist and project manager at CNA, where she authored a series of reports examining the relationship between body fat and performance in the enlisted military and served as the co-PI on a study documenting many aspects of military dependents' educational experiences. Wenger received her Ph.D. in economics from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Research Focus

Selected Publications

Wenger, Jennie W., Louay Constant, Linda Cottrell, Jenna W. Kramer, and Stephani L. Wrabel, National Guard Youth ChalleNGe: Program Progress in 2019–2020, RAND Corporation (RR-A882-1), 2021

Wenger, Jennie W., Maria C. Lytell, Kimberly Curry Hall, and Michael L. Hansen, Balancing Quality of Life with Mission Requirements: An Analysis of Personnel Tempo on U.S. Coast Guard Major Cutters, RAND Corporation (RR-2731-DHS), 2019

Wenger, Jennie W., Louay Constant, Linda Cottrell, Thomas E. Trail, Michael J. D. Vermeer, and Stephani L. Wrabel, National Guard Youth ChalleNGe: Program Progress in 2015–2016, RAND Corporation (RR-1848-OSD), 2017

Wenger, Jennie W., Caolionn O'Connell, and Maria C. Lytell, Retaining the Army's Cyber Expertise, RAND Corporation (RR-1978-A), 2017

Wenger, Jennie W., Caolionn O'Connell, and Linda Cottrell, Examination of Recent Deployment Experience Across the Services and Components, RAND Corporation (RR-1928-A), 2018

Wenger, Jennie W., Trey Miller, Matthew D. Baird, Peter Buryk, Lindsay Daugherty, Marlon Graf, Simon Hollands, Salar Jahedi, and Douglas Yeung, Are Current Military Education Benefits Efficient and Effective for the Services?RAND Corporation (RR-1766-OSD), 2017

Salar Jahedi, Jennie W. Wenger, and Douglas Yeung, Searching for Information Online: Using Big Data to Identify Concerns of Potential Army Recruits, RAND (RR-1197-A), 2016

Honors & Awards

RAND Silver Medal Award, 2016

Publications

Report
National Guard Youth ChalleNGe: Program Progress in 2021–2022
The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program serves young people ages 16 to 18 experiencing difficulty in traditional high school. This report covers the program years 2021–2022 and is the seventh in a series on this quasi-military residential program.
Jun 1, 2023
Report
National Guard Youth ChalleNGe: Program Progress in 2020–2021
The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program serves young people experiencing difficulty in traditional high school. This report documents program trends in 2020–2021 and presents analyses on the Job ChalleNGe program.

Aug 22, 2022
Journal Article
Veteran Educators or For-Profiteers? Tuition Responses to Changes in the Post-9/11 GI Bill
In 2010, Congress reauthorized the Post-9/11 GI Bill by changing reimbursement rates from by-state maximums to a nationwide limit. This change affected some institutions more than others. We find changes in tuition and student enrollment in response to changes in reimbursement rates.
Aug 11, 2022
Report
End-of-Pilot Assessment of the U.S. Army's Consolidated Recruiting Program
The Army conducted a pilot test of a program in which recruiters were authorized to recruit individuals into any of its three components. This analysis found that the program's effects were small and not statistically meaningful.
Jun 15, 2022
Report
Developing Outcome Measures for the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program
The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe is a residential program for youth experiencing difficulties in traditional high school. This capstone report describes some of RAND's research and analyses on the ChalleNGe program from late 2017 through mid-2020.
Mar 2, 2022
Commentary
The Role of Education Benefits in Supporting Veterans as They Transition to Civilian Life: Veterans' Issues in Focus
There is evidence that military education benefits have a positive impact on veterans' transitions to civilian life and educational attainment, but few studies have looked at who uses them, their transition experiences, or their long-term outcomes.
Jan 10, 2022
Report
National Guard Youth ChalleNGe: Program Progress in 2019–2020
The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program serves young people experiencing difficulty in traditional high school through a 5.5-month residential program. The authors of this report document the progress of program participants in 2019 and 2020.
Mar 15, 2021
Report
National Guard Youth ChalleNGe: Program Progress in 2018–2019
In the fourth annual report on the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe, a residential, quasi-military program for youth struggling in traditional high school, researchers provide information on participants who entered the program in 2018.
Nov 6, 2020
Report
National Guard Youth ChalleNGe: Program Progress in 2017–2018
This report documents the progress of participants in the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe program in 2017-2018. ChalleNGe is a residential, quasi-military program for youth ages 16-18 who are experiencing difficulty in traditional high school.
Oct 15, 2019
Report
Balancing Quality of Life with Mission Requirements: An Analysis of Personnel Tempo on U.S. Coast Guard Major Cutters
The authors analyze how U.S. Coast Guard servicemembers serving on major cutters respond to various levels of personnel tempo, as well as the effects of working conditions on these responses.
Jul 29, 2019
Report
Social Media and the Army: Implications for Outreach and Recruiting
Social media platforms play a key role in the U.S. Army's outreach and recruiting efforts. The authors analyzed these efforts to see if and how potential recruits and others are engaging with the Army's content and offer related recommendations.
Jun 3, 2019
Report
An Early Evaluation of the My Career Advancement Account Scholarship for Military Spouses
My Career Advancement Account (MyCAA) Scholarships are intended to help military spouses with education and employment. This report evaluates MyCAA use, employment and earnings of eligible spouses, and service continuation of their service members.
Nov 29, 2018
Research Brief
Early Evidence from the My Career Advancement Account Scholarship for Military Spouses: Work, Earnings, and Retention
My Career Advancement Account Scholarships are intended to help military spouses with education and employment. The percentage of eligible spouses working declined over time, but users were more likely than nonusers to be working two years later.
Nov 29, 2018
Report
DoD STARBASE: Improved Measures for Participation, Outreach, and Impact
The Department of Defense's STARBASE program offers a curriculum in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics for students in underserved areas of the United States. This study focuses on the students served and STARBASE's outreach efforts.
Oct 30, 2018
Report
The Value of Experience in the Enlisted Force
The relationships between tenure, experience, and productivity of key noncommissioned officer leadership in the U.S. Army and performance of the junior soldiers they lead are examined in this report.
Oct 4, 2018
Report
National Guard Youth ChalleNGe: Program Progress in 2016–2017
This report presents information on recent participants of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe, a quasi-military program for young people lacking a high school diploma. It also documents program progress in academics, fitness, and other areas.
Aug 20, 2018
Report
Examination of Recent Deployment Experience Across the Services and Components
This research compares deployment experience across the services and components and examines the transitions of soldiers between Army components. This report characterizes both the deployment and the service members who deploy.
Mar 6, 2018
Report
National Guard Youth ChalleNGe: Program Progress in 2015–2016
National Guard Youth ChalleNGe is a residential, quasi-military program for young people at risk of dropping out of high school. This report provides information on recent ChalleNGe participants and develops metrics of program success.
Nov 1, 2017
Report
Retaining the Army's Cyber Expertise
Soldiers in the Army's Cyber career field require extensive training, and Army leadership is concerned that they will be lured away by lucrative civilian jobs. This report describes findings to inform the Army's retention strategy for these soldiers.
Sep 18, 2017
Report
Assessing Competencies and Proficiency of Army Intelligence Analysts Across the Career Life Cycle
This report describes the development and implementation of a process to assess key analytic competencies and proficiency of the U.S. Army's analysts in the 35F military occupational specialty and the design of a protocol for ongoing evaluation.
Jul 27, 2017
Report
Are Current Military Education Benefits Efficient and Effective for the Services?
This research takes a mixed-methods approach to examine the effects of military education benefit programs on recruiting and retention-related outcomes, and to assess how the two largest education benefits may work together.
Jun 19, 2017
Report
Improving Oversight and Coordination of Department of Defense Programs That Address Problematic Behaviors Among Military Personnel: Final Report
This report makes recommendations for the Office of the Secretary of Defense to better understand the relationships among six problematic behaviors and its oversight and coordination of programs to address those behaviors.
Jan 25, 2017
Report
Strengthening Prior Service–Civil Life Gains and Continuum of Service Accessions into the Army's Reserve Components
This report combines quantitative and qualitative methods to understand service member decisions upon exiting the Regular Army, particularly the decisions of whether, when, and how to affiliate with the Reserve Component.
Sep 27, 2016
Report
Searching for Information Online: Using Big Data to Identify the Concerns of Potential Army Recruits
This report assesses empirical applications of web search data and discusses the prospective value such data can offer Army recruiting efforts.
Mar 9, 2016
Report
Implications of Integrating Women into the Marine Corps Infantry
This study for the U.S. Marine Corps reviews the history of the integration of women into the U.S. military and explores the role of cohesion, the gender integration of foreign militaries and domestic police and fire departments, and potential costs.
Dec 3, 2015
Research Brief
Implications of Integrating Women into USMC Infantry
The Marine Corps Combat Development Command asked RAND to study the integration of women into infantry combat roles. Researchers reviewed the literature, conducted interviews, estimated costs, and developed an approach for monitoring integration.
Dec 3, 2015
Report
Force Drawdowns and Demographic Diversity: Investigating the Impact of Force Reductions on the Demographic Diversity of the U.S. Military
In 2012, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced plans for a large reduction of its military force, which could have unintended consequences for demographic diversity. RAND analyzes how force reductions could affect demographic diversity in DoD.
Oct 26, 2015
Research Brief
Implications of Force Drawdowns for Demographic Diversity
The Department of Defense (DoD) has been conducting a large reduction of its military force. DoD drawdown policies that target certain groups (by experience, specialty, or aptitude) could have adverse effects on demographic diversity.
Oct 26, 2015
Report
An Assessment of Fiscal Year 2013 Beyond Yellow Ribbon Programs
RAND researchers conducted a formal review of 13 programs that received Beyond Yellow Ribbon appropriations in fiscal year 2013, helping to identify programs with strong records of success and develop a nationwide set of promising practices.
May 4, 2015
Testimony
Higher Education Benefits for Post-9/11 Military Service Members and Veterans
Statement for the record submitted before the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity on March 17, 2015.
Mar 17, 2015
Report
Measuring and Retaining the U.S. Army's Deployment Experience
Analyzes recent data on deployment experience of soldiers in the Regular Army and SELRES, and characterizes the extent to which the Army retained deployment experience accumulated since 9/11.
Nov 18, 2014