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When did the US end student deferments for the Vietnam draft and what prompted the change?
Executive summary
The major legal end to broad undergraduate student deferments came in 1971 when Congress (via HR 6531) and President Nixon moved to eliminate new undergraduate (II‑S) deferments and reclassify incoming students as available for military service — part of reforms tied to the 1970–71 draft lottery and shifting public pressure over inequities in the draft (notably HR 6531 is cited as ending new undergraduate deferments and Nixon signed related draft legislation) [1] [2]. Other steps in 1967–70 had already narrowed post‑graduate and many occupational deferments and introduced a lottery system designed to make classification fairer [3] [1].
1. The legal change: when student deferments were curtailed
Congress restricted and effectively ended the old pattern of open, long‑term college student deferments in 1971. Legislative action (HR 6531) is recorded as ending all new undergraduate (II‑S) deferments in September 1971 and contemporary reporting notes President Nixon signing a bill that classified the then‑current freshman class and subsequent classes as I‑A (“Available for Military Service”) instead of II‑S student deferments [1] [2]. Earlier 1967 amendments had already removed most post‑graduate deferments, but the critical cutoff for undergraduates was 1971 [3] [1].
2. What prompted the change: fairness, protests and the lottery
The move was prompted by a mix of public outrage about perceived class inequities, political pressure, and administrative reforms aimed at fairness. Critics argued that widespread student and occupational deferments preserved privilege and skewed the burden of service; reformers and commissions recommended a lottery and elimination of many deferments to equalize liability for the draft [3] [1]. The Selective Service and Congress implemented the lottery concept (beginning with the 1969 lottery) and cut back deferments to respond to those criticisms and the political momentum created by anti‑war protest [3] [1].
3. How the system changed in practice
Before these reforms, a man could claim full‑time student status and be deferred repeatedly — in many cases staying deferred until he aged out of liability. After the 1967 amendments and the 1971 measures, post‑graduate deferments were limited and undergraduate deferments for new students were ended; under the later Selective Service rules a college student’s induction could be postponed only to the end of the current semester (or, for seniors, to the end of the academic year) rather than indefinitely [4] [5] [3].
4. Timeline of key steps
Reform was incremental: the 1967 amendments removed most graduate education deferments while retaining certain student classifications for younger undergraduates; the 1969 draft lottery and Executive Orders in the late 1960s adjusted other categories; and HR 6531 in 1971 formally ended new undergraduate deferments — a change reported in campus press and government histories [3] [1] [2].
5. Competing perspectives and consequences
Advocates of reform argued the lottery and end of broad deferments made conscription more equitable and reduced incentives to use college purely as draft avoidance [3] [1]. Opponents — including some students and campus groups — saw the move as abrupt and feared disruption to education; contemporaneous reporting shows students reacting strongly when freshman deferments were ended [2]. Historians and commentators also note that before reforms, deferments spared many and helped preserve class advantages, a criticism frequently cited in the literature [6] [7].
6. What happened next: winding down the draft
Even as deferments were curtailed, draft calls were declining; President Nixon halted all draft calls in 1972 and the draft was abolished in favor of an all‑volunteer force in 1973 — meaning the practical impact of ending student deferments was compressed into a short period as the whole conscription system was winding down [8].
7. Limits of the available reporting
Available sources document the 1967 narrowing of graduate deferments, the 1969 lottery reforms, and a 1971 legal end to new undergraduate deferments (HR 6531) and Nixon’s signing of draft legislation affecting freshmen [3] [1] [2]. These sources do not provide full legislative text or every administrative step between local boards and federal changes; for precise statutory language or the full sequence of Executive Orders, available sources do not mention that level of detail [1] [3].
If you want, I can pull direct quotes from the 1971 bill or contemporary Congressional debate (if you provide those documents) or summarize campus reactions in 1971–72 using additional archival reporting.