As far as I know regarding that option there are several important steps that must occur for ED.
1. Must prove that they are applying for Grad school as a SR. in college. GMAT scores, college apps, etc.
2. Will meet a board at Maxwell. Just like the AFSC board. They decide to say yea or nay.
Things change every yr., but I know when our DS was a sr., some of his friends applied for ED. At that time you could not tell them you were taking the ED option, they told you that you could take the option.
Additionally, many that were going non-rated decided it was not in their best interest, especially financially.
1. If they did have to wait a yr. and could afford to pay for grad school, they looked into the Education center at any AF base for their Masters programs. Traditionally they all have at least 2 of the same colleges; ERAU and UMD offered on each base.
These colleges understand the AF life, and offer many classes on line. Credits earned for a Masters are valid for about 5-7 yrs., can't recall.
They can than do classes in seminar on base once ADAF, with no loss of credits.
2. If you do ED out of pocket, and want to walk out the door it is no faster than if you do the above method and take TA once ADAF. TA runs concurrent with your original commitment. TA pays 75% of the cost.
Meanwhile by doing some of it on line with their colleges, you still go AD at the same time, you start making money sooner, and unless your DS will be going to UP, Harvard, Yale, any future employer is going to see the Masters as filling a square. His AF career will matter more.
I.E. Use Nick4060 as an example. He went Intel. His TS clearance and 4 yrs in Intel will matter more than where he got his Masters from because a TS clearance costs defense contracting companies, tens of thousands of dollars to get, AND he will have the same exact experience as your DS, but paid thousands of dollars less. He also can leave sooner.
Finally, for the AF they do ED with a follow on date for their AFSC. He could also see himself waiting months before he gets his career school assignment. I.E. He graduates Grad school in June, too late for the June class, so now he has to wait until Sept.
OBTW, has he looked into AFIT? AFIT is at Wright Pat, it is the AF's grad school. It is a 1 yr program with a follow on. I can't recall the poster here, but their child graduated in May as non-rated commission, and is currently at AFIT. ED is not necessarily out of pocket.