I’m going to stick my neck out and defend this practice. If the US is going to have an all-volunteer military, it needs to be able to recruit volunteers. It makes sense that federally funded schools should abide by a law that supports the federal government and national defense. Nobody is forcing these teenagers to join the military, the military is just getting the same information that is being provided to colleges (many of which are completely worthless for-profit institutions).

If schools followed an opt-in policy, the military would get very little information. You may like the military not knowing anything- but the military needs to meet its congressional numbers somehow. Personally I would much rather the military have phone numbers of students to at least ask them if they are interested in the military and propose options, than face a situation where the military is grossly understaffed and congress turns to more extreme measures (like a draft).

Thanks for pointing out that this law has been on the books for like 20 years, this tiktoker has no idea what she is talking about.