The Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado provides education and leadership training. Graduates are awarded a Bachelor of Science degree and are commissioned as officers in the Air Force. The Air Force pays all tuition, books, board and medical and dental care for all four years in exchange for a five-year service commitment. The academy was rated No. 1 among Western Regional Colleges for 2011 by U.S. News & World Report magazine in its annual ranking of colleges. The academy offers 31 bachelor's degree programs. There are a limited number of openings, and competition for those slots is intense. The acceptance rate is only 18 percent.
Senior military colleges that offer a combination of higher education with military instruction include The Citadel, The Virginia Military Institute (VMI), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Texas A&M University, and Norwich University. SMCs are private colleges, but a cadet can receive an Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) scholarship in exchange for a service commitment after graduation. A cadet interested in studying for a career in the Air Force takes AFROTC courses.
The Citadel is located in Charleston, South Carolina, and offers 16 majors, including biology, business administration, chemistry, civil engineering, computer science, criminal justice, education, electrical engineering, exercise and sport science, history, mathematics, modern languages, physics, political science and psychology. VMI is in Lexington, Virginia, and offers 14 majors in the sciences, engineering and the humanities.
Virginia Tech is in Blacksburg, Virginia, and its programs include aviation, space and missiles, communications, intelligence, science, and engineering. Texas A&M is in College Station, Texas, and offers two paths to a military career: a degree plus an academic certificate in leadership studies or a degree plus military commission. Norwich is in Northfield, Vermont, and offers two major programs: the freshman and sophomore years' general military course (GMC) and the junior and senior years' professional officer course (POC). The GMC coursework deals with the structure, doctrine and function of the Air Force; communications skills; and the history of air power, while the POC coursework deals with leadership, management and theory. Acceptance in the POC is on a competitive basis.
Admissions criteria at the U.S. Air Force Academy include excellent high school academic performance; high standardized test scores (SAT or ACT); participation in athletics and extracurricular activities; leadership experience and community involvement; and a congressional letter of recommendation. Most SMCs have similar requirements. In addition, SMCs may specify an age limit, usually between 17 and 23. Most require a physical exam to confirm physical fitness to serve as an officer and most require that cadets be unmarried. The Citadel, for example, requires that cadets be medically approved by the school's surgeon.