High school military academies offer students a quality education that emphasizes performance and discipline. A cadet works with mentors--including older students, faculty and staff members--in individual study or in a small group of cadets. Mentors challenge each cadet to reach his potential by advising and guiding his progress through studies and activities. High school military academies' strong college preparatory curriculum attracts students who plan to attend a college or university. Lyman Ward Military Academy, in Alabama, features small classes taught and mentored by faculty members. The Lyman faculty averages 15 years of teaching experience at the academy and more than 60 percent hold advanced degrees in their field.
Military college-level academies combine a military environment and college education, allowing students to advance in their civilian life, or pursue a professional or military career. The academies emphasize adaptability, confidence, loyalty, critical thinking and honor. They emphasize hands-on learning, rigorous academics and mentoring relationships with staff. At the Virginia Military Institute, students live in a military framework and receive specific military training through the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). The school's small average class size (11 students) and major options in the sciences, engineering and the humanities give students numerous study choices. Mentoring services include personal academic counseling, counseling services for athlete-cadets and psycho-educational programming. The school's Center for Leadership and Ethics promotes cadets' leadership skills, through leadership and character development.
Students can consider attending any of the military academies run by the military branches. Each branch operates a military academy that offers students the opportunity to obtain a four-year degree with a full scholarship, a guaranteed job after graduation and supplemental paychecks during studies. Students become members of the military when they enter the academy as freshmen and must complete five years of military service after graduation. Interested students can research the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis Md., the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y.
Military academies provide an alternative to students' neighborhood high school or a traditional college education. Students and parents looking for a challenging environment, both mentally and physically, may find that a military academy is a good option. Military academies also give troubled youth a new start by providing the framework they need to mature, and to make healthy, positive decisions. Military academy students and staff come from a wide variety of lifestyles, cultures, religious and ethnic groups, and economic backgrounds.