Guide
The five federal service academies
This page lists five federal service academies: the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, the Coast Guard Academy, and the Merchant Marine Academy. They are a hand roster. The Scorecard has no academy field.
Attendance at these academies is tied to an appointment and to a service commitment. That is a different path from a state university. Several of them do not report a sticker price or an athletics division in this file. A blank is unreported. It is not a claim that the campus is free of obligation, and it is not a claim that the campus has no team.
- Schools
- 5
- States
- 4
- Median admit rate
- 14%
- All schools report a rate
- Median earnings
- $90,610
- 10 years after entry
Five campuses, no extras
The roster is those five and nothing else. Senior military colleges, maritime colleges run by states, and ROTC programs at civilian universities stay off. They can be a path into service. They are not these academies.
West Point, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy, and the Merchant Marine Academy use a nomination as part of appointment. The Coast Guard Academy runs its own appointment process and does not use a congressional nomination. This page does not collect the nomination paperwork. It only identifies the campuses.
Blanks in the Scorecard
Four of the five do not report an in-state sticker price in this file. The Merchant Marine Academy reports a published charge. Do not average the blanks into zero and then call the academies free. The service commitment is the part the Scorecard tuition field does not describe.
Athletics divisions are also missing for several academies in this file. Do not read that hole as proof about football membership. The school profile is the place to see what the file actually holds for that campus.
How to read the five rows
Compare admission rates and earnings with the definitions in mind. The admission rate is the Scorecard rate. The earnings figure is the same median, 10 years after entry, used for every other college. It is not a civilian starting salary, and military pay patterns sit inside it.
Two of the academies, West Point and the Naval Academy, fall in the Carnegie baccalaureate arts and sciences class, so they also appear on the liberal arts page. The Air Force Academy, the Coast Guard Academy, and the Merchant Marine Academy have a different code and do not.
A federal campus, not a state flagship
These academies are federal. They are not the flagship university of the state where they sit. New York's flagship on this site is Buffalo. West Point is in New York and is not that row. Maryland's flagship is not the Naval Academy.
The list is short because the set is short. There is no reason to add officer-training programs to make the table look fuller. A reader who wants every college with an ROTC unit needs a different source than this roster.
Where the schools are
These schools sit in 4 states. The largest groups are New York (2), Colorado (1), Connecticut (1), and Maryland (1). The rest of the roll is spread across the other states in the table.
Who runs them
Every school with a reported control is public. Control is the Scorecard field. It is not a judgment about quality.
Predominant degree is the credential the campus awards most often. On this list it is a bachelor's degree at 5 schools. A campus can still award other credentials.
How large they are
The largest undergraduate enrollments on this list are United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, with 4,474 undergraduates, United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, with 4,408 undergraduates, and United States Air Force Academy in USAF Academy, Colorado, with 4,114 undergraduates. Enrollment is the undergraduate figure. It is not a ranking, and it leaves out graduate students.
Admission
5 of 5 schools report an admission rate. The median of those rates is 14%. Schools with no reported rate stay out of the median. A missing rate is not an open door, and it is not a closed one.
The lowest reported admission rates on this list are United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, at 9%, United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, at 12%, and United States Air Force Academy in USAF Academy, Colorado, at 14%. A lower rate is harder entry. It is not a score for the school.
The highest reported admission rates on this list are United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York, at 34%, United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, at 22%, and United States Air Force Academy in USAF Academy, Colorado, at 14%.
What they charge
One public college on this list reports an in-state sticker price. That price is $895.
Sticker price is not net price. Grants, waivers, and a service commitment can move the bill by a wide margin. Open a school for the net-price figures.
Earnings and graduation
One school reports median earnings 10 years after entry. That figure is $90,610.
Among 5 schools that report a graduation rate, the median rate is 88%. A blank rate is left out. It is not treated as zero.
Also on other lists
Some of these schools also meet the rule for another list on this site. The overlap is a second flag or a second classification. It is not a second ranking.
2 are also on liberal arts colleges.
How these figures work
Admission rate, enrollment, sticker price, earnings, and graduation rate all come from the College Scorecard. Earnings are the median 10 years after a student entered the school. Tuition for a public college is the in-state sticker price. Tuition for a private college is the published sticker price. None of these is net price after aid.
A blank field stays blank. This page does not turn a blank admission rate into an open door, a blank fee into a free application, or a blank earnings figure into zero. The table above is membership under the rule in this guide. Sort order is not a quality ranking.