by Andrew Marshall
Bookmark

An Overview of US Military Schools and Academies

Introduction

The Military offers unique educational opportunities for students who plan to pursue a college degree. These options – service academies, senior military colleges and maritime academies – offer world-class education and a deeper understanding of military culture. In addition, these schools grant full tuition in exchange for a period of service commitment.

Military schools in the United States have a mixed emphasis on military preparation, academic rigour, and physical fitness. Military schools are a mix of private and public and a mix of (granting) full tuition and tuition fees (with financial aid/scholarships available). Some are also co-educational, accepting a mix of military and non-military students.

Federal Service Academies

There are currently five federal service academies.

Senior Military Colleges

There are currently six senior military colleges.

State-Supported Maritime Colleges and Universities

Students at these academies are organised as cadets, and graduate with appropriate licenses from the US Coast Guard and/or US Merchant Marine. While no longer immediately offered a commission as an officer within a service, cadets have the opportunity to participate in commissioning programmes like Strategic Sea lift Officer Programme (US Navy) and MARGRAD (US Coast Guard).

  • California State University Maritime Academy (part of the California State University system)
  • Great Lakes Maritime Academy (a division of Northwestern Michigan College)
  • Maine Maritime Academy
  • Massachusetts Maritime Academy
  • State University of New York Maritime College (part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system)
  • Texas A&M Maritime Academy (part of the Texas A&M University System)

Military Junior Colleges

Four institutions are considered military junior colleges (MJC) and the US Army’s two-year Early Commissioning Programme (ECP), an Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programme in which qualified students can earn a commission as a Second Lieutenant after only two years of college.

Private College/Preparatory Military Schools

  • Admiral Farragut Academy (St. Petersburg, Florida; coeducational)
  • American Military Academy (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico; coeducational)
  • Army and Navy Academy (Carlsbad, California)
  • Benedictine College Preparatory (Richmond, Virginia)
  • Benedictine Military School (Savannah, Georgia)
  • Camden Military Academy (Camden, South Carolina)
  • Christian Brothers Academy (Albany, New York)
  • Culver Military Academy (Culver, Indiana)
  • Fishburne Military School (Waynesboro, Virginia)
  • Florida Preparatory Academy (Melbourne, Florida; coeducational from 2005)
  • Fork Union Military Academy (Fork Union, Virginia)
  • Greystone Preparatory School (Clarksville, Arizona)
  • Hargrave Military Academy (Chatham, Virginia)
  • La Salle Institute (Troy, New York)
  • Leonard Hall Junior Naval Academy (Leonardtown, Maryland; coeducational)
  • Southern Preparatory Academy (Camp Hill, Alabama)
  • Marine Military Academy (Harlingen, Texas)
  • Massanutten Academy (Woodstock, Virginia; coeducational)
  • Missouri Military Academy (Mexico, Missouri)
  • New York Military Academy (Cornwall on Hudson, New York; coeducational)
  • North Valley Military Institute (Sun Valley, California; coeducational)
  • Northwestern Preparatory School (San Bernardino Mountains, California)
  • Oak Ridge Military Academy (Oak Ridge, North Carolina; coeducational)
  • Randolph-Macon Academy (Front Royal, Virginia; coeducational)
  • Riverside Military Academy (Gainesville, Georgia)
  • Saint Thomas Academy (Mendota Heights, Minnesota)
  • St. Catherine’s Academy (Anaheim, California; Kindergarten – 8th Grade; all boys)
  • St. John’s College High School (Washington, DC; first Junior ROTC school in the USA; coeducational)
  • St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy (Delafield, Wisconsin)
  • Southeastern Military Academy (Port St. Lucie, Florida)
  • TMI – The Episcopal School of Texas (San Antonio, Texas)
  • United States Air Force Academy Preparatory School (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
  • United States Military Academy Preparatory School (West Point, New York)
  • Unites States Naval Academy Preparatory School (Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island)
  • Valley Forge Military Academy and College (Wayne, Pennsylvania)

Public Schools

These schools are part of the Junior ROTC (JROTC) programme and are partly funded by the Department of Defence. Chicago, with six academies, has more than any other city, a quarter of all in the country.

  • Air Academy High School (El Paso County, Colorado)
  • Air Force Academy High School (Chicago, Illinois)
  • Bridgeport Military Academy First Responders (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
  • Carver Military Academy (Chicago, Illinois)
  • Chicago Military Academy (Chicago, Illinois)
  • Cleveland Junior Naval Academy (St. Louis, Missouri)
  • Delaware Military Academy (Wilmington, Delaware)
  • First State Military Academy (Smyrna, Delaware)
  • Franklin Military Academy (Richmond, Virginia; the country’s first secondary military academy)
  • Georgia Military College (Milledgeville, Georgia; coeducational, public but not part of University System of Georgia)
  • Hollywood Hills Military Academy (Hollywood, Florida)
  • Kenosha Military Academy (Wisconsin)
  • Marine Academy of Science and Technology (Sandy Hook, New Jersey)
  • Marine Math and Science Academy (Chicago, Illinois)
  • New Mexico Military Institute (Roswell, New Mexico; coeducational)
  • New Orleans Military and Maritime Academy (New Orleans, Louisiana)
  • Oakland Military Institute (Oakland, California)
  • Philadelphia Military Academy (North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
  • Phoenix Military Academy (Chicago, Illinois)
  • Rickover Naval Academy (Chicago, Illinois)
  • Sarasota Military Academy (Sarasota, Florida)
  • Summerlin Military Academy (Bartow, Florida)
  • Utah Military Academy (Riverdale, Utah)
  • Utah Military Academy – Camp Williams (Lehi, Utah)

Graduate Schools

The following schools are generally for members of the US armed forces, although they do accept students from other areas of the US government and international students.

  • United States Army Command and General Staff College (Fort Leavenworth, Kansas)
  • United States Army War College (Carlisle, Pennsylvania)
  • United States Army Warrant Officer Career College (Fort Rucker, Alabama)
  • Naval War College (Newport, Rhode Island)
  • Naval Postgraduate School (Monterey, California)
  • Marine Corps University (Quantico, Virginia)
  • Marine Corps War College (Quantico, Virginia)
  • Air Force Institute of Technology (Dayton, Ohio)
  • USAF Air War College (Montgomery, Alabama)
  • National Defence University (Washington, D.C.)
  • The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Centre and School (Charlottesville, Virginia)
  • Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (Bethesda, Maryland)

Association of Military Colleges and School of the United States

The Association of Military Colleges and Schools of the United States (AMCSUS) is a non-profit service organisation of schools with military programmes approved by the Department of Defence and which maintain good standing in their regional accrediting organisations. Founded in 1914, AMCSUS serves as an advocate for the nation’s premier military colleges and schools. The purpose, as put forth in the AMCSUS Constitution, is:

“to promote the common interest of all members and to advance their welfare; promote and maintain high scholastic, military and ethical standards in member schools; represent the mutual interests of the member schools before the Department of Defense as well as the general public; foster and extend patriotism and respect for duly constituted authority; and cultivate citizens who love peace and who strive to maintain it.”

Member military schools have armed services personnel detailed to the campus with the approval of the Department of Defence. The schools organise their student bodies as a cadet corps, with students habitually in uniform and continually under military discipline while at the college or school. The AMCSUS Headquarters are in Fairfax, Virginia.

Association membership is extended to essentially military schools possessing proven leadership programmes (e.g. JROTC or similar leadership programme), and which maintain good standing in their regional accrediting organisation. An “essentially military” school is defined as an institution employing the military education model (which enhances academic learning by providing the structure, organisation and leadership modelling that helps students learn), an institution which organises its student body as a cadet corps, with students wearing uniforms and continually practicing military professionalism and discipline while at the college or school.

The following are member institutions of AMCSUS:

  • Senior Military College:
    • Virginia Military Institute (Lexington, Virginia; four-year public college)
  • Senior Military Colleges Which Also Enroll Civilian Students
    • University of North Georgia (Dahlonega, Georgia; four-year public university)
    • Norwich University (Northfield, Vermont; four-year private university)
    • Texas A&M University (College Station, Texas; four-year public university)
    • The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina (Charleston, South Carolina; four-year public college)
    • Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, Virginia; four-year public college)
    • Virginia Women’s Institute for Leadership at Mary Baldwin University, Staunton, Virginia
  • Military Junior Colleges:
    • Georgia Military College (Milledgeville, Georgia; two-year junior college and four-year high school)
    • Marion Military Institute (Marion, Alabama; two-year junior college)
    • New Mexico Military Institute (Roswell, New Mexico; two-year junior college and four-year high school)
    • Valley Forge Military Academy and College (Wayne, Pennsylvania; two-year transfer college and four-year high school)
  • Military High Schools:
    • Admiral Farragut Academy (St. Petersburg, Florida; coeducational)
    • American Military Academy (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico)
    • Army and Navy Academy (Carlsbad, California)
    • Benedictine High School (Richmond, Virginia)
    • Camden Military Academy (Camden, South Carolina)
    • Colorado Military Academy (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
    • Culver Military Academy (Culver, Indiana)
    • Fishburne Military School (Waynesboro, Virginia)
    • Florida Air Academy (Melbourne, Florida; coeducational from 2005)
    • Fork Union Military Academy (Fork Union, Virginia)
    • Hargrave Military Academy (Chatham, Virginia)
    • Lyman Ward Military Academy (Camp Hill, Alabama)
    • Marine Military Academy (Harlingen, Texas)
    • Massanutten Military Academy (Woodstock, Virginia; coeducational)
    • Missouri Military Academy (Mexico, Missouri)
    • New York Military Academy (Cornwall on Hudson, New York; coeducational)
    • North Valley Military Institute (Sun Valley, California; coeducational)
    • Oak Ridge Military Academy (Oak Ridge, North Carolina; coeducational)
    • Randolph-Macon Academy (Front Royal, Virginia; coeducational)
    • Riverside Military Academy (Gainesville, Georgia)
    • Saint Thomas Academy (Mendota Heights, Minnesota)
    • St. Catherine’s Military Academy (Anaheim, California; begins at kindergarten level)
    • St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy (Delafield, Wisconsin)
    • Texas Military Institute (San Antonio, Texas)
  • Associate Military High School Member:
    • Robert Land Academy (Wellandport, Ontario)

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia articles < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_military_schools_and_academies AND https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Military_Colleges_and_Schools_of_the_United_States >; it is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA). You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the CC-BY-SA.

Advertisements

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.