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About the Academy

Founded in 1954, the United States Air Force Academy is the youngest of America’s five federal service academies. Its first class of 306 cadets was sworn in at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado, while the permanent campus — a striking work of modernist architecture beneath the Front Range of the Rockies, north of Colorado Springs — was still under construction. When the cadets marched into their new home, the Academy settled into the landscape it still occupies today, and it has grown into one of the most selective universities in the United States.

The Academy states its mission plainly: to forge leaders of character, motivated to a lifetime of service, and developed to lead the Air Force and Space Force. Everything about life at USAFA is arranged around that purpose. Cadets live, study and train together as members of the Cadet Wing; they are taught by an outstanding faculty at an 8:1 cadet-to-faculty ratio; and they can work in 24 research centres that tackle real problems for the armed forces. Academic study, military training and athletic development run side by side from the first day to the last — the Academy leaves no part of a young officer’s character undeveloped.

What It Offers: Majors and Programmes

Cadets choose from 31 programmes of study across engineering, the natural sciences, mathematics, computer and data science, the humanities and the social sciences. Whatever their major, every graduate leaves with a Bachelor of Science degree and a commission as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force or the United States Space Force. The curriculum rests on a broad core in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, balanced by leadership, ethics, military strategy and foreign languages — the foundations an officer needs to lead in air, space and cyberspace.

Beyond the classroom, the Academy is famous for its airmanship programmes, through which cadets can take to the skies in powered flight, soaring and parachute training. Research matters here too: the Academy’s 24 research centres give undergraduates hands-on experience that few universities can match, from aeronautics to space operations. Add intercollegiate and intramural sport, character and leadership laboratories, and a campus set in more than 16,000 acres of mountain foothills, and USAFA offers one of the most distinctive undergraduate experiences in the world.

Admission Requirements

Admission to the Air Force Academy is highly competitive, and every candidate is assessed across academics, leadership, character and fitness. The essential requirements are:

• Citizenship: you must be a United States citizen to apply.
• Age: you must be at least 17 but not yet 23 on 1 July of the year you would enter.
• Family status: you must be unmarried and have no dependents or legal obligation to support children.
• Academics: the Academy conducts a careful academic review of your school record and standardised test scores (SAT or ACT) — a strong background in mathematics and science is essential.
• Fitness: every candidate must pass the Candidate Fitness Assessment (CFA), a six-event test of strength, speed and endurance: the basketball throw, pull-ups (or the flexed-arm hang), the shuttle run, modified sit-ups, push-ups and the one-mile run.
• Medical: candidates must meet the medical standards for a commissioning programme, assessed through the Department of Defense Medical Examination Review Board (DoDMERB).
• Character: a character evaluation and an interview form part of every application, and a nomination from an authorised source — most commonly a Member of Congress — is required for appointment.

How to Apply: Step by Step

1. Confirm your eligibility. Check the citizenship, age and family-status conditions above before you invest time in an application.
2. Open your application online. Start at usafa.edu, where the admissions site guides you from a preliminary application into a full candidate file.
3. Apply for a nomination. Write to both of your United States Senators and your Representative in the House of Representatives, and check the other nomination sources for which you may be eligible. Begin early — nominations have their own deadlines.
4. Take your entrance examinations. Sit the SAT or ACT and have your scores sent directly to the Academy.
5. Complete your candidate file. Submit your school transcript, teacher evaluations, essays and a record of your activities and leadership experience.
6. Pass the Candidate Fitness Assessment. Arrange the six-event CFA with a qualified administrator, such as a coach or physical education teacher, and submit your results.
7. Complete the medical examination. DoDMERB will schedule your medical and vision examinations as your file progresses.
8. Complete your interview. An admissions representative will assess your character, motivation and suitability for military life.
9. Await the admissions decision. Completed files are reviewed as a whole, and appointments are offered to the strongest candidates.

Tuition and Costs

Tuition, room and board, and medical and dental care are all provided at no cost to the cadet. In exchange, graduates serve as commissioned officers — that bargain, a world-class education repaid with military service, is the foundation on which every federal service academy stands.

Service Commitment After Graduation

Every graduate is commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force or the United States Space Force, and owes a minimum of eight years of service as a commissioned officer, including five years on active duty. Cadets take the Oath of Allegiance when they arrive at the Academy; graduates who complete their five years of active duty may request separation, while pilots and some other specialists — whose training costs the service far more — incur longer commitments. For most graduates, the commitment is the beginning rather than the end of a career: new lieutenants go on to fly aircraft and spacecraft, lead cyber and intelligence teams, manage space operations and command units around the world.

Famous Graduates

The Academy’s alumni include Medal of Honor recipients, astronauts and some of the most admired aviators of the modern age.

Frequently Asked Questions