United States Coast Guard Academy

Inside the Classroom

The smallest of the federal service academies, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy offers a four-year Bachelor of Science program with a full scholarship for each individual. Unlike the other federal service academies, there are no Congressional appointments. But making it isn't easy, to say the least: CGA accepts a mere eight percent of its applicants, making it more selective than all of the other service academies (not to mention all of the Ivies!).

Cadets earn their B.S. degree in one of eight engineering or professional majors: naval architecture and marine engineering, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, operations research and computer analysis, marine and environmental science, government, and management. Cadets are required to take a rigid core curriculum, plus physical education courses such as Intermediate and Advanced Swimming, Personal Defense, Physiology of Fitness, and First Aid/CPR.

All cadets adhere to the Honor Concept: "We neither lie, cheat, steal nor attempt to deceive." Breaches of the Honor Concept are considered to be Class I Offenses. Contrary to what may be popular belief, cadets are reportedly able to rely on their instructors for guidance and support. "I have found that the instructors at the Academy are always more than willing to take time out of their schedule to help clear up any confusion," says a third class cadet on the CGA website. "Many instructors have even given their home phone number to be contacted during weekends or after hours."

Obligated to serve five years, graduates of the Academy are commissioned as Ensigns in the Coast Guard and are assigned to ships as Deck Watch Officers or Engineers in Training, for their first two-year tour. Following their first tour, other opportunities are available, such as applying for Advanced Degree Programs paid for by the Coast Guard (though this comes with an additional service obligation of two months for every one month of education received). "In the last ten years, every Academy engineering graduate who has applied for an engineering postgraduate program has been accepted and has gone on to complete their master's degree," brags the Academy. Another highly prized option: applying for Flight School and becoming a member of the Coast Guard's elite community of aviators.

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