A military school or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment. In United States, four types of military schools exist - Federal Service Academies (5 schools), Senior Military Colleges (6 schools), State-supported Maritime Colleges and Universities (6 schools), and Military Junior Colleges (4 schools).

Of the schools, only 1 school is private and the other 14 Military Colleges are public. For 15 Military Colleges,

  • The average tuition & fees of Military Colleges is $10,267 for state residents and $24,945 for out-of-state students.
  • The average tuition & fees of Military Colleges is $13,554 for state residents and $21,765 for out-of-state students.
  • The average acceptance rate is 71.46% and the average SAT score is 1,196.
  • The average number of students is 10,346 at Military Colleges.
  • The average graduation rate is 60.13%.

Comparison between Military Colleges

The following table compares 15 Military Colleges with tuition and important admission statistics. You can sort the table to find top-ranked schools in the indicator (column) by clicking/touching a column that you want to sort.

For examples, the following colleges are ranked top in important indicators.

Tuition Comparison Table between Military Colleges
School NameStateDegree OfferedTuition & FeesAverage Financial AidAcceptance RatePopulationGraduation RateStudent to Faculty Ratio
United States Merchant Marine Academy four-year, public NYMaster's
Bachelor's		$945 ($1,167) $4,362 232% 943 77% 13 to 1
Citadel Military College of South Carolina four-year, public SCMaster's
Bachelor's		$37,370 ($12,570) $12,565 298% 3,721 70% 11 to 1
Norwich University four-year, private VTMaster's
Bachelor's		$49,600 $37,683 274% 3,363 61% 11 to 1
Texas A & M University-College Station four-year, public TXDoctorate
Master's
Bachelor's		$40,328 ($12,841) $10,800 263% 74,014 83% 18 to 1
University of North Georgia four-year, public GADoctorate
Master's
Bachelor's
Associate		$15,967 ($5,211) $6,479 272% 18,029 38% 18 to 1
Virginia Military Institute four-year, public VABachelor's$51,186 ($20,484) $17,109 282% 1,512 76% 10 to 1
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University four-year, public VADoctorate
Master's
Bachelor's
Associate		$36,694 ($15,478) $8,832 257% 38,170 86% 17 to 1
California State University Maritime Academy four-year, public CAMaster's
Bachelor's		$19,552 ($7,672) $10,163 299% 849 63% 12 to 1
Maine Maritime Academy four-year, public MEMaster's
Bachelor's
Associate		$30,226 ($14,746) $10,088 261% 897 66% 11 to 1
Massachusetts Maritime Academy four-year, public MAMaster's
Bachelor's		$23,910 ($10,816) $8,200 295% 1,425 79% 12 to 1
Northwestern Michigan College four-year, public MIBachelor's
Associate		$12,762 ($10,076) $4,064 - 3,098 24% 11 to 1
SUNY Maritime College four-year, public NYMaster's
Bachelor's
Associate		$18,450 ($8,540) $8,419 279% 1,427 72% 14 to 1
Georgia Military College four-year, public GABachelor's
Associate		$7,605 ($7,605) $4,970 - 6,998 37% 14 to 1
Marion Military Institute 2-4 year, public ALAssociate$15,538 ($9,538) $9,989 259% 320 26% 11 to 1
New Mexico Military Institute 2-4 year, public NMAssociate$14,042 ($6,990) $10,725 258% 424 44% 12 to 1

Federal Service Academies

The United States service academies, also known as the United States military academies, are federal academies for the undergraduate education and training of commissioned officers for the United States Armed Forces. Five service academies exist in United States as follows.

Senior Military Colleges

A senior military college (SMC) is one of six colleges that offer military Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) programs, though many other schools offer military Reserve Officers' Training Corps under other sections of the law. Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is the all-military state-sponsored school that enrolls only military cadets and awards BS degrees exclusively. The other five schools maintain both a corps of cadets and a civilian student body.

State-supported maritime colleges and universities

Students at these academies are organized as cadets, and graduate with appropriate licenses from the U.S. Coast Guard and/or U.S. Merchant Marine. While no longer immediately offered a commission as an Officer within a service have the opportunity to participate in commissioning programs. Great Lake Maritime Academy is a division of Northwestern Michigan College and Texas A&M Maritime Academy is a part of the Texas A&M University System.

Military Junior Colleges

A military junior college (MJC) is a military-style junior college in the United States and one of the three major categories of the Army ROTC schools that allows cadets to become commissioned officers in the U.S. Army reserve components in two years, instead of the usual four, through the Early Commissioning Program (ECP). They also offer Service Academy preparatory programs that allows qualified students to earn an appointment to the U.S. Service Academies upon their successful completion of this demanding one-year program at MJC.