Amongst all the career choices a career in defending our country is the most elite and prestigious. The U.S. Air Force Academy is both a military organization and a university. A career in U.S. air force opens the door to the best options available in this field.

If you have a desire to go on to NASA and explore outer space, United States Air Force Academy will provide you with suitable exposures according to your performance. US Air Force Academy has procured many benefits for its students, normally getting higher education is costly business in US but if you are part of United States Air Force Academy then needlessly you don’t have to worry about education expenses.

This Path of career promises an eventful professional life ahead of you. If you are an adventure lover then Air force is just the perfect thing for you. You get to travel for free; you get free education, you get medical coverage for you and your family for rest of your lives, Job security, Tax benefits and many other such things are lined up in USAFA. It is also a best and less costly way to become a civilian airline pilot.

Having a Blue Uniform is a better option than the green one, one does has to go for short deployment of 2 to 4 months but it is not a lengthy process of 2 to3 Years like military. The air force opens up a lot of doors with other corporations when your term is over. It will be easier for you to get a high paid job when your term is ended.

USAFA’s mission is “to educate, train, and inspire men and women to become officers of character, motivated to lead the United States Air Force in service to our nation”. It is located in Colorado Springs, in El Paso County Colorado, United States. This public institution was founded in 1954 in a campus size of 18,500 acres. The total undergraduate enrolment is of 4,120 cadets.  Academics at USAFA focus on core curriculum which every cadet must complete, cadets apart from the core curriculum must also choose a specialized field of study from more than 30 potential majors. Traditionally, the academic program offered at USAFA has heavily focused on Science and engineering, this has resulted in high academic ranking of the college. This training program continues for four years. Air force like other service academies in US also follows an honor code. It states that “We will not lie, steal, or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does.”

To be eligible for entering USAFA you must fulfill following criteria’s

-You must be a citizen of United States. Or get nominated by an official of a country invited by the Defense Department.
-You should be unmarried without any dependents.
-Possess a good moral character
-Meet high principles of leadership, academic, physical and medical standards.
-Your age must not be less than 17 or over 23 during the year of entry.

Admission Requirements

The International students selected in USAFA are nominated by their country. The nominations from other countries government are processed through American Embassy. Every year about 15 international students are admitted to USAFA. The criteria and admission requirements for international students are the same as regular applicant with some difference in the application process. As regular applicants, the international student must be unmarried, with no dependant, be not less than 17 years of age and posses good moral characters. The international student must also be a bonafide citizen of the nominated country. International students must be proficient in English language and have acceptable academic record. They must qualify College Board Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or the American College Testing (ACT). International students must be healthy and free form any communicable disease.

Scholarship Programs

After Graduating from USAFA one can chose any graduate filed and peruse higher education. Students can chose medical, legal, technical or any graduation programs as per their demands. There are many scholarship programs designed to facilitates cadets of USAFA. National Competitive Scholarship Programs (NCSP) is for cadets and students from other university. NCSP gives scholarship and fellowship to study advanced degrees in United States and out of the country. HPSP or the Health Profession Scholarship Program is for cadets selected in health related professions after graduation. Funded Legal Education Program (FLEP) are for graduated who have completed two years of active duty. Cadets selected by Judge Advocate General enter Law School. The other major Scholarships available for cadets are:

Rhodes scholarship,
Marshall Scholarship,
Fulbright Scholarship,
National Science Foundation Fellowship,

Program Research and Education in Space Technology (PREST) Fellowship at George Washington University,

University of Washington Engineering Fellowship

You can find more information about United States Air Force Academy here.