Midshipmen earn a Bachelor of Science and a Coast Guard license as a merchant marine officer. Part of the program is spent at sea aboard commercial vessels rather than on campus.
The obligation here is unlike the other four. Graduates can meet it sailing commercially as a licensed officer while holding a reserve commission, rather than going straight to active duty — which makes it the academy with a civilian career attached to the front end.
Who can get in
Age is the first thing to check. Applicants must be between 17 and 23 when you would enter. If you have already served a full enlistment you are very likely past that line, and no amount of qualifying elsewhere changes it.
You also need a nomination, usually from a member of Congress. That is a separate application with its own deadline, normally the year before you would enter, and it is where most people fall out of the process. The one exception among the five is the Coast Guard Academy, which requires none.
What it costs
Nothing in tuition. Tuition, room and board are paid in full, and cadets and midshipmen draw a small salary while they are there. There is no gap to close and no reason to run the calculator — the GI Bill plays no part in this route.
What you owe at the end
Service rather than money. Graduates who accept a commission take on an obligation of about eight years in total, with at least five of those on active duty. The remainder can usually be served in the reserves.
If you are serving now
Each military department runs a ten-month preparatory school, set up in part to get enlisted service members academically ready for an academy. You do not apply to the prep school directly — candidates are picked out of the academy applicant pool. If you are inside the age window and serving, that is the route to ask your chain of command about.
If you are past the age limit
Most veterans reading this will be. A commission is still reachable through ROTC at an ordinary university or through Officer Candidate School, and the GI Bill pays for the degree either way. The senior military colleges are worth a look if you want the corps experience alongside it.
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