U.S. Coast Guard Academy

The U.S. Coast Guard Academy is an institution of higher education designed to produce trained officers for the Coast Guard. Modeled after the military academies, the Coast Guard Academy has an enrollment of 1,000 cadets, graduating 200 cadets a year with bachelor of science degrees. Tuition is free— cadets are paid a salary—and there are no graduate programs. All alumni enter the Coast Guard for at least 5 years. About 80% undertake postgraduate education at service schools and other institutions of higher learning with financial support from the Coast Guard, and 85% continue as Coast Guard officers after their required tour.

The Treasury Department’s Revenue Cutter Service, a precursor to the Coast Guard, recognized it needed better trained officers and set up a school of instruction ...