ASSOCIATION OF MILITARY COLLEGES & SCHOOLS OF THE UNITED STATES: TURNING OUT FUTURE AMERICAN LEADERS

The Association of Military Colleges & Schools of the United States (AMCSUS) is an organisation representing the interests of and advocating for the many academies, high schools and colleges that offer an education with an approved military tradition and leadership focus. AMCSUS was founded in 1914 and has championed this unique sector for more than a century acting both as a lobbying body and as a facilitator for the sharing and development of best-practice in military school curricula and management.

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ABOUT

Military academies and schools remain a popular alternative to the traditional educational offer in much of North America. Many families prefer the discipline, structure and leadership-focused curriculum and the pathway to a career in the services. Such schools are particularly popular for parents who are currently serving and seeking a safe and familiar environment for their offspring who may follow them into the forces in later years. The schools are also, occasionally, selected for their expertise in helping to anchor and foster troubled children.

Military schools and colleges teach their student body a variety of leadership and life skills alongside the approved national curriculum. This may include undertaking drills, maintaining core physical fitness and various other aspects of military life, such as the study of military history, learning about military technologies and theories or participating in various exercises and activities outside of the core curriculum. Students typically reside at the school (as boarders) and are required to wear a military uniform. At such schools they receive instruction and training in various aspects of military life in order to prepare them to excel in the services post-graduation and to help them to build a code of conduct and to instil a sense of patriotism and respect for American values designed to aid their success outside of the military too. The broad programme can greatly and enrich a pupil’s time at these respective schools and can enhance their prospects in the future. Many are privately run institutions and may even have a faith-based ethos. A number of schools and, particularly colleges, are also within the public school and state university systems. Others subscribe to a faith-based ethos with campus ministry and spiritual life forming core pillars of their educational pedagogy.

Many schools and colleges across North America offer some aspect of military training in addition to their core curriculum. Typically, this is through an on-campus Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), sanctioned by the U.S military. ROTC graduates make up a substantial number of commissioned military officers (nearly 70 per cent), especially so in respect of the United States Marine Corps (USMC) which has some 80 per cent of active-duty newly commissioned officers having come through an ROTC program. However, not all schools that offer an ROTC program may be considered to be military academies. Nor are all schools that purport to offer a military academy programme sanctioned as ROTC schemes. ROTC graduates may pursue an expedited pathway into the military, earning a commission into the officer classes upon successful graduation and subject to certain additional measures.

In North American standard parlance, the term “Military Academy” is typically applied to tertiary level institutions which have a history of offering military-training programmes (albeit most have since developed civilian programmes to complement their offer and, in fact, only the Virginia Military Institute continues to be all-military only). These military academies may be further divided into Junior Military Colleges (JMC) (akin to a Junior College which may offer an associate’s degrees or equivalent) and Senior Military Colleges (SMC) (akin to any four-year tertiary education programme offering bachelor’s degrees or equivalent).

The United States government recognises six institutions as Senior Military Colleges:

• The Citadel – Military College of South Carolina, tracing its origins back to 1842 in Charleston, South Carolina;
• Norwich University – The Military College of Vermont, founded in 1819 and located in Northfield, Vermont;
• Texas A&M University, established in 1876 and based in College Station, Texas;
• University of North Georgia, opened in 1873 as a college of the University of Georgia, in Dahlonega, Georgia;
• Virginia Military Institute, the nation’s first state military college and still the only all-military college, founded in 1839 in Lexington, Virginia; and
• Virginia Tech, established in 1872 in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Most of these institutions are land-grant universities with a military tradition that dates back to their foundation as land-grant universities. Land-grant universities and colleges are those institutions designated by their respective states to receive grant funding under the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890. Federal land and funding would be made available to those designated schools provided that these resources would be applied towards educational programmes instructing in practical agriculture, science, military science, and engineering.

Four further schools are recognised as Junior Military Colleges (also, sometimes called Military Junior Colleges, abbreviated to MJC). These include:

• Georgia Military College, founded in 1879 in Milledgeville, Georgia;
• Marion Military Institute, established in 1842 in Marion, Alabama;
• New Mexico Military Institute, a high school and Junior College that first opened its doors in 1891 in Roswell, New Mexico; and
• Valley Forge Military Academy & College, a boarding school and Junior College in Wayne, Pennsylvania that began in 1928.

These colleges are required to maintain physical fitness standards and disciplinary standards in line with the federal service academies. They are all required to offer accredited degree programmes (to Bachelor’s level for SMCs and to Associate’s level for JMC/MJCs) and must maintain a dedicated and uniformed cadet corps undertaking the ROTC programme. Exemptions for female students and other classes of students are allowed which has enabled many of these schools to offer civilian programmes alongside their military programmes. Upon completion of their studies, cadets may earn a commission into one of the branches of the United States Armed Forces (with cadet graduates of the Junior Military Colleges being eligible for the Early Commissioning Program that earns a commission as a Second Lieutenant within two years of study).

Postgraduate level institutions do exist and there are also various postgraduate level institutions within the services framework (better known as Military Staff Colleges) which offer specialised education and advanced academic qualifications to serving military personnel.

In addition, several Merchant Marine Academies operate across the United States that offer a military style education and have a track record of preparing candidates for commissions into the Armed Forces. These include:

• Massachusetts Maritime Academy, in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts and dating back to 1891;
• Maine Maritime Academy, established by the State of Maine in 1941 and situated in Castine, Maine;
• State University of New York Maritime College (better known as Maritime College), founded in the Bronx in New York in 1874;
• Texas A&M Maritime Academy, opened in 1962 in Galveston, Texas;
• Great Lakes Maritime Academy, in Traverse City, Michigan, since 1969; and
• California State University Maritime Academy (Cal Maritime), founded in 1929 in Vallejo, California.

“Military School”, by contrast, typically refers to secondary level institutions that offer a high school equivalent education. There is a long history of military schooling in the United States. With some of the earliest dating back to the late 1800s, military schools were a particularly popular choice for America’s upper classes and wealthy families. Many great captains of industry, leading political figures, early Hollywood stars and celebrated athletes were the products of a military schooling, not to mention many of the most-decorated military officers. Even today, many of the most famous schools in the country continue to maintain a military tradition and count some of the nation’s most famous names amongst their alumni lists. These schools tend to require pupils to adhere to strict uniform codes and to engage in military style training and compulsory physical education. Typically, these schools also embody a hierarchy of students with senior students ranking above junior students. There are dozens of such high schools across the United States, some operated as public high schools and others in the private sector with Oak Ridge Military Academy tracing its origins back to 1852 (though only becoming a military school in 1914. The oldest military school in continuous existence is the prestigious New York Military Academy founded in 1889. Similarly, one such school, the Robert Land Academy, exists in Canada.

A number of other schools, many of which are not accredited by their respective State accreditation bodies for schools and/or colleges, offer their own military educational programmes. Typically, many of these are offered under the auspices of a faith-based organisation and may be marketed to parents of troubled children as behavior modification facilities or as therapeutic boarding schools. These exist at primary and secondary levels and have often attracted much controversy due to their practices and approaches and the lack of approved educational programmes. These schools heavily emulate some of the initiatives and models of approved military academies and schools but modify them to suit their own purposes. Rarely are these schools founded with the intention of equipping graduates and cadets with the skills necessary to enter the armed services and few of their graduates are known to have earned commissions into the service branches of the United States Armed Forces.

The Association of Military Colleges & Schools in the United States is a non-profit organisation founded in 1914 to unify and support Department of Defense approved military academy programmes. Its membership is comprised of a diverse group of 37 accredited military colleges, junior colleges, and college preparatory schools from across the United States and Canada. These institutions share a common commitment to providing a rigorous academic foundation alongside military training and character development. It does not admit schools that are ostensibly behavior modification schools to its membership.

It’s members, whilst having Department of Defense (DoD) approved programmes, are not service academies under the remit of the United States government. As such, they do not qualify as officer training schools per se but do give a very good start to cadets undertaking such a career pathway. Many graduates of the Senior Military Colleges, those institutions of higher education that award advanced-level degrees that are accredited by the DoD may apply for recognition of their qualification and time served in their college’s Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) in order to earn a commission into the services. Indeed, unlike many other countries wherein all officer candidates in the Armed Forces must undertake training at the approved service academy, in the United States the vast majority of officers have not attended one of the five approved service academies. It is estimated that only some 15% of officers have in fact come through one of the five United States federal service academies. For reference, the United States service academies include: the United States Military Academy (Army / USMA / West Point) in West Point, New York; the United States Naval Academy (Annapolis / Navy / USNA) in Annapolis, Maryland; the United States Air Force Academy (Air Force / USAFA) in Colorado Springs, Colorado; the United States Coast Guard Academy (Coast Guard / USCGA) in New London, Connecticut; and the United States Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point / USMMA) in Kings Point, New York. Canada, similarly, maintains the Canadian Military Colleges (CMC) which include the Royal Military College of Canada (CMR / Collège Militaire Royal du Canada / RMC) in Kingston, Ontario; and the Royal Military College Saint-Jean (CMR Saint-Jean / Collège Militaire Royal de Saint-Jean / RMC Saint-Jean) in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec.

All of the recognised Senior Military Colleges and Junior Military Colleges are members of the Association of Military Colleges and Schools of the United States. As is one of the Merchant Marine Academies – Texas A&M Maritime Academy. The rest of the membership is comprised of some of the nation’s leading schools and universities, all of which are accredited by their respective state’s educational bodies and offering an approved curriculum and DoD sanctioned military programme.

AMCSUS assists its members in developing their unique programmes whilst making sure that they are in compliance with state and federal guidelines and the strict criteria of the Department of Defense. The organisation’s secretariat also convenes various conferences and coordinates training and development for school staff and management. AMCSUS also oversees intra-scholastic competition outside the remit of traditional athletic conferences (such as drill competitions and parades). Many of these schools and colleges welcome international applicants with the appropriate visa paperwork, however additional procedures may be required to be followed or restrictions may be imposed on their capacity to undertake the ROTC courses and prepare for entry in the United States Armed Forces. Many international graduates may use their experience and qualifications to expedite their entry into their home country’s military, where appropriate.

AMCSUS membership may be regarded as a badge of quality when seeking a military-inspired educational institution for your children or for your college experience. Only those that meet their exacting standards and accreditation procedure may become members of the association which actively seeks to raise standards and improve the reputation of accredited military academies and schools in North America.

If you would like to learn more about the work of the Association of Military Colleges & Schools of the United States, you can do so here or contact your preferred school, listed below.

If you attended one of the schools listed below, or, for that matter, any military college or school, please do share your experiences here to help inform prospective parents. Any specific insights or details that might give a better picture of life at such a school would be very welcome.

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MEMBERS AND ASSOCIATES

CHOOSE LIST VIEW FOR A SIMPLE LIST OF ALL LISTED SCHOOLS. ALTERNATIVELY, YOU CAN SELECT SCHOOLS USING THE MAP BELOW.

FORMER OR LAPSED MEMBERS AND ASSOCIATES

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