Service Academy Appointments

The U.S. Service Academies are four-year post-secondary institutions that combine educational excellence with military officer training. Students accepted to the academies receive a free four-year education in return for a service commitment to the active-duty military after graduation.

In order to be admitted, students must receive a congressional nomination from either their U.S. Representative or Senator.  Additionally, students are expected to meet the highly competitive educational and extracurricular standards that are set by the individual academies as well as the standards for physical aptitude and medical fitness.

Academy Nomination Process
In order for a candidate to be considered for nomination, an applicant must complete the following steps:

1. Applicants must submit the completed application form with a wallet-sized photo attached to the front of the application, a high school transcript, SAT or ACT scores and three letters of recommendation (one being from a guidance counselor or principal) by the application deadline.
2. SAT or ACT scores should be sent using the following codes:  SAT: 4766, ACT: 7300.  
3. Once all applicant materials are received, and applicant has been notified of a completed packet; the applicant will then be scheduled for a candidate interview.
4. Representative DeGette's Citizen Advisory Board interviews all applicants that are candidates for a service academy nomination and are the responsible body for making a nomination recommendation to Representative DeGette. 
5. Applicants will receive a “Notice of Nomination” within 30days of the Advisory Board convening.
6. Applicants should ensure they have applied to “all” service academies that they are interested in as the first choice may not guarantee admission.
7. Nominations will be made to the service academies no later than December 31.

General Requirements for Applicants

• Applicants must reside in the First Congressional District of Colorado to obtain a nomination from Representative Diana DeGette.
• Applicants must be at least 17 years of age and no more than 23 years of age upon entering the Academy.
• Applicants must be United States citizens.
• Applicants must be unmarried, not pregnant and have no legal obligation to support any dependents.
• Applicants should be able to demonstrate they are in good physical condition and meet the physical requirements of their respective Service Academy.
• Applicants should be in the upper 40% of their class. However, most applicants are in the top 10% of their class.
• Applicants typically have SAT scores ranging from 550-650 verbal and 550-700 math or ACT scores ranging from 26-30 english and 27-31 math.

Deadlines
Deadline for submission of completed nomination packets for the 2016 – 2017 school year will be October 7 , 2016. Once a completed packet has been submitted for review, you will be notified electronically of your status.  Download application here. 

Once you have opened the application, Download the document in Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat to activate fill-able features.

Service Academy Contact Information

*For the Air Force, Naval, and Military Academies, each Congressional Representative can have no more than five cadets or midshipmen attending an Academy at one time. For each vacancy (one of the five slots), Representatives and Senators can nominate up to ten names.

*For the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, there is no vacancy system. Instead, each year, Members of Congress can nominate up to ten individuals and those who qualify gain an appointment.

*There is no nomination system for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.