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🎓 College profile

United States Air Force Academy

CO · Public · Fringe rural · 9,543 applicants 2023

14% admit rate SAT 1250–1450
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🎯 Parent/student verdict

Reach

Highly selective reach for nearly every applicant.

✅ Best for

  • Strong academic profiles — admitted students cluster in the top test and GPA tiers (bands above)
  • Students drawn to Engineering or Business, Management, & Marketing (the two biggest majors)

🎯 The reality

  • Bottom-quartile academic profile if: SAT below 1250, or ACT below 26, or unweighted GPA below 3.60 (admitted-class quartiles per the school's own data)
  • With selective universities, build a balanced college list of Reaches, Targets, and Safeties ⓘ

Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price by income, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.

🏛️ Institutional snapshot

What kind of college is this?

Carnegie classification
Baccalaureate Colleges: Diverse Fields
Total enrollment
4,114
1,000 - 4,999
Admit rateThe share of applicants a college accepts. Useful context, but your student's odds depend on their own grades and scores, not the average.
13.9%
Highly selective
SAT middle 50%The middle half of enrolled students scored in this range — a quarter scored BELOW the low end and still got in, and a quarter scored above the high end. Above the top number is a genuine strength; below the bottom isn't automatic rejection.
1250–1450
EBRW + Math composite
ACT middle 50%The middle half of enrolled students scored in this range — a quarter scored BELOW the low end and still got in, and a quarter scored above the high end. Above the top number is a genuine strength; below the bottom isn't automatic rejection.
26–33
composite
Test policy
Required
2023

Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.

🎓 High-school GPA

3.80 avg unweightedGPA on the plain 4.0 scale, no honors/AP bonus. When a college publishes an "average admitted GPA of 3.9," it's often this scale — don't compare it to a weighted 4.3. GPA, enrolled first-years

Enrolled first-years by GPA band: 4.00 25.0% · 3.75-3.99 55.0% · 3.50-3.74 10.0% · 3.25-3.49 6.0% · 3.00-3.24 2.0% · 2.50-2.99 2.0%

unweighted 4.0 scale. United States Air Force Academy Common Data Set 2022-2023, Section C (C10 class rank, C11 GPA distribution, C12 average high school GPA) ↗

As published by the college in its Common Data Set / admissions data (2022-23) (source linked above). GPA basis (weighted vs. unweighted vs. 4.0-scale) varies by college and is labeled above.

📊 Outcomes & cost

What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.

Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).

4-year completionThe share of students who finish a bachelor's in four years. Nationally barely half do — and a fifth year quietly adds a full extra year of cost to the real price.
88%

📚 What students study here

Most popular majors at United States Air Force Academy

Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what United States Air Force Academy actually graduates — not just what it markets.

1. Engineering
289 degrees · 39.6%
Engineering majors land high-paying technical roles. Top-earning sub-disciplines: petroleum, chemical, computer engineering.
2. Business, Management, & Marketing
160 degrees · 21.9%
Broad set of corporate roles. Finance + consulting pay top, accounting + HR pay middle, sales spread is wide.
3. Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies
114 degrees · 15.6%
Often paired with another field (data + biology, design + tech). Outcomes match the second discipline.
4. Social Sciences
95 degrees · 13.0%
Economics + poli sci sub-disciplines pay much more than sociology + anthropology.
5. Computer & Information Sciences
71 degrees · 9.7%
High-paying tech roles dominate. Median software roles cluster in the $90k-$130k range.

Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →

🤖 AI program signal

AI + computing education at United States Air Force Academy

CS degrees (annual)
71
CIP 11.0701 + 11.0101

Full multi-lens comparison: /ai-colleges →

Alternatives to United States Air Force Academy

Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.

🏆 Better merit-aid options
These similar-selectivity schools publish merit scholarships your family can plan around — your kid’s stats could unlock real scholarship dollars.
University of Alabama in Huntsville
AL · Public
39 stats-based merit scholarships
Texas Tech University
TX · Public
30 stats-based + 1 competitive scholarships
The University of Alabama
AL · Public
21 stats-based + 2 competitive scholarships
🛡️ Safer in-state options
Same state and similar selectivity, but with a more forgiving admit rate — useful safety / match anchors.
Colorado School of Mines
CO · Public
60% admit rate (vs 14% here)
University of Colorado Boulder
CO · Public
83% admit rate (vs 14% here)

⚖️ Or compare any college side-by-side

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