United States Air Force Academy — admissions, outcomes, merit aid & scholarships

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🎯 Parent/student verdict

Reach

Highly selective reach for nearly every applicant.

✅ Best for

Strong academic profile (SAT 1250–1450 · ACT 26–33 middle 50% + avg admit unweighted GPA 3.80 per CDS)
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 rate

13.9%

Highly selective

SAT middle 50%

1250–1450

EBRW + Math composite

ACT middle 50%

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 unweighted GPA, enrolled first-years

Enrolled first-years

3.80 unwtd

Distribution of enrolled first-years by GPA band (green = highest). Hover a segment for its share.

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 completion

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%

Typical career outcomes

Mechanical Engineer $100k Electrical Engineer $107k Civil Engineer $93k Chemical Engineer $112k

Engineering majors land high-paying technical roles. Top-earning sub-disciplines: petroleum, chemical, computer engineering.

2. Business, Management, & Marketing

160 degrees · 21.9%

Typical career outcomes

Financial Analyst $100k Management Analyst (Consultant) $99k Marketing Manager $158k Accountant / Auditor $80k

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%

Typical career outcomes

Project Manager $99k Management Analyst $99k Research Analyst $79k

Often paired with another field (data + biology, design + tech). Outcomes match the second discipline.

4. Social Sciences

95 degrees · 13.0%

Typical career outcomes

Economist $118k Political Scientist $130k Sociologist $93k Market Research Analyst $75k

Economics + poli sci sub-disciplines pay much more than sociology + anthropology.

5. Computer & Information Sciences

71 degrees · 9.7%

Typical career outcomes

Software Developer $132k Data Scientist $108k Information Security Analyst $120k Web Developer $85k

High-paying tech roles dominate. Median software roles cluster in the $90k-$130k range.

Source: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a), bachelor's-level first majors aggregated to 2-digit CIP family. Share is of these top 5 only — not all majors.

🤖 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 →

⚖️ Compare side-by-side

United States Air Force Academy vs. another college

Type the college you want to compare against. We'll show admit rates, net price by your family income, top majors with career outcomes, and merit aid — all in one side-by-side view.

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 have published auto-merit grids that United States Air Force Academy doesnt — your kids scores could unlock real scholarship dollars.

University of Alabama in Huntsville

AL · Public

39 auto-merit scholarships on file

Texas Tech University

TX · Public

31 auto-merit scholarships on file

The University of Alabama

AL · Public

23 auto-merit scholarships on file

Mississippi State University

MS · Public

19 auto-merit scholarships on file