Editing United States Air Force Academy (section)

==Admissions==
{| class="wikitable floatright sortable collapsible"; text-align:right; font-size:80%;"
|+ style="font-size:90%" |Undergraduate demographics as of November 22, 2024
{{check quotation}}|-
! Race and ethnicity<ref>{{cite web |title=College Scorecard: United States Air Force Academy|url=https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?128328-United-States-Air-Force-Academy |publisher=[[United States Department of Education]] |access-date=November 24, 2024}}</ref>
! colspan="2" data-sort-type=number |Total
|-
| [[Non-Hispanic whites|White]]
|align=right| {{bartable|63|%|2||background:gray}}
|-
| [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic]]
|align=right| {{bartable|12|%|2||background:green}}
|-
| Other{{efn|Other consists of [[Multiracial Americans]] & those who prefer to not say.}}
|align=right| {{bartable|9|%|2||background:brown}}
|-
| [[Asian Americans|Asian]]
|align=right| {{bartable|7|%|2||background:purple}}
|-
| [[African Americans|Black]]
|align=right| {{bartable|6|%|2||background:mediumblue}}
|-
| [[Foreign national]]
|align=right| {{bartable|1|%|2||background:orange}}
|-
! colspan="4" data-sort-type=number |[[Economic diversity]]
|-
| colspan="4" align="center"| '''Data Not Available'''
|}
To be eligible to enter the academy, a candidate must:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.academyadmissions.com/admissions/eligibility/index.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627042245/http://www.academyadmissions.com/admissions/eligibility/index.php|url-status=dead|title=USAFA Admissions Eligibility|archive-date=27 June 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usafa.af.mil/superintendent/pa/factsheets/admissions.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503065738/http://www.usafa.af.mil/superintendent/pa/factsheets/admissions.htm|url-status=dead|title=''U.S. Air Force Academy Admissions Philosophy,'' USAFA Fact Sheet, April 2006.|archive-date=3 May 2009}}</ref>

* Be a [[United States nationality law|citizen of the United States]] (unless nominated by an official of a country invited by the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.academyadmissions.com/admissions/howtoapply/international.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430103142/http://www.academyadmissions.com/admissions/howtoapply/international.php|url-status=dead|title=USAFA Admissions: International Student Guidelines|archive-date=30 April 2009}}</ref>
* Be unmarried with no dependents
* Be of good [[moral character]]
* Be at least 17, but less than 23 years of age by 1 July of the year of entry
* Meet high leadership, academic, physical and medical standards

In addition to the normal application process, all candidates must secure a nomination to the academy, normally from a [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] or [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]]. Each member of [[Congress of the United States|Congress]] and the vice president can have five appointees attending the Air Force Academy at any time. The process for obtaining a congressional nomination is not political and candidates do not have to know their senator or representative to secure a nomination. Additional nomination slots are available for children of career military personnel, children of disabled [[veteran]]s or veterans who were [[killed in action]], or children of [[Medal of Honor]] recipients. The admissions process is a lengthy one and applicants usually begin the paperwork during their junior year of high school.<ref>{{cite web|title=Air Force Academy|publisher=Admissions team, United States Air Force Academy|url=http://www.academyadmissions.com/|access-date=9 May 2005|archive-date=12 May 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050512001537/http://www.academyadmissions.com/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Class size===
There were 306 cadets admitted for the first class (class of 1959).<ref name="Simon" /> By 1961, class size was down to 271, but due to the need for officers in the Vietnam War, grew to 745 admittees in 1970,<ref name="McKeown" /> and peaking in 1974, with 1,620, and 1975, with 1,626, the largest number ever admitted.<ref name="Roeder">{{Cite news|author=Roeder, Tom|date=13 June 2005|title=AFA class size grows as Air Force downsizes|newspaper=The Gazette|location=Colorado Springs|url=http://gazette.com/afa-class-size-grows-as-air-force-downsizes/article/8005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131223194329/http://gazette.com/afa-class-size-grows-as-air-force-downsizes/article/8005|archive-date=23 December 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> After that class sizes shrank down to about 1,300 before spiking to 1,485 in 1988 (class of 1992).<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Staff|year=1983|title=Military Schools Are Again Popular With Students|journal=Education Week|issue=19 January 1983|url=http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/1983/01/19/03040015.h02.html|archive-date=24 December 2013|access-date=23 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224114357/http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/1983/01/19/03040015.h02.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=United States General Accounting Office|year=1992|title=Service Academies: Historical Proportion of New Officers During Benchmark Periods (GAO/NSIAD-92-90)|location=Washington, D.C.|publisher=U.S. General Accounting Office|url=http://archive.gao.gov/t2pbat6/146056.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081112181615/http://archive.gao.gov/t2pbat6/146056.pdf|archive-date=12 November 2008|url-status=dead|access-date=23 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Class Facts {{!}} US Air Force Academy AOG & Endowment|url=https://www2.usafa.org/ClassData/Index/1992|access-date=2020-12-05|website=2.usafa.org|archive-date=21 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921200359/https://www2.usafa.org/ClassData/Index/1992|url-status=live}}</ref> Despite a peak of 1,350 (admitted 2004) and 1,418 (admitted 2005), from 1995 to 2005 class size averaged about 1,250 freshmen.<ref name="Roeder" /> From 2005 to 2010 class sizes were slightly down from the 2005 peak. The 2013 class (beginning 2009) had 1,286<ref>{{cite magazine|date=5 August 2009|title=America's Best Colleges: #7 United States Air Force Academy|magazine=Forbes|url=https://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/94/colleges-09_United-States-Air-Force-Academy_94419.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090809125053/http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/94/colleges-09_United-States-Air-Force-Academy_94419.html|archive-date=9 August 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> and the 2014 class (beginning Fall 2010) had 1,285.<ref name="Gould">{{Cite news|author=Staff|date=7 February 2011|title=Academy told to cut enrollment to save money|newspaper=The Gazette|location=Colorado Springs|url=http://gazette.com/article/112453|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131223190306/http://gazette.com/article/112453|archive-date=23 December 2013|url-status=dead|access-date=23 December 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Cutbacks were ordered in 2011, so by 2012, the entering class (class of 2016) was down to about 1,050.<ref name="Gould" /> The class 2022 began with 1,286 students, lowered to 1,282 by the end of BCT. The class of 2023 began with 1159, and ended BCT with approximately 1150.{{Citation needed||date=November 2020}}