United States Coast Guard Academy

Founded in 1876, the United States Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) is the military academy of the United States Coast Guard. Located in New London, Connecticut, it is the smallest of the five federal service academies. The academy provides education to future Coast Guard officers in one of eight major fields of study.

Unlike the other service academies, admission to the academy does not require a congressional nomination. Students are officers-in-training and are referred to as cadets. Tuition for cadets is fully funded by the Coast Guard in exchange for an obligation of five years active duty service upon graduation. This obligation increases if the cadet chooses to go to flight school or graduate school. Approximately 300 cadets enter the academy each summer with about 200 cadets graduating. Graduates are commissioned as ensigns. The academic program grants a Bachelor of Science degree in one of eight majors, with a curriculum that grades cadets' performance upon a holistic education of academics, physical fitness, character and leadership. Cadets are required to adhere to the academy's "Honor Concept," "Who lives here reveres honor, honors duty," which is emblazoned in the halls of the academy's entrance.

The academy's motto is ScientiƦ cedit mare, which is Latin for "the sea yields to knowledge" (the trident, emblem of the Roman god Neptune, represents seapower).

Read more about United States Coast Guard Academy:  History, Admission, Course of Study, Organization of The Corps of Cadets, Notable Alumni

Famous quotes containing the words united states, united, states, coast, guard and/or academy:

    “I incline to think that the people will not now sustain the policy of upholding a State Government against a rival government, by the use of the forces of the United States. If this leads to the overthrow of the de jure government in a State, the de facto government must be recognized.”
    —Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)

    “The real charm of the United States is that it is the only comic country ever heard of.”
    —H.L. (Henry Lewis)

    “I asked myself, “Is it going to prevent me from getting out of here? Is there a risk of death attached to it? Is it permanently disabling? Is it permanently disfiguring? Lastly, is it excruciating?” If it doesn’t fit one of those five categories, then it isn’t important.”
    —Rhonda Cornum, United States Army Major. As quoted in Newsweek magazine, “Perspectives” page (July 13, 1992)

    “Forced from home, and all its pleasures,
    Afric’s coast I left forlorn;
    To increase a stranger’s treasures,
    O’er the raging billows borne.
    Men from England bought and sold me,
    Paid my price in paltry gold;
    But, though theirs they have enroll’d me,
    Minds are never to be sold.”
    —William Cowper (1731–1800)

    “The old man forgot one thing. This England of his is Christian and Anglo-Saxon. And so are her corridors of power, and those who stalk them guard them with jealousy and venom.”
    —Colin Welland (b. 1934)

    “...I have come to make distinctions between what I call the academy and literature, the moral equivalents of church and God. The academy may lie, but literature tries to tell the truth.”
    —Dorothy Allison (b. 1949)