Three military academy cadets have been selected as Rhodes Scholars. This will provide them the opportunity to study for a Masters degree at Oxford University. All three of the cadets are women; two from the US Military Academy (West Point) are from New York and Washington. One from the US Air Force Academy is from California.  That the academies represent nearly 10% of the Rhodes Scholars speaks to the prestige of the education at the military institutions.

Since the intent upon graduation from a military academy is to serve as a military officer, opportunities to do other things are limited. (For a time, some cadets could have their service commitments (5 years) waived and went directly to the NFL or other professional sports. Recently, that policy was reversed.)

For graduate school, the military has allowed a select number of cadets to continue their education.  These cadets must be recipients of some form of national scholarship or sponsorship; they can’t merely say they want to get their Master’s degree.

If they are competitively selected and allowed to earn their graduate degree, these cadets will be commissioned upon graduation from the Academy.  As new Lieutenants, they will be sent to their new school.  Depending on the length of their program, they may have one to two years to earn their degree, while earning Lieutenant pay.  Once complete, they enter the normal pipeline for their career field (for example, they may go to pilot training).  They will be one to two years higher in rank than many of those going through similar training.