Aerospace Studies prepares students for leadership positions with the United States Air Force through the Pre-professional Program and offers courses to all students through the Academic Program. The curriculum examines multi-disciplinary issues as they relate to leadership participation in the military environment.

Academic Program

The academic program (without affiliation with the formal Air Force ROTC program) is designed for students interested in gaining a perspective on military leadership, management, ethics, and discipline. Students who pursue this concentration should take the upper-level (AERO 31XX and AERO 32XX) courses, and they may attend the lower-level courses. Participation in Leadership Laboratory courses is available by special permission from the Department of Aerospace Studies.

Pre-Professional Program / Air Force ROTC Program

The pre-professional track of the Aerospace Studies program is implemented as the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps. It provides two programs for students to qualify for a commission as a second lieutenant in the Air Force. To be eligible for the Air Force ROTC pre-professional program, a student must be a citizen of the United States, physically qualified for commission in the Air Force, not under 14 years of age for program entry and, upon graduation, no more than 30 years of age (may be waived to age 35). If designated for flight training, the student must be able to complete all commissioning requirements prior to age 29 (not waiverable).

Cadets must pursue work leading to at least a bachelor’s degree and be willing to sign a formal agreement at the beginning of the advanced course or upon initiation of a college scholarship. The agreement, an enlistment into the Air Force Reserve, obligates the student to remain in the ROTC program, accept a commission and serve the required period in the Air Force upon graduation. Cadets must also take an Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) and achieve certain minimum and quantitative scores prior to commissioning.

Four-Year Program

This program begins with the General Military Course (GMC) and offers coursework within the lower-division. GMC students not on Air Force ROTC scholarship incur no military obligation. Each candidate for commissioning must pass each GMC course with a grade of C or above and pass the corequisite lab. Students must score appropriately on an Air Force aptitude test, pass a physical fitness test, pass a medical examination, and be selected by a board of Air Force officers. If selected, the student then enrolls in the Professional Officer Course (POC), the last two years of the Air Force ROTC curriculum. Students attend a four-week field training course at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama normally between the Sophomore and Junior years. All students in the POC receive a tax-free stipend of at least $450 per month. Upon successful completion of the POC and the requirements for a degree, the student is commissioned in the Air Force as a second lieutenant.

Three-Year Program

The basic requirement for entry into the three-year program is that the student has three academic years of college work remaining, either at the undergraduate or graduate level, or a combination of both. Applicants seeking enrollment in the three-year program must take both the Freshman-level and Sophomore-level aerospace studies courses in the Fall and Spring semesters of their Sophomore year. They must also pass Air Force aptitude, physical fitness, and medical examinations and be selected by a board of Air Force officers. Students attend a four-week field training course at Maxwell AirForce Base in Alabama normally between the Junior and Senior years. All students in the POC receive a tax-free stipend of at least $450 per month. Upon successful completion of the POC and the requirements for a degree, the student is commissioned in the Air Force as a second lieutenant.

Scholarship Programs

Air Force ROTC awards scholarships at the Freshman through graduate school levels for students in the preprofessional track leading to a commission in the Air Force. They are available to qualified cadets in the three year program and four-year programs. Scholarships are given and retained on a semester basis.

Full-time enrollment in the University or a consortium institution and the Aerospace Studies program is a requirement for scholarship eligibility. Scholarships cover tuition, fees, and a book allowance. Scholarship cadets also receive a tax-free stipend of at least $300 a month.

Four-year scholarships also are available to high school students. High school students interested should apply online at www.afrotc.com. Initial four-year scholarship packages must be postmarked by December 1 of the year prior to enrollment.

Adjunct Programs

Field Training

Four-week Field Training courses are normally completed during the summer between the Sophomore and Junior years for the four-year program (Junior and Senior years for the three-year program). Transportation, lodging, meals, and approximately $29 per day are provided by the Air Force during Field Training.

Leadership Laboratory

Those students pursuing the pre-professional track will participate a minimum of three hours per week during every semester of enrollment. The objective is to provide a laboratory environment where each student receives an opportunity to learn and develop leadership and management abilities. Cadets plan, organize and carry out the entire leadership laboratory program with only minimal guidance from the staff advisors. Physical fitness training is also a part of the leadership laboratory program.

Professional Development Program

Students enrolled in the Freshman or Junior year of Air Force ROTC may volunteer to attend a two- or three- week orientation program at an Air Force base. This is an opportunity to observe and experience the working environment of an active Air Force facility and to obtain specific career information. Other programs available to students include glider flight orientation, military airborne jump training, foreign language immersion, cyber operations, space orientation, unarmed combat, and summer engineering projects. Transportation, lodging, meals, and approximately $29 per day are provided by the Air Force during participation in this voluntary program.

Flight Training

All cadets seeking a commission who currently do not possess a private pilot’s license may participate in an eight-hour flight orientation program any time during enrollment in AFROTC.

Programs

• Aerospace Studies, Minor