Academy Sees Applications Drop

Colleges and Universities A-Z Naval Academy - Annapolis
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<p>ACADEMY SEES APPLICATIONS DROP; DECLINE CONTINUES FOR A SECOND YEAR; SIMILAR PATTERN AT OTHER SERVICE SCHOOLS </p>

<p>The Baltimore Sun </p>

<p>March 8, 2006 Wednesday </p>

<p>Applications declined at the U.S. Naval Academy for the second straight year, dipping nearly to levels that were common before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when applications spiked significantly at all three service academies. </p>

<p>The academy received 10,726 applications as of March 1, compared with 11,241 last year, almost a 5 percent decline. That paled in comparison to last year's decline of more than 20 percent, when applications fell from a peak of more than 14,000 in 2004. </p>

<p>The U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., and the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., experienced similar declines, officials at both academies said. West Point received 10,223 applications, compared with 10,773 the year before; and the Air Force Academy received 8,970 this year, compared with 9,604 last year. All three schools said this year's totals are close to the number of applications before the Sept. 11 attacks. </p>

<p>Some attribute the drop in applications to the war in Iraq, where casualties continue to mount and recent violence has raised fears of a civil war. </p>

<p>"I think war sometimes is a deterrent to being a war fighter," Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat, said Monday. "They may want to serve the country in another way.”</p>

<p>Mikulski said the drop also could be driven by declining interest in math and science among U.S. high school students, noting the academy's national reputation as an engineering school. </p>

<p>But Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute, an Arlington, Va.-based public policy think tank, said public anxiety about the Iraq war is probably not a factor in declining applications at the nation's service academies. </p>

<p>"You would not expect problems in Iraq to severely harm application levels for the Naval Academy or for the Air Force Academy," he said. "There are relatively few people from the Navy or the Air Force stationed in Iraq. On the other hand, if Iraq was having an impact on people's academic plans, you'd expect it to hurt the Army's school at West Point quite a bit." </p>

<p>"That has been the pattern in the recruiting numbers - the Army's had a challenge, and the Air Force and the Navy have not," he said. </p>

<p>In a presentation to a civilian oversight board Monday, David Vetter, the Naval Academy's dean of ad-missions, said the quality of applicants hasn't gone down, pointing to standardized test scores and only minor declines in the number of "candidates," or applicants with "a realistic possibility" of being admitted. </p>

<p>"After 9/11, we had several consecutive years with increases in the number of applications to the Naval Academy," he said Monday. "We did experience a significant decrease in the number of applications last year, but the total was still very consistent with pre-9/11 data. And, as always has been the case in recent years, it was the largest number of applications of any of the nation's service academies." </p>

<p>Bonnie Newman, a senior fellow at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and chairwoman of the academy's board of visitors, noted that the Kennedy School had seen a similar spike in applications after 9/11, followed by a gradual decline. </p>

<p>Numbers of minority and women applicants also declined very slightly at the academy, but officials said more of the minority applicants this year were classified as "candidates" compared with last year.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Some attribute the drop in applications to the war in Iraq, where casualties continue to mount and recent violence has raised fears of a civil war.</p>

<p>"I think war sometimes is a deterrent to being a war fighter," Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat, said Monday. "They may want to serve the country in another way.”</p>

<p>Mikulski said the drop also could be driven by declining interest in math and science among U.S. high school students, noting the academy's national reputation as an engineering school.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Color me stunned.... :rolleyes:</p>

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<p>That works better for me!</p>

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<p>Yeah, I don't mind at all.</p>

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<p>You guys, the thing is, while applications are dropping, quality of applicants is rising, so it is still just as or more difficult to get in.</p>

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<p>How do you know the quality is rising?</p>

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<p>Looking at past year's stats, you can see a higher percentage with higher SAT scores, more in the top 20%, more with more ECAs, etc...</p>

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<p>The thing about seeing less applications is that you know that many of the people applying are the ones that really want to go there to serve in the military, not to just do their five years and then go run a Fortune 500 company. Sure, there are those that get in with that mentality, but since we are in a war I would assume that dissuades most people that don't really care/don't want to be in the military.</p>

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<p>That's precisely what I meant in my last post, which seemed to have been misunderstood.</p>

<p>I believe that it's for the better that some people are drawn away from the Academy because of the war. Those people obviously would not have committed to a military career, and it's good that USNA is getting less applications from them.</p>

<p>That's not to say that anyone who doesn't want to serve in the military past their required time is a bad candidate. A career in the military is not for everyone. It's just those people, who are not even open to the possibility of a military career, who have been "weeded out" in a sense.</p>

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<p>"50,000 of you apply to this academy, only 1,207 of you were deemed worthy enough to pass through these gates. . . . "</p>

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<p>Hahaha... riiiggggghhhht.</p>

<p>I believe for class of 2009 the numbers were:</p>

<p>11,259 applied
1,220 admitted...</p>

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<p>So.......</p>

<p>Who was the coward that edited my earlier post and didn't have the decency (or integrity) to say they did it?</p>

<p>What are you hiding? Does the truth hurt?</p>

<p>
[quote]
"50,000 of you apply to this academy, only 1,207 of you were deemed worthy enough to pass through these gates. . . . "

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I'm so glad that thing bombed.</p>

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<p>hahaha ditto</p>

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<p>Zaphod -- other people can edit your posts? I didn't realize that! Which post are you referring to?</p>

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<p>The first one I posted in this thread. I quoted all that felgercarb that the windbag from Maryland was spouting. The quote is gone. Now it looks as if I'm saying I'm not surprised that applications are down.</p>

<p>What I don't understand is, when I am entering this response, if I scroll down to the thread history, the quote is there. </p>

<p>[Baldrick]</p>

<p>Now I'm so confused I don't know who I am or what my name is!</p>

<p>[/Baldrick]</p>

<p>Let's see how many get that reference. ;)</p>

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<p>Zaphod...The Black Adder!</p>

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<p>DING DING DING DING!!!!!</p>

<p>Prayerful mom got it!</p>

<p>As a reward, take a short holiday!</p>

<p>Did you enjoy it? Good!</p>

<p>;)</p>

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<p>He of the cunning plans and the turnips, yes?</p>

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<p>CUTS MIGHT SHRINK NAVAL ACADEMY ADMISSIONS
The Baltimore Sun</p>

<p>March 16, 2006 Thursday </p>

<p>Cuts in Navy funding for the U.S. Naval Academy are making it hard to fill faculty positions and could result in smaller classes of midshipmen, hampering the college's ability to meet the military's manpower needs, U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski said.</p>

<p>The Naval Academy, which has dealt with a series of budget shortfalls over the years, would be hit with a $7 million decrease in the fiscal 2007 budget. </p>

<p>Mikulski said the budget constraints are hindering efforts to fill 32 faculty vacancies, a number that is expected to rise.</p>

<p>"The academy cannot continue to turn out the best and the brightest with shrinking resources," Mikulski said in a news release. "This lack of funding could mean reduced professional training, a cut in the number of academy profes-sors, and threatens to limit the size of the incoming Class in 2010."</p>

<p>The Maryland Democrat made her remarks after Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter presented his budget yesterday before a Senate appropriations subcommit-tee in Washington.</p>

<p>The Navy also is in the process of reducing the work force at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Southern Maryland by 20 percent over the next three years through retirements and attrition, something that Mikulski also criti-cized.</p>

<p>Defending priorities</p>

<p>Through a spokeswoman, the Navy defended its budget priorities.</p>

<p>"The Navy feels confident that the 2007 budget request provides ably for the future maritime security of the United States, our allies and our partners, not only in the coming year but in future years as well," Lt. Cmdr. Lisa Brackenbury said.</p>

<p>A spokeswoman for the military college in Annapolis said yesterday afternoon that she was unable to provide information on the academy's budget and faculty numbers. She also it would be inappropriate for academy officials to comment on pending legislation.</p>

<p>About 20,000 military, civil service and contract personnel work at Patuxent River, and thousands more contractors support those operations elsewhere in Southern Maryland.</p>

<p>Together, the workers research, develop and test aircraft components, such as communications and radar systems, along with the service's aviation fleet.</p>

<p>Mikulski questioned the Navy's ability to perform this work at reduced lev-els.</p>

<p>"Is the Navy sacrificing future maritime superiority for short-term cost sav-ing?" Mikulski said. "At [Patuxent] River, they are developing the smart new weapons and technologies that are going to keep America safe. Is the Navy satis-fied with having 20 percent fewer smart new weapons and technologies?"</p>

<p>According to a 2002 study, Patuxent River contributes $2.8 billion annually to the state's economy, a number that has likely increased, said John Savich, director of the department of economic and community development for St. Mary's County.</p>

<p>Savich said he is uncertain how the Navy's directive will affect the work force. "If it means the work goes away ... that would be hard for me to see," he said. "That would be a serious blow to the county's economy."</p>

<p>Speculation</p>

<p>Local and state officials speculate the Navy is seeking to consolidate opera-tions nationally to help fund the building of a new generation of warships.</p>

<p>State officials said they understand the Navy's priority and are developing alternatives to keep the operations at Patuxent River viable.</p>

<p>"The Navy drives the economic engine of Southern Maryland," said J. Michael Hayes, who heads the office of military and federal affairs in the state Depart-ment of Business and Economic Development. "That is why we want to talk about the future."</p>

<p><a href="mailto:phill.mcgowan@baltsun.com">phill.mcgowan@baltsun.com</a></p>

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<p>Well, all the esteemed Senator from Maryland (who interestingly enough, suddenly cares about the military) has to do is convince her fellow military-haters to cut some worthless social program (or maybe CONGRESS could vote themselves a PAY CUT....... Excuse me while I laugh hysterically) and make up the difference?</p>

<p>Notice: Lots of criticism, but no alternative offered. SOP for her and her party. We have a 2.7 TRILLION dollar budget, but she can't find $7 Million.</p>

<p>I wonder where the esteemed Senator was when Billy "I loathe the military" Klinton cut the Navy so bad we couldn't get underway because we had no fuel oil for the boilers? </p>

<p>Oh, that's right. She was probably telling anyone who would listen how wonderful he was. </p>

<p>Come on, Senator! Propose legislation giving USNA a blank check! Put OUR money (in case you've forgotten it's not YOURS) where your mouth is! </p>

<p>I won't hold my breath. :rolleyes:</p>

<p>
[quote]
the military college in Annapolis ...

[/quote]

Am I the only one sickened by that description? </p>

<p>It's so much more than that...</p>

<p>ETA: If the 32 vacancies are composed of some of the worthless excuses for professors I saw when I was there, it would be a good thing. Guys whose opening sentences to a new class are, "Save your books and notes. You'll need them next semester after I fail you." aren't adding any benefit to the place anyway.</p>

<p>They can be good little NEA members somewhere else.</p>