page_title: United States Air Force Academy
section_title: Women at the Academy
hierarchical_section_title: United States Air Force Academy / History / Women at the Academy
caption_attribution_description: English: U.S. Air Force Academy -- Cadets going onto the Space Force march on to the terrazzo to start the U.S. Air Force Academy's Class of 2020 Graduation Ceremony at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., April 18, 2020. Nine-hundred-sixty-seven cadets crossed the stage to become the Air Force/Space Force’s newest second lieutenants. (U.S. Air Force photo/Trang Le)
context_page_description: The United States Air Force Academy is a military academy for officer cadets of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force immediately north of Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is the youngest of the five U.S. service academies, having graduated its first class 61 years ago in 1959, but is the third in seniority. Graduates of the academy's four-year program receive a Bachelor of Science degree and are commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Air Force or U.S. Space Force. The academy is also one of the largest tourist attractions in Colorado, attracting approximately a million visitors each year.
  Admission is extremely competitive, with nominations divided equally among Congressional districts. Recent incoming classes have had about 1,200 cadets; since 2012, around 20% of each incoming class does not graduate. During their tenure at the Academy, cadets receive tuition, room and board, and a monthly stipend all paid for by the Air Force. On the first day of a cadet's second class year, cadets commit to serving a number of years as a commissioned officer in the Air Force or Space Force.
context_section_description: One of the most significant events in the history of the academy was the admission of women.  On 7 October 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed legislation permitting women to enter the United States service academies. On 26 June 1976, 157 women entered the Air Force Academy with the Class of 1980. Because there were no female upper class cadets, the Air Training Officer model used in the early years of the Academy was revived, and fifteen young female officers were brought in to help with the integration process. The female cadets were initially segregated from the rest of the Cadet Wing but were fully integrated into their assigned squadrons after their first semester. On 28 May 1980, 97 of the original female cadets completed the program and graduated from the academy—just over 10% of the graduating class. Women have made up just over 20% of the most recent classes, with the class of 2016 having the highest proportion of any class, 25%.
  Many of the women from those early classes went on to achieve success within the Cadet Wing and after graduation (see list of Academy graduates below).  Despite these successes, integration issues were long apparent. Female cadets have had consistently higher dropout rates than men and have left the Air Force in higher numbers than men.
caption: The Academy's class of 2020 was the first to graduate new officers into the United States Space Force.
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