The four-year curriculum, leading to a bachelor's degree and a second lieutenant's commission in the Air Force, covers traditional higher education as well as airmanship. Studies include subjects such as government, geography, history, and philosophy, and the science courses range from the fundamentals of mathematics, physics, and chemistry through the technical areas related to aeronautical engineering.

The airmanship program includes military training, intramural athletics, leadership, and flight training. The flight training qualifies graduates in aerial navigation, entitling them to the position of an aircraft observer. During the sophomore year, the cadets receive pilot training; and, if physically qualified, most graduates go to Air Force pilot training schools.

Any U.S. citizen of good moral character who will be 17 years old but less than 22 on July 1 of the year that he plans to enter the academy, who has never been married, and who can meet the prescribed physical standards may compete for appointment to the Air Force Academy. Roughly 85 percent of the vacancies, allocated to the states on the basis of congressional representation, are filled by competitive examinations among candidates nominated by United States senators and representatives. The remainder are filled by competitive examinations among candidates nominated by the president and vice president, among members of the regular and reserve components of the Air Force and Army, and children of deceased veterans of the armed forces. Women were admitted to the academy beginning in 1976.