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ROTC Diversity

GAO-23-105857, August 24, 2023

The ROTC program trains college students to serve as officers in the U.S. military, with the Army, Navy, and Air Force offering this training at colleges and universities. GAO was asked to review the program's contributions to a diverse military officer corps. From 2011 to 2021, ROTC has become more diverse in terms of race, gender, and ethnicity--though it is still mostly White and male.

About this interactive:

  • You can filter the map by Army, Navy, and Air Force-specific ROTC programs.
  • HBCUs and Minority Serving Institutions are color-coded for easy identification.
  • View demographics for a specific school by clicking on its dot or
  • Demographic graphs beneath the map show ROTC data grouped by school categories such as 2-year or 4-year, and campus type.

Demographic Data across ROTC Programs for Academic Years 2011-2021

These graphs display ROTC demographic data by various categories. Select a category of school from the dropdown menu below. Mouse over the bars to see specific percentage information.

Mouse over the bars above to see specific percentage information.

Sources: GAO analysis of Department of Defense and Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System data. | GAO-23-105857

Notes:

  • We report average demographics for academic years 2011 through 2021.
  • Four military colleges are also minority serving institutions, so these schools are in both categories: Georgia Military College, Georgia Military College - Valdosta, New Mexico Military Institute, and Valley Forge Military College.
  • For the purposes of this graphic, we consider extension units to be cross-towns.
  • Our campus enrollment numbers include students considered U.S. residents. Non-citizens are generally ineligible to participate in ROTC.
  • Students at two-year schools with cross-town arrangements can enroll in ROTC but generally need to transfer to a four-year school to complete the program and earn a commission. Thus, for two-year schools, we have data on ROTC enrollment but not on commissioning.
  • This interactive was updated in September 2023 to correct an error in ROTC enrollment at the University of South Carolina - Columbia.

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For more information, read our report, GAO-23-105857.