Frequently Asked Questions

• Apply to your university. University admission is separate from joining AFROTC.
• Read each tab of colorado.edu/afrotc: About Us, Eligibility, Why AFROTC, How We Make an Officer, Cadet Life, USAF Careers and Affiliated Universities.
• Follow the How to Join page.
• Create your WINGS account using our WINGS Account Creation Guide, then submit your AFROTC application in WINGS and upload the required documents (see #9).
• Pass the in-person interview and the Fitness Assessment.
• Complete the enrollment form (see #10), then register for the AFROTC Aerospace Studies class and Leadership Lab using our registration guide (see #11).

For questions the website doesn't answer, join a Zoom info session (see #3) or email det105@colorado.edu with your questions and a phone number.

Yes, if you're enrolled at CU Boulder, UCCS or one of Det 105's crosstown partner schools. See the Affiliated Universities page for the current list. If your school isn't on it, contact the AFROTC detachment nearest you.

• UCCS students are served by Det 105A, Det 105's staffed location on the UCCS campus (airforcerotc.uccs.edu).
• Crosstown students come to CU Boulder on Thursdays for class and Leadership Lab. AS300 and AS400 cadets also come on Tuesdays for class.
• Transportation isn't provided. Most cadets carpool with others from their school, and the detachment can connect you. Public transit is possible but may only arrive in time for afternoon events.
• Online schools don't qualify. You must be enrolled in person, and full-time, at your home school.

Yes.

• Cadet-led tours: book a time on Calendly. Tours take about 45–60 minutes, and family and friends are welcome.
• Zoom info sessions: sign up on Calendly. Sessions are usually monthly, and sometimes more often. Can't make one? Look through the Zoom recruiting slides.
• Thursday visits: you can stop by Thursday afternoons and watch Leadership Lab.
• Questions or a call: email det105@colorado.edu, and include a phone number if you'd like a call back.

We're at Folsom Field, Gate 5 (mailing address: 371 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0371). Parking near the detachment is permit-only, so use the Folsom Field Parking Garage or the paid lot at St. Aidan's Episcopal Church.

AFROTC is designed for four years and starts in the fall. You need at least three years of full-time enrollment left to join.

• 3-year track (AS250): you take the freshman and sophomore classes and labs in the same year. This needs Detachment Commander approval.
• Spring entry: only for freshmen and students with 3.5 years left before graduation.
• 2-year program: not offered at this time.
• Juniors and seniors with fewer than three years left can sometimes make it work by extending their degree or spending their final AFROTC year as a graduate student.
• Not ready yet? You can take the freshman AFROTC Aerospace Studies classes as a participating student.

• Spring 2027 entry (freshmen and students with 3.5 years left): the last day to apply is January 4, 2027.
• Fall entry: there are no set dates at this time. We’re on a rolling admissions window, so you can apply any time.

If you miss the spring deadline, you can apply for fall entry.

• Full-time enrollment every semester except your last. Your school sets what full-time means; if it doesn't, AFROTC uses 12 undergraduate or 9 graduate credit hours. AFROTC classes count toward the total, and withdrawing from a class can drop you below full-time.
• Online classes count if your degree-granting school accepts them toward full-time status. Online-only schools don't qualify.
• At least three years left in school (see #4).
• An interview, plus a Fitness Assessment every semester (see #14).
• Medical qualification through DoDMERB (see #12).
• Age and citizenship limits apply (see #7 and #8).
• Any major can join (see #13).

See the Eligibility tab and afrotc.com for full details.

Yes. These are the AFROTC limits; anyone under 18 needs a parent's or guardian's permission.

If you have prior military service, your years of service are subtracted from your age for the commissioning limit. Age waivers for commissioning are coordinated by AFROTC HQ.

You must be a U.S. citizen, by birth or naturalization, to contract and commission.

• Proof: an original birth certificate filed with vital statistics, a naturalization certificate, or a current U.S. passport.
• Non-citizens planning to commission join the first two years as applicants by showing their original Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551). You're responsible for getting citizenship, and you must be naturalized before contracting, Field Training or junior- and senior-year cadet training. Until then, you can take the upper-level Aerospace Studies classes only as a participating student.
• Scholarships: you must be able to become a citizen by the activation deadline and must be a citizen to activate.
• Dual citizens must state in writing that they're willing to renounce their other citizenship and give up foreign passports. Dual citizenship isn't an automatic disqualifier, but it can affect a security clearance.
• Non-citizens with no plan to commission can take Aerospace Studies classes as participating students.

Use the forms in our Required Documents guide, not the versions in WINGS. Upload completed forms to your WINGS application. New to WINGS? Start with the WINGS Account Creation Guide.

• DD Form 2983: complete blocks 1–7 and 9, initial all of block 7, then sign and date.
• AFROTC Form 48 (Academic Plan): your semester-by-semester plan through graduation, signed by your academic advisor. If you're undecided, plan your best guess. You can update it later.
• Sports physical (AFROTC Form 28): your own doctor or a clinic completes the highlighted section. A military doctor isn't required. A university, NCAA or state-approved sports physical, or a DoDMERB or MEPS exam, also works. It must be from the past year.
• DoDMERB application form.
• Transcripts: unofficial copies are fine. A scan is best, but a clear photo works.
• Test scores: official ACT, SAT or CLT score reports, if you have them.
• If they apply to you: DD 214 or DD 368 (prior service), DD Form 785 (if you left another officer program), AFROTC Form 14 (Law Enforcement Inquiry), Eagle Scout certificate, JROTC certificate of completion, or CAP award (Mitchell, Earhart, Spaatz or Eaker).

If something is missing or filled out wrong, we'll email you a list to fix. Applications still missing documents after the deadline are withdrawn. For the original documents you’ll need if you’re accepted, see #10.

Spring 2027 applications are reviewed after the January 4, 2027 deadline. Fall applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.

• Complete the enrollment form to tell us you've finished every requirement. Otherwise we won't know your application is ready.
• If documents are missing, you'll get an email listing them.
• If you're accepted, our enrollment team will reach out to you with any additional requirements.

You'll also need originals of: a birth certificate filed with vital statistics (a hospital "Certificate of Live Birth" isn't accepted), a current U.S. passport or naturalization certificate, and your signed Social Security card. Non-citizens need their Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551). The enrollment team will tell you how to submit them.

See our registration guide for the Aerospace Studies class and Leadership Lab to take each semester, including on the 3-year track. Crosstown students register through their own school's cross-registration process. Non-cadets can take the freshman Aerospace Studies classes as participating students but can't attend LLAB, PT or other cadet training.

The DoD Medical Examination Review Board (DoDMERB) decides whether you meet medical standards, and the Air Force's accession medical waiver office reviews waivers. The detachment doesn't decide either, so we can't predict what will be waived.

• Submit a sports physical (AFROTC Form 28, see #9) with your WINGS application. It's good for one year.
• A DoDMERB exam is scheduled later and is valid for 24 months. If you had a qualifying exam in the past 24 months, for example from a service academy application, tell us so we can request it.
• If DoDMERB asks for more information ("remedials"), we'll send instructions for resolving it.
• After your physical, report any new treatment, prescription, injury or other medical change to the detachment within 72 hours.

No. You can pursue any major your school offers, and most Air Force jobs don't require a specific degree. Some technical fields, such as engineering and science, do, and some technical majors are favored for scholarships. The detachment can't say which majors will improve your odds, since Air Force needs change.

On AFROTC Form 48 you plan your courses through graduation. Once you're contracted or in the last two years (POC), changing majors needs AFROTC HQ approval and isn't guaranteed, and a scholarship awarded for a technical major can be lost if you switch. Heavy-credit majors like engineering can be spread over five years, and some approved 5-year majors can get extra scholarship terms.

You take the Air Force Fitness Assessment every semester. You don’t have to pass one to join, but you must pass your most recent one before you contract, attend Field Training or commission. You also need to meet Air Force height and weight (or body fat) standards at those points.

• Athletes over the height and weight standard can get a temporary waiver while competing, but must meet the standard to commission.
• If you can't meet the standards yet, take the freshman Aerospace Studies classes as a participating student while you train.

You need at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA to stay in AFROTC, compete for the last two years, attend Field Training and contract, plus a C or better in every AFROTC class. Scholarships need at least a 2.5 term and cumulative GPA, and scholarship boards can set higher minimums. GPA and fitness score are the two factors you control most directly, and both are weighed for scholarships and for selection into the last two years. Submit high school or college transcripts and test scores with your application.

You don't need a scholarship to join. Many cadets start without one and earn one later.

• High school students: apply for the High School Scholarship Program (HSSP) before starting college. The application usually runs July through December, and you can't have attended college full-time.
• College students:In-College Scholarships (ICSP) are 2- to 3-year merit scholarships. The Detachment Commander nominates active cadets, so you can't apply before you join. Nominees need a passing AFOQT and fitness assessment and at least a 2.5 GPA (see #15).
• Charles McGee Leadership Award (CMLA): a 2-year tuition award for cadets who earn an Enrollment Allocation, complete Field Training and meet every scholarship requirement at that point. It's a one-time chance: if you don't receive it then, there are no later scholarship opportunities.
• Outside scholarships, such as from the Order of Daedalians, are announced to cadets.
• Graduate and second-degree students: AFROTC scholarships pay only toward a first bachelor's degree.
• One per cadet: you can activate only one AFROTC scholarship during your time in the program.

AFROTC HQ sets the number of scholarships each year based on the needs of the Air Force, and they're highly competitive.

Contracted cadets receive a monthly stipend, and scholarship cadets also get a book allowance. Cadets without a scholarship start receiving the stipend when they contract to enter the last two years.

No. AFROTC has no housing requirement, so follow your school's housing rules. Scholarships normally pay tuition and fees, but a cadet can convert a scholarship or the CMLA entirely into a housing benefit of up to $10,000 a year for on-campus or university-contracted housing. The conversion is requested each year by August 31, and none of the scholarship then goes to tuition.

Expect one Aerospace Studies class, a two-hour Leadership Lab and two to three PT sessions each week. Mandatory training is capped at 6 hours a week, and you need at least 80% attendance in class, LLAB and PT to pass each.

• Thursdays at CU Boulder: AS100 and AS200 classes, then LLAB in the afternoon (around 3:30 pm).
• Juniors and seniors have class twice a week, usually Tuesday and Thursday.
• PT is two to three sessions a week, early in the morning. If the commute isn't practical, the Detachment Commander can let crosstown cadets do extra sessions at a nearby ROTC unit or on their own with an approved workout.

Plan for a few hours a week, more if you hold a cadet leadership role.

Yes, as long as you don't overload yourself. Academics come first, and a serious athletic injury could change your medical status. Contact the Recruiting Officer before you apply to talk through conflicts with LLAB and PT. Optional cadet activities include Arnold Air Society and Honor Guard.

Field Training is the main summer requirement: about two weeks at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, normally the summer between sophomore and junior year. It covers leadership training, career orientations and Air Force base life. Travel and uniform items are provided, and you attend once. Before you go, you must pass your most recent fitness assessment and meet height and weight standards. Separately, every cadet completes at least one Officer Development Training event in the first two years and one in the last two.

Cadets compete for a slot (an Enrollment Allocation) in their sophomore year, or in their AS250 year on the 3-year track, and not everyone is selected. A cadet who isn't selected may be allowed one more try the next year.

Yes, once you're an active cadet; applicants and participating students don't receive uniforms. Uniforms are issued in stages during your first year, starting with a detachment-issued polo worn with khaki pants.

No job is guaranteed. Cadets commission into the Air Force or Space Force, and career fields (AFSCs) are assigned based on service needs, your degree, your performance, your preferences and your commander's recommendation.

Cadets list job and base preferences as juniors, or as seniors on a five-year plan. Medical and legal careers have their own paths, such as HPSP for health professions. Browse options on the USAF Careers tab or at airforce.com/careers. For flying jobs, see #25.

Taking first-year AFROTC classes doesn't obligate you to serve.

• Without a scholarship: the commitment begins when you contract to enter the Professional Officer Course (POC) after Field Training.
• With a scholarship: you sign a contract when the scholarship is activated. Contracted freshmen, including 4-year HSSP recipients, can ask to leave through Freshman Self-Initiated Elimination before sophomore AFROTC classes begin. Leaving this way may rule out entering a commissioning program later.
• After commissioning: most new lieutenants serve four years of active duty. Rated career fields (pilot, CSO, RPA, ABM) carry longer commitments.

To leave before you contract, tell the cadre and drop the Aerospace Studies class and LLAB through registration. To come back later, apply again.

Pilot and other rated slots (CSO, RPA, ABM) are competitive, and you compete with cadets nationwide in the year before you commission. Selection weighs your AFOQT or PCSM score (AFOQT + TBAS + flying hours), Detachment Commander ranking, GPA, fitness score and Field Training ranking.

• AFOQT: Det 105 gives it a few times a year, usually on fall Saturdays (September or October).
• Passing scores: 15 Verbal and 10 Quantitative to commission. Rated candidates also need at least 25 on the matching rated score (Pilot, CSO or ABM), and pilot and RPA candidates need a PCSM of at least 10. Your best score on each part across attempts counts.
• Attempts: take your first AFOQT by the end of your first semester in AFROTC. You get three attempts, at least 90 days apart, and a third attempt needs a Region Commander waiver. If you already pass, retake only to be more competitive for a rated career.
• TBAS: pilot and RPA candidates must take it. Det 105 doesn't give it; it's scheduled as needed at nearby sites, which have included the Air Force Academy and F.E. Warren AFB. Civilians applying for OTS, see #31.
• Your scores: search "AFOQT scores" and select DET 105 as the test location.

Nursing students compete on a separate nursing board for a slot in the last two years, and a slot isn't guaranteed. You must be accepted into an accredited nursing program; if you aren't, you can request a non-technical slot to stay in AFROTC. Nurses don't need a passing AFOQT to commission, but a nursing slot can't compete for rated careers. HPSP is another route into Air Force health careers.

Yes.

• Active duty: you must separate and have a DD 214 before the semester starts.
• Guard and Reserve: you can keep serving while in AFROTC. You'll need your unit's conditional release (DD Form 368) before you compete for the last two years (see #21) or are nominated for a scholarship.
• Enlisted commissioning programs (SOAR, SLECP and similar): the detachment can review and sign your AFROTC Form 48.
• Credit for service: if you start with fewer than four years of school left, the Detachment Commander can credit prior service toward the first two years (GMC). 180 or more consecutive days of active duty, or Basic Military Training plus creditable Guard or Reserve years, can count for up to four semesters. You still have to earn a slot in the last two years.
• Medical: an enlistment waiver doesn't carry over. Expect a new medical review, though a qualifying physical from the past 24 months may be reused.
• AFOQT: if you already have passing scores, you don't need to retake it.

Accreditation for prior service is currently offered only in exceptional circumstances.

Upload your DD 214 or DD 368 with your application.

1. Apply for the HSSP scholarship during high school.
2. After you're admitted to CU Boulder, UCCS or a crosstown school, apply to Det 105 before your freshman fall.
3. Upload JROTC, CAP or Eagle Scout documents with the application.

JROTC isn't being considered for Aerospace Studies class credit at this time. Families are welcome on cadet-led tours (see #3).

Yes, if you're full-time (9 graduate credit hours per semester unless your school sets a different load) and have enough time left in school to finish at least three years of AFROTC. You don't have to finish the additional degree to commission. AFROTC scholarships pay only toward a first bachelor's degree, so graduate and second-degree students can't use one.

Yes. Transferring detachments doesn't mean retaking AS100, but both commanders must agree: your current commander approves the release, starting with an email to ours, and our commander accepts you. Contracted cadets must keep the same major unless a change is approved. Moving between schools within Det 105 is simple if you're in good standing. You can also start at a Det 105 school and transfer later to another university with AFROTC, if that detachment accepts you.

No. Contact your local Air Force Recruiting Service (AFRS) office to schedule a TBAS.