Survey of Service Academy Students

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Government Accountability Office

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
Survey of Service Academy Students 0

Project Citation: 

Government Accountability Office. Survey of Service Academy Students. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2026-02-03. https://doi.org/10.3886/E244892V1

Project Description

Project Title:  View help for Project Title Survey of Service Academy Students
Summary:  View help for Summary This supplemental material presents the questionnaires used to survey students at each of the five service academies (United States Military Academy (West Point); United States Naval Academy (Naval Academy); United States Air Force Academy (Air Force Academy); United States Coast Guard Academy (Coast Guard Academy); and United States Merchant Marine Academy (Merchant Marine Academy)). It also includes the results of our surveys, presented by Academy and each question.

To obtain student perceptions, attitudes, and experiences with their academy’s honor and conduct systems, we surveyed a census of 6,984 sophomore through senior students in the fall semester of academic year 2024-2025 at each academy. Each Academy population received the same questionnaire, but with question and response options tailored to each academy’s terminology and processes. We tracked responses with differing terminology by assigning a standardized code to comparable questions and response sets across academies, which helped to ensure the consistency of our analysis. At the end of our survey period, we received from:
  • West Point – 972 complete responses (31 percent response rate)
  • Naval Academy – 3,086 complete responses (94 percent response rate)
  • Air Force Academy – 2,026 complete responses (68 percent response rate)
  • Coast Guard Academy – 503 complete responses (61 percent response rate)
  • Merchant Marine Academy – 397 complete responses (88 percent response rate)
For our analysis of survey responses, we performed a nonresponse bias analysis using the available student population data. We compared nonrespondents to respondents based on characteristics such as class year, gender, and race/ethnicity and identified differences for some race/ethnicity and gender groups, depending upon the academy. We applied weighting as appropriate to align survey respondents with the overall demographics of their respective academies. For the academies with lower response rates, non-response bias may exist due to unobservable characteristics, but any bias related to demographics included in the non-response model (race and ethnicity, gender, and class year) is mitigated. The survey results in our online supplemental materials are presented by Academy and each question, excluding those with open-ended responses, is presented with its weighted results including margins of error for each response. All survey results are generalizable to the population of their respective academies, unless otherwise noted.

Spreadsheets of aggregated responses, divided by service academy, are available in the zip file.
Original Distribution URL:  View help for Original Distribution URL https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108179

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms military; military service; military; military life; military schools; school discipline
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage United States
Universe:  View help for Universe a census of 6,984 sophomore through senior students in the fall semester of academic year 2024-2025 at each academy
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) survey data
Collection Notes:  View help for Collection Notes Downloaded 2026-02-03

Methodology

Response Rate:  View help for Response Rate
  • West Point – 972 complete responses (31 percent response rate)
  • Naval Academy – 3,086 complete responses (94 percent response rate)
  • Air Force Academy – 2,026 complete responses (68 percent response rate)
  • Coast Guard Academy – 503 complete responses (61 percent response rate)
  • Merchant Marine Academy – 397 complete responses (88 percent response rate)
Weights:  View help for Weights We applied weighting as appropriate to align survey respondents with the overall demographics of their respective academies. 

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