Title 10, Armed ForcesRelease 119-110
§347 International Engagement Authorities for Service Academies
Title 10 › Subtitle A — General Military Law › PART I — ORGANIZATION AND GENERAL MILITARY POWERS › CHAPTER 16 — SECURITY COOPERATION › SUBCHAPTER V — EDUCATIONAL AND TRAINING ACTIVITIES › § 347
Summary
Allows each military department to let people from other countries train at its service academy. These foreign students are extra beyond the academy’s normal size, but no more than 80 may attend any one academy at the same time. The military secretary, with Defense Department approval, picks which countries and how many students from each country. Each service sets entry rules and picks the students, giving priority to those who must serve their own country after graduation. Foreign students get the same pay and allowances as U.S. cadets, but their country must repay the U.S. for those costs at least equal to what it costs the U.S. to train a U.S. cadet; the Secretary of Defense can waive all or part of that repayment. Foreign students follow the same academy rules for admission, discipline, and graduation unless the military secretary says otherwise, and the secretary can set different rules about access to classified information. Graduating foreign students do not get U.S. military appointments and are not subject to certain U.S. admission oaths. Each military department may also run one-for-one student exchanges with foreign military academies. Exchanges are limited to 100 students per academy per year and last no more than one semester. Exchanged foreign students do not get U.S. cadet pay or U.S.-paid international travel. The academy may provide food, in-country travel, clothing, health care, and similar support only to the same level the foreign country provides to the exchanged U.S. cadet. Each academy must pay exchange costs from its own funds, and appropriated spending for an exchange program cannot exceed $1,000,000 per year. Short cultural or language visits of up to four weeks for foreign students, officers, or representatives are allowed, are not counted as enrolled students, and are paid from academy funds with a $40,000 limit from appropriated funds. Service Academy here means the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Full Legal Text
Title 10, §347
Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)Selection of Persons From Foreign Countries To Receive Instruction at Service Academies.—
(1)Attendance authorized.—
(A)In general.—
The Secretary of each military department may permit persons from foreign countries to receive instruction at the Service Academy under the jurisdiction of the Secretary. Such persons shall be in addition to—
(i)in the case of the United States Military Academy, the authorized strength of the Corps of the Cadets of the Academy under section 7442 of this title;
(ii)in the case of the United States Naval Academy, the authorized strength of the Brigade of Midshipmen of the Academy under section 8454 of this title; and
(iii)in the case of the United States Air Force Academy, the authorized strength of the Cadet Wing of the Academy under section 9442 of this title.
(B)Limitation on number.—
The number of persons permitted to receive instruction at each Service Academy under this subsection may not be more than 80 at any one time.
(2)Determination of foreign countries from which persons may be selected.—
The Secretary of a military department, upon approval by the Secretary of Defense, shall determine—
(A)the countries from which persons may be selected for appointment under this subsection to the Service Academy under the jurisdiction of that Secretary; and
(B)the number of persons that may be selected from each country.
(3)Qualifications and selection.—
The Secretary of each military department—
(A)may establish entrance qualifications and methods of competition for selection among individual applicants under this subsection; and
(B)shall select those persons who will be permitted to receive instruction at the Service Academy under the jurisdiction of the Secretary under this subsection.
(4)Selection priority to persons with national service obligation upon graduation.—
In selecting persons to receive instruction under this subsection from among applicants from the countries approved under paragraph (2), the Secretary of the military department concerned shall give a priority to persons who have a national service obligation to their countries upon graduation from the Service Academy concerned.
(5)Pay, allowances, and emoluments of persons admitted.—
A person receiving instruction under this subsection is entitled to the pay, allowances, and emoluments of a cadet or midshipman appointed from the United States, and from the same appropriations.
(6)Reimbursement of costs by foreign countries from which persons are admitted.—
(A)Reimbursement required.—
Each foreign country from which a cadet or midshipman is permitted to receive instruction at one of the Service Academies under this subsection shall reimburse the United States for the cost of providing such instruction, including the cost of pay, allowances, and emoluments provided under paragraph (5). The Secretaries of the military departments shall prescribe the rates for reimbursement under this paragraph, except that the reimbursement rates may not be less than the cost to the United States of providing such instruction, including pay, allowances, and emoluments, to a cadet or midshipman appointed from the United States.
(B)Waiver authority.—
The Secretary of Defense may waive, in whole or in part, the requirement for reimbursement of the cost of instruction for a cadet or midshipman under subparagraph (A). In the case of a partial waiver, the Secretary of Defense shall establish the amount waived.
(7)Applicability of academy regulations, etc.—
(A)In general.—
Except as the Secretary of the military department concerned determines, a person receiving instruction under this subsection at the Service Academy under the jurisdiction of that Secretary is subject to the same regulations governing admission, attendance, discipline, resignation, discharge, dismissal, and graduation as a cadet or midshipman at that Academy appointed from the United States.
(B)Classified information.—
The Secretary of the military department concerned may prescribe regulations with respect to access to classified information by a person receiving instruction under this subsection at the Service Academy under the jurisdiction of that Secretary that differ from the regulations that apply to a cadet or midshipman at that Academy appointed from the United States.
(8)Ineligibility for appointment in the united states armed forces.—
A person receiving instruction at a Service Academy under this subsection is not entitled to an appointment in an armed force of the United States by reason of graduation from the Academy.
(9)Inapplicability of requirement for taking oath of admission.—
A person receiving instruction under this subsection is not subject to section 7446(d), 8458(d), or 9446(d) of this title, as the case may be.
(b)Exchange Programs With Foreign Military Academies.—
(1)Exchange programs authorized.—
The Secretary of a military department may permit a student enrolled at a military academy of a foreign country to receive instruction at the Service Academy under the jurisdiction of that Secretary in exchange for a cadet or midshipman receiving instruction at that foreign military academy pursuant to an exchange agreement entered into between the Secretary and appropriate officials of the foreign country. A student receiving instruction at a Service Academy under the exchange program under this subsection shall be in addition to persons receiving instruction at the Academy under subsection (a).
(2)Limitations on number and duration of exchanges.—
An exchange agreement under this subsection between the Secretary and a foreign country shall provide for the exchange of students on a one-for-one basis each fiscal year. Not more than 100 cadets or midshipmen from each Service Academy and a comparable number of students from foreign military academies participating in the exchange program may be exchanged during any fiscal year. The duration of an exchange may not exceed the equivalent of one academic semester at a Service Academy.
(3)Costs and expenses.—
(A)No pay and allowances.—
A student from a military academy of a foreign country is not entitled to the pay, allowances, and emoluments of a cadet or midshipman by reason of attendance at a Service Academy under the exchange program, and the Department of Defense may not incur any cost of international travel required for transportation of such a student to and from the sponsoring foreign country.
(B)Subsistence, transportation, etc.—
The Secretary of the military department concerned may provide a student from a foreign country under the exchange program, during the period of the exchange, with subsistence, transportation within the continental United States, clothing, health care, and other services to the same extent that the foreign country provides comparable support and services to the exchanged cadet or midshipman in that foreign country.
(C)Source of funds.—
A Service Academy shall bear all costs of the exchange program from funds appropriated for that Academy and from such additional funds as may be available to that Academy from a source, other than appropriated funds, to support cultural immersion, regional awareness, or foreign language training activities in connection with the exchange program.
(D)Limitation on expenditures.—
Expenditures in support of the exchange program from funds appropriated for each Academy may not exceed $1,000,000 during any fiscal year.
(4)Application of other laws.—
Paragraphs (7), (8), and (9) of subsection (a) shall apply with respect to a student enrolled at a military academy of a foreign country while attending a Service Academy under the exchange program.
(5)Regulations.—
The Secretary of the military department concerned shall prescribe regulations to implement this subsection. Such regulations may include qualification criteria and methods of selection for students of foreign military academies to participate in the exchange program.
(c)Foreign and Cultural Exchange Activities.—
(1)Attendance authorized.—
The Secretary of a military department may authorize the Service Academy under the jurisdiction of that Secretary to permit students, officers, and other representatives of a foreign country to attend that Academy for periods of not more than four weeks if the Secretary determines that the attendance of such persons contributes significantly to the development of foreign language, cross-cultural interactions and understanding, and cultural immersion of cadets or midshipmen, as the case may be.
(2)Effect of attendance.—
Persons attending a Service Academy under paragraph (1) are not considered to be students enrolled at that Academy and are in addition to persons receiving instruction at that Academy under subsection (a) or (b).
(3)Financial matters.—
(A)Costs and expenses.—
The Secretary of a military department may pay the travel, subsistence, and similar personal expenses of persons incurred to attend the Service Academy under the jurisdiction of that Secretary under paragraph (1).
(B)Source of funds.—
Each Service Academy shall bear the costs of the attendance of persons at that Academy under paragraph (1) from funds appropriated for that Academy and from such additional funds as may be available to that Academy from a source, other than appropriated funds, to support cultural immersion, regional awareness, or foreign language training activities in connection with their attendance.
(C)Limitation on expenditures.—
Expenditures from appropriated funds in support of activities under this subsection for any Service Academy may not exceed $40,000 during any fiscal year.
(d)Service Academy Defined.—
In this section, the term “Service Academy” means the following:
(1)The United States Military Academy.
(2)The United States Naval Academy.
(3)The United States Air Force Academy.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Prior Provisions
Provisions similar to those in this section were contained in sections 4344 to 4345a, 6957 to 6957b, and 9344 to 9345a, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 114–328.
Amendments
2024—Subsec. (a)(1)(B). Pub. L. 118–159 substituted “80” for “60”. 2018—Subsec. (a)(1)(A)(i). Pub. L. 115–232, § 809(a), substituted “section 7442” for “section 4342”. Subsec. (a)(1)(A)(ii). Pub. L. 115–232, § 809(a), substituted “section 8454” for “section 6954”. Subsec. (a)(1)(A)(iii). Pub. L. 115–232, § 809(a), substituted “section 9442” for “section 9342”. Subsec. (a)(7). Pub. L. 115–232, § 1204(c)(1)(D)(i), substituted “etc.” for “etc..” in heading. Subsec. (a)(9). Pub. L. 115–232, § 809(a), substituted “section 7446(d), 8458(d), or 9446(d)” for “section 4346(d), 6958(d), or 9346(d)”. Subsec. (b)(3)(B). Pub. L. 115–232, § 1204(c)(1)(D)(ii), substituted “etc” for “etc.” in heading. 2017—Subsec. (a)(1)(A)(i), (iii). Pub. L. 115–91 inserted “section” after “Academy under”.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2018 AmendmentAmendment by section 809(a) of Pub. L. 115–232 effective Feb. 1, 2019, with provision for the coordination of
Amendments
and special rule for certain redesignations, see section 800 of Pub. L. 115–232, set out as a note preceding section 3001 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
10 U.S.C. § 347
Title 10, Armed Forces
Last Updated
Sep 22, 2026
Release point: 119-110