Title 14, Coast GuardRelease 119-102

§1925 Agreement

Title 14 › SUBTITLE II — PERSONNEL › CHAPTER 19 — COAST GUARD ACADEMY › SUBCHAPTER II — CADETS › § 1925

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Cadets must sign a contract about how long they will serve. They must finish the Academy. If they are offered a commission when they graduate, they must accept it and serve at least five years on active duty. If no commission is offered or the cadet leaves early as a regular officer, the cadet must take a commission in the Coast Guard Reserve and stay in that reserve until the service obligation is complete. The Secretary can move a cadet who breaks the contract into the Reserve and can order them to active duty for up to four years. The cadet can be put into an appropriate enlisted grade. The Secretary will write rules saying what counts as a breach, how to decide if one happened, and how long any ordered active duty lasts. The commissioned service obligation starts at appointment and ends on the sixth anniversary or, at the Secretary’s choice, up to the eighth anniversary. Non‑citizens are excluded, minors need a parent or guardian’s OK, and failing to meet the terms can trigger repayment under section 303a(e) of title 37.

Full Legal Text

Title 14, §1925

Coast Guard, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Each cadet shall sign an agreement with respect to the cadet’s length of service in the Coast Guard. The agreement shall provide that the cadet agrees to the following:

(1)That the cadet will complete the course of instruction at the Coast Guard Academy.

(2)That upon graduation from the Coast Guard Academy the cadet—

(A)will accept an appointment, if tendered, as a commissioned officer of the Coast Guard; and

(B)will serve on active duty for at least five years immediately after such appointment.

(3)That if an appointment described in paragraph (2) is not tendered or if the cadet is permitted to resign as a regular officer before the completion of the commissioned service obligation of the cadet, the cadet—

(A)will accept an appointment as a commissioned officer in the Coast Guard Reserve; and

(B)will remain in that reserve component until completion of the commissioned service obligation of the cadet.

(b)(1)The Secretary may transfer to the Coast Guard Reserve, and may order to active duty for such period of time as the Secretary prescribes (but not to exceed four years), a cadet who breaches an agreement under subsection (a). The period of time for which a cadet is ordered to active duty under this paragraph may be determined without regard to section 651(a) of title 10.

(2)A cadet who is transferred to the Coast Guard Reserve under paragraph (1) shall be transferred in an appropriate enlisted grade or rating, as determined by the Secretary.

(3)For the purposes of paragraph (1), a cadet shall be considered to have breached an agreement under subsection (a) if the cadet is separated from the Coast Guard Academy under circumstances which the Secretary determines constitute a breach by the cadet of the cadet’s agreement to complete the course of instruction at the Coast Guard Academy and accept an appointment as a commissioned officer upon graduation from the Coast Guard Academy.

(c)The Secretary shall prescribe regulations to carry out this section. Those regulations shall include—

(1)standards for determining what constitutes, for the purpose of subsection (b), a breach of an agreement under subsection (a);

(2)procedures for determining whether such a breach has occurred; and

(3)standards for determining the period of time for which a person may be ordered to serve on active duty under subsection (b).

(d)In this section, “commissioned service obligation”, with respect to an officer who is a graduate of the Academy, means the period beginning on the date of the officer’s appointment as a commissioned officer and ending on the sixth anniversary of such appointment or, at the discretion of the Secretary, any later date up to the eighth anniversary of such appointment.

(e)(1)This section does not apply to a cadet who is not a citizen or national of the United States.

(2)In the case of a cadet who is a minor and who has parents or a guardian, the cadet may sign the agreement required by subsection (a) only with the consent of the parent or guardian.

(f)A cadet or former cadet who does not fulfill the terms of the obligation to serve as specified under section (a), or the alternative obligation imposed under subsection (b), shall be subject to the repayment provisions of section 303a(e) of title 37.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

14 U.S.C. § 1925

Title 14, Coast Guard

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102