What are Principal Nominations?
Principal nominations are a nomination method used by some Congressional offices as a way to dictate who they want to get into the Academy. If you receive the principal nomination, and meet the minimum qualifications, then the Academy will accept you.
How does it work?
Per Title 10 Federal law, the Service Academies must offer at least one fully qualified nominee from each Congressional district. If you are the principal nomination, you will receive the offer of appointment, as long as you qualify. The minimum qualifications are that you are academically, physically, and medically qualified.
- Academic: Meet the minimum GPA and SAT/ACT standards.
- Physical: Pass the Candidate Fitness Assessment.
- Medical: Receive DODMERB medical qualification.
How do I know if I received a principal nomination?
It will indicate that you received the principal nomination on your Congressional nomination award letter. If it’s unclear, ask the staffer who is handling Congressional nominations.
How common is it to receive a principal nomination?
In short, it is uncommon. Most of the nomination offices our clients have worked with don’t use the principal method; most use the competitive method. Of the 435 Representatives and 100 Senators, we’ve only heard of 10 or so offices that use the principal method.
What is the competitive method?
The competitive method is nominating a top 10 and then essentially leaving it up to the Academy to determine who they will offer an appointment to. Whereas the principal method is nominating 10 but designating the top one as “principal”, thus dictating who they want the Academy to offer an appointment to.
Although not an exhaustive list, below are the districts that have principal nominations:
| District | Representative | Nearest city |
| TX-27 | Cloud | Corpus Christi |
| FL-27 | Salazar | Miami |
| CA-17 | Khanna | Bay Area |
| CA-14 | Speier | Bay Area |
| MO-4 | Hartzler | Columbia, MO |
| MT-2 | Rosendale | Great Falls, MT |
| NC-14 | Jackson | Charlotte, NC |
| TX-12 | Granger | Fort Worth, TX |
| GA-6 | McCormick | North Atlanta, GA |
| NC | Sen Budd | N/A. North Carolina |
Sources:
https://www.usna.edu/Admissions/Apply/US-Senators-Representatives-and-Delegates.php
