Coast Guard Scholarships a Reality for Citizen-Leader Cadets
By Ken Mallory '06, Director, Citizen-Leader Track
In the fall of 2021, Cameron Alemand ’25 desired service in the United States Coast Guard. Unlike other military branches, the Coast Guard has no ROTC program, so Alemand would have to define his path in the Citizen-Leader Track. Forty-five percent of Coast Guard officers graduate from the Coast Guard Academy, while the rest matriculate into the officer ranks through Officer Candidate School (OCS), prior-enlisted commissioning, or direct commissioning programs. Commissions through OCS, while highly sought-after, are difficult to obtain; scholarships to pay candidates are even more scarce. As a Citizen-Leader Track cadet, Alemand joined two other cadets in the Coast Guard Auxiliary and enrolled in its Auxiliary University Program (AUP) – a training pipeline for hopeful officer candidates.
The Coast Guard Auxiliary is an all-volunteer organization that supplements active-duty forces, providing opportunities to earn personal certifications and qualifications while working under training instructors in operational units between semesters. To gain even more experience on the water, cadets in the Corps interested in the Coast Guard would also join the Virginia Tech sailing club.
But Alemand wanted more. He increased his participation with the Auxiliary, recruited fellow cadets interested in the Coast Guard, and started spending more time with the unit on Claytor Lake. Membership slowly grew, and by the time Alemand was ready to start his senior year, cadets interested in Coast Guard had increased from three to almost thirty. Within the Corps, a cadet AUP unit, housed within the Citizen-Leader Track, was started in April 2024. Over the next year, the group carved out weekly training times, began assessing Coast Guard-specific fitness standards, and utilized instructor-certified cadets to train new members in operational personal qualification standards (PQS). The only thing the group was missing was access to scholarships that could support cadets pursuing Coast Guard OCS.
The Coast Guard offers one primary scholarship – the College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative (CSPI) Scholarship Program. To be eligible, one must be at least a collegiate sophomore at a federally designated Minority Serving Institution (MSI), within a specified distance of a Coast Guard recruiting center. CSPI scholars attend basic training the summer after selection, then return to college as an officer trainee with full tuition, books, and fees paid annually, all while accruing pay and benefits at an E-3 rate.
During his senior year, Alemand was selected for a direct commissioning program and modified OCS. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Jay Vann, commanding admiral of District 5, was invited to his commissioning ceremony and was extremely impressed by the cadet AUP program, the cadets and the Auxiliary unit nearby aiding in Hurricane Helene recovery efforts the previous fall, and the potential offered by the Corps of Cadets’ facilities, staff, and recruitment pool. At his direction, Coast Guard officials worked with Corps staff to designate Virginia Tech as an Executive Champion Partner School under the CSPI program and overcome a 100-mile geographic limitation that previously precluded Virginia Tech from being a CSPI-eligible school. The Executive Champion Partners designation allows Virginia Tech at least one guaranteed CSPI scholarship award each academic year, a tremendous opportunity for the relative size of the Virginia Tech organization. There are only 28 such schools in the country.
In this first year of partnership, four eligible cadets at Virginia Tech applied for CSPI (in addition to Cadet Iona Prendergast ’28, who had been selected as this year’s Executive Champion partner selectee). All four cadets were accepted into this prestigious program, out of 86 applications nationally and 67 overall CSPI selections, one of the largest selection cycles in CSPI history.
As the first Executive Champion Program selectee at Virginia Tech, Prendergast did much to set herself up for success. including aggressively digging for internship opportunities.
“I cold-called seven different Coast Guard stations last winter,” said Prendergast. “Station Golden-Gate called and I had orders by January.” She spent 11 weeks at that unit, earning several PQS qualifications and saving 11 lives. “That internship sealed the deal – I knew I wanted to do Coast Guard!”
As AUP cadets prepare to enter the second year of this partnership, the organization is stronger than ever, consisting of almost 40 cadets. The training that they conduct and receive has earned them billets at Coast Guard units across the country from the Great Lakes to Miami. These experiences allow Virginia Tech cadets to be extremely competitive for CSPI opportunities moving forward. Prendergast believes that the Coast Guard’s mission has much to do with the enthusiasm in the program. “The Coast Guard has a clear mission, and they do it every day,” she said.
What started as Alemand’s dream has become a lasting program within the Corps of Cadets, one that puts them in a position to gain relevant experiences to outpace their competition and earn selection to Coast Guard OCS. CSPI amplifies Upper Quad's competitive edge and has made Virginia Tech and the Corps of Cadets a premier university for aspiring Coast Guard officers.