September 13, 2022
Best Community Colleges: Marion
Military Institute (AL)
Marion Military Institute (MMI),
located in Marion, Alabama, is a two-year junior college and regarded as the
official state military college of Alabama. Founded in 1842, MMI is the oldest
military junior college in the U.S. The junior college focuses on intellectual,
moral-ethical, physical-athletic, and leadership development experiences in a
military environment. In recent years, MMI has produced more than 206 admirals
and generals; the school has a number of renowned military alumni.
MMI offers various military training
programs including the Army’s Early Commissioning Program (ECP) in which
qualified students can get commissioned as a Second Lieutenant after two years
of college.
The Service Academy Preparation
Program (SAP) provides freshmen a year of solid academic and physical
preparation for students who wish to attend one of the Service Academies (West
Point, Air Force Academy, Naval Academy, Merchant Marine Academy or Coast Guard
Academy). Marion also offers the first two years of the Air Force Reserve
Officer Training Corps.
MMI recently introduced a new
program: An extracurricular flight-training program using a local partner in
aviation. Enrollees learn to fly through a combination of online ground school
instruction, computer-based and in-flight training.
Providing a private pilot’s certificate,
the program is designed to preclude U.S. Air Force and Navy Initial Flight
Screening (IFS) requirements.
Annual enrollment of degree- and
non-degree-seeking students is ~400.
The junior college offers Associate
of Science and Associate of Arts degree programs, based on a rigorous General
Studies curriculum. Within these programs, students may select study options
based on their interests; they can choose the General Studies curriculum or,
focus on specific disciplines e.g. Natural Science, Pre-nursing, Elementary
Education or Criminal Justice.
Cadet life at Marion is rich with
extracurricular options such as Choir, Sports, Drama, Band, Drill Team, etc.
The college ranked #12 in the CNN
Money list of top community colleges in 2012.
