<p>This is really a very simple issue. First of all, no institution is responsible for students learning to think. Many of the most genuinely “intellectual” people in history had little, no, or fully secular, mass education. The annals abound both in antiquity and today. It is naive to think that comes from some kind of mystical or professorial interaction. It comes from study, reading, inquisitiveness, access to bright minds, etc. And in the latter regard, the SAs are 2nd to none! The opportunities for learning AND trying are amazing. The experiences infused, places students go, things they do, and perhaps most important … the minds that are fully accessible to them is stunning. Remember, UNLIKE most elite institutions, the primary role of USNA professors is … TEACHING. That is far down the list of responsibilities of professors at elite institutions. Many places it is a minor miracle for an undergrad … or even a grad student … to get any real access to the great minds who are off giving or writing papers and refereed journal articles. THAT is how they get grants, tenure and promotion, and recognition. </p>
<p>So in reality, a SA student has far greater opportunity for substantial and continual intellectual interaction, experiential opportunity (at little or no expense), and intellectual development than at nearly any other institution he might consider. </p>
<p>But if you doubt this … I suggest YOU define what intellectual development and growth means … and how you would get that. I rest this case.</p>