ROTC was founded with the passage of the National Defense Act in 1916 designed to provide an avenue for college students to works towards a commission as an officer in the armed forces and is now offered at more than 1,100 colleges across the country.  Whereas there are more than 1,200 colleges across the country with an ROTC presence, only slightly more than 50 have all three branches,  and the University of New Mexico is the only higher education institution in this state to have all three programs.