There are 2 ways an AF member can go to grad school, and that needs to be explained.
1. Full time job is attending grad school...this is what Hornet and Eagle are currently doing.
The AF picks up that tab, because your job is to attend grad school and nothing else.
It is highly competitive to get this opportunity and I don't think anyone in the AF would say that is the way the majority get their Masters.
2. TA.
This is where you attend on your own time and the AF pays for 75% of the bill.
Your job is not to attend grad school, but to be XYZ in the AF, thus, it is a bennie for being in the AF.
This is the way the majority of officers earn their Masters.
This is the program where your time owed starts when you take the last TA and is concurrent with your payback.
It is important to differentiate between the 2.
As far as many AFA cadets determining whether or not to apply for Grad school straight out of the AFA, it becomes a long thought out process since it can be a double edge sword.
Attending grad school with a follow on for UPT will delay them entering the op flying world up to in Hornet's case 3 yrs. During that time those who went straight to UPT are racking and stacking flight hours and upgrades making them competitive for TPS and WIC. The AF doesn't send sr O3s to these schools, they are traditionally mid O3 IPs.
That means they have to weigh at a young age, before they even enter the flying world, which means more to them, since there is a high probability that they will not become a patch wearer due to age/rank.
I am sure Hornet and Eagle will tell you that they really had to think long and hard about their decision and that it was not an easy one to make.
They will also tell you that it is not a given to get that opportunity out of the AFA, whereas, TA is a given for AD members.
OBTW, FWIW, I think TA became a topic on this because the OP asked about the avg cadet/mid, and to get the opportunity like Hornet and Eagle were presented did not come about by being the avg cadet. TA as an AF AD member is the more traditional route for the avg cadet.
Hornet and Eagle are the people at least for the AFA side that you should pm regarding this matter. They can walk you through the process.
Thanks Pima, its all clear now.