The standards of the National League for Nursing were adopted to evaluate the participating schools. After issuing these regulations, the surgeon general said: The CNC was open to all women between the ages of 17 and 35 who were in good health and had graduated from an accredited high-school. Marriage was permissible subject to individual nursing school guidelines. Successful applicants were eligible for a government subsidy that paid for tuition, books, uniforms, and a stipend. In exchange, student cadets were required to pledge to actively serve in essential civilian or federal government services for the duration of World War II. All state-accredited schools of nursing were eligible to participate in the program; each school, however, was required to apply individually. Of the 1,300 nursing schools in the country, 1,125 participated. For this program, the traditional 36-month nurse training was accelerated to 30 months. Senior nursing students were required to work for a six-month period in a hospital or in another health agency. In return, the federal government would pay the schools for the related tuition and fees of the students.