This will probably be a question never answered by the show but I wonder if the academy class starship was a range of various satellite academies during the pre burn era when the federation was at its peak if they had spread to beta, gamma, and delta quadrant worlds to train new recruits without having to go all the way to Earth. After thr burn maybe the athena was the only one left.
It's heavily implied in the show that the Academy class and the Athena herself are new concepts. However the idea of Starfleet using training vessels is not new and was something that occurred in the 23rd and 24th centuries. It's stated that Tilly has been with second year students in the beta quadrant presumably on a ship, but she seems unfamiliar with being on an academy class starship.
My guess is that cadets prior to the reopening of the academy reopening on earth, were assigned to all active duty starships to conduct and complete their training and gain real world experience as quickly as possible. With Starfleet on a constant war footing, they didn't have the luxury of coddling cadets. This is why 32nd century Starfleet officers who began their careers prior to Discovery's arrival are not explorers and are all hawkish, combat veterans.
It's always been very silly that Starfleet Academy seems to only exist on Earth. Even if half of San Francisco has become SFA by Trek's time, CGI means on-screen fleets that used to be a dozen ships are now 200+. Starbase One had a crew of 80,000 according to Discovery.
They gotta have campuses all over the Federation to be able to populate all that with trained people.
They gotta have campuses all over the Federation to be able to populate all that with trained people.
(Back in Joe Haldeman’s Planet of Judgment, Academy was a planet. Not the title one, but still.)
Not solid canon as they were only seen on bios on a computer screen but these campuses were listed on ENT "Eye of the Beholder"
Starfleet Academy, Beta Aquilae II
Starfleet Academy, Beta Ursae Minor II
Starfleet Academy, Psi Epsilon III
Starfleet Academy, Psi Upsilon III
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