Subsequently, the copyright was picked up by Carl Fischer Music of New York,[5] which continues to list the march in its catalog, both in the original form and in a modern arrangement.

The copyright on the original score was renewed by Sousa in 1918; it has now expired and the work is in the public domain in the United States.

High School Cadets is in the form of a regimental march, consisting of four repeated musical strains with a short introduction: I-AA-BB-CC-DD.

The A theme, in D-flat major, is "an energetic, somewhat jaunty creation, punctuated by crescendos and exuding a sense of tension... more from happy excitement than from stress or agitation.

[7]The use of trombones to emphasize selected elements of melody, as mentioned by Fennell, is characteristic of Sousa's scoring throughout his career.

[8] But in certain other respects, the instrumentation of High School Cadets displays its place in the evolution of the composer's ideas about scoring.

[9] High School Cadets proved popular with recording orchestras and bands, both in Sousa's era and in modern times.