Devastation Class

Interesting world building, space battles (that are described as if they were on the ocean)
and several surprises.
It ends like its the first book in a series but I can't find any indication there are/will be more.
I was confused by one group of characters, the students.
Are the students what I think of as students, people in school to learn things, like geology, Victorian era romance novels, etc?If so, why would they decide to overthrow the cadets? None of the students would know how to run a spaceship.Or did they all attend space academy and the ones who flunked out are now called students?