The League notified clubs on Friday of its plans for both levels of the academy, after a review into its talent pathways was undertaken during the season.
With the Australian Institute of Sport ending its association with the academy this year, the AFL has implemented many changes to its elite program, designed to prepare leading teenagers from across the country for the top level.
Players in the level two squad – who are eligible for next year's NAB AFL Draft – will spend two separate stints at AFL clubs in a bid to make them more aware of the demands of an elite environment before they enter the system.
In recent years, members of the academy have spent one week at a single club, but players in this year's squad will have a week at one club starting at the end of November, and another week at a different club at the beginning of January.
The experience at clubs is seen as an important step in gaining an insight into the daily demands of training, preparation, meetings and conditioning for AFL players.
After the second club week, the group will travel to America for a 12-day international high performance camp.
While the specific location for the tour is yet to be confirmed, the AFL's executive last week approved the international tour.
The AFL has taken its academy group to Europe for the past four years, where the AIS had a base in Italy, but next year will be its first trip to the USA, where it is expected to train at high-quality facilities.
Moving the tour to January allows the players' under-18 seasons to avoid being interrupted, with the level two group to come together again in April for a 10-day camp in Melbourne, which is likely to include two games against VFL teams.
While both groups of the academy will come together in Melbourne at the end of September and start of December for their first two camps, the level one group's international component will also be tweaked.
The younger academy squad will again head to New Zealand, but instead of January, will travel at the end of April for five days to coincide with Anzac Day.
Unlike last year, when the AFL took more than 60 players to the Gold Coast in November to attend the NAB AFL Draft as part of a week-long training camp, all of the academy's Australian camps will be based in Melbourne.
The 2014-15 academy squads will be announced on August 11, with the level one group to have 25 members and level two to comprise up to 35 players.
Selectors may leave a couple of places open for level two players who earn spots with standout finals series, like Christian Petracca, who was a late addition to the 2013/14 academy program but looks set to be a top-five draft pick come November.
A highlight of the new-look program will be a game during Grand Final week, where a 'Rising Stars' team will compete against the level two academy.
The Rising Stars will include players eligible for this year's draft from the division two states – Queensland, New South Wales/ACT, Northern Territory and Tasmania.
Midfielders Callum Mills, Darcy Parish and Rhys Mathieson, along with forwards Ryan Burton and Joshua Schache, are among some of the prospects already on recruiters' radars for the 2015 draft.
The academy restructure follows a successful revamp of the NAB AFL Under-18 Championships format, which became a home and away series this season.
Eleven of the first 12 players selected at the 2013 NAB AFL Draft were members of the national academy.
Twitter: @AFL_CalTwomey
