AROTC Scholarship

Navy616

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5-Year Member
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My son received a full tuition AROTC scholarship and has been accepted to a state university. At this time, the college financial aid office is not aware of any ROTC scholarship and have prepared a financial package which excludes the 10K that he will receive from ROTC. So current financial package is made of up grants and loans. Since tuition is $5K, we will use ROTC towards R&B which is $10K. PMS at school has said we have option to use towards tuition or R&B. The question is, how and when will the financial aid office receive confirmation of the ROTC scholarship so that they can re-package the financial aid award? I keep asking and it seems like they have never heard of this situation. I talked to PMS and he keeps referring me to financial aid office.
 
My son received a full tuition AROTC scholarship and has been accepted to a state university. At this time, the college financial aid office is not aware of any ROTC scholarship and have prepared a financial package which excludes the 10K that he will receive from ROTC. So current financial package is made of up grants and loans. Since tuition is $5K, we will use ROTC towards R&B which is $10K. PMS at school has said we have option to use towards tuition or R&B. The question is, how and when will the financial aid office receive confirmation of the ROTC scholarship so that they can re-package the financial aid award? I keep asking and it seems like they have never heard of this situation. I talked to PMS and he keeps referring me to financial aid office.

My son's school said that unless we put the AROTC scholarship onto his financial aid it most of the time doesn't appear on his FA package. We've been told to input the information.

We are also using the scholarship for Room and Board and I will tell you that it's mainly a reimbursement kind of thing. From what I received in an email from the ROTC department, it's usually paid back to us around Nov 15th.

We are to give them proof of the dorm on letter head and the chosen meal plan as well. If my son doesn't get a meal plan then he will get back an amount which is just about between the cheapest meal plan and the most expensive.

The amount is up to $10,000. If the dorm and meal plan costs $9000 then you get back that amount, if it's $10,0001 then they pay $10,000 and you pay $1.
 
My son received a full tuition AROTC scholarship and has been accepted to a state university. At this time, the college financial aid office is not aware of any ROTC scholarship and have prepared a financial package which excludes the 10K that he will receive from ROTC. So current financial package is made of up grants and loans. Since tuition is $5K, we will use ROTC towards R&B which is $10K. PMS at school has said we have option to use towards tuition or R&B. The question is, how and when will the financial aid office receive confirmation of the ROTC scholarship so that they can re-package the financial aid award? I keep asking and it seems like they have never heard of this situation. I talked to PMS and he keeps referring me to financial aid office.

You will need to talk to your FA office regarding the mechanics of getting the scholarship added to your child's bursar account. As to the scholarship itself, there has been a change in Federal Reporting Requirements - ROTC scholarships are no longer considered FA to be reported as "outside aid" in determining eligiblilty for Federal Assistance sucha as Pell Grants and Stafford Loans. I was told this by the FA officer at Goaliegirl's school and was told that we did not need to report the schoarship. It was part of the legislation that improved the other military higher ed benefits.

I don't know the specifics of your son's scholarship (whether it can only be used for tuition or just whether it can be applied to R&B), so the only people who can answer the question would be the FA office. I can't say whether it would affect the scholarship (could have a need-based element) and whether state FA policy looks at ROTC (they don't necessarily have to look at it the same way that the Feds do, but many do because it is easier to process). I would ask for the person who handles the ROTC reimbursements though when dealing with the FA office, so you get the whole procedure up front.
 
Thank you both for your helpful responses. So from what I understand from this and also from the FAO, is to accept all the awards my son has received, state grants, federal grants and loans to pay for all his tuition and housing and then submit letterhead from housing to show that we will use scholarship for housing (which is 10,250) and then they will reimburse us for it. As it is now, we will need to take out a stafford loan to pay for housing so when we receive the ROTC scholarship, do we just use it to pay back the loan? Is the entire $10K scholarship paid to my son all at once in November or do they pay in installments? We're trying to figure out a budget and what we will need up front until ROTC reimburses us. Thank you for your help.
 
It's paid half in the fall and half in the spring. The spring payment was later in the semester as well.

Follow goalidads advice and talk diectly to your FA office about having to put the scholarship down.
 
The financial aid stuff is a little confusing. The very best thing to do is ask your school's FA office. As goaliedad already indicated each school handles financial aid differently.

Generally speaking for AROTC, the ROTC department notifies FA/Admissions of incoming scholarship students.(summer timeframe after cadet command has processed paperwork). The student will be able to get books from campus bookstore where the student will have an account- up to the limit allocated for that semester- usually around $600.00. Any overage is student's responsibility.

Tuition will also be a credit waiting to be paid in October when Cadet command releases funds. I do not have any experience with R&B but would imagine that what previous posters have stated is the right thing to do. Take/send documentation of ROTC scholarship to Housing office/FA and make sure that the University Bursar is aware of your plans. Since the university/college knows they will receive payment from Federal govt for student- usually not a problem.

Problems could arise if student does not fully complete paperwork, pass PT test or have disciplinary infractions which result in the removal from either ROTC program or university. Then student is liable for university costs.

Also, goaliedad is correct in that ROTC scholarships are now considered military benefits under post 9/11 military bill and MAY NOT count as financial aid. However, each university will interpret this law differently and use their own application. Especially for private schools, so just because this law now exists does not necessarily mean each school will honor it. It might be a good idea to let the FA aid office know and see what their response is.

I also wonder about outside scholarships as well. Our daughter should be receiving a few more scholarships, in addition to an ROTC scholarship that converted to a 4 year. Tuition, FA was figured on 1 outside scholarship for school year 2010-11. We have already paid a portion of tuition. I expect that once notified and all payments have been made for the semester, then refund will be headed our way. Hopefullly right before Christmas!

It is important though for each family to discuss their situtation with individual school's Financial Aid office and decide what is the best way to proceed. Schools are not universal and what the final plan will be will be determined by each individual financial situation. Also, any refunds/ etc ( pertaining to ROTC) will come from the university as funds are paid to the school rather than the student. Now whether or not the school will refund to the student or parents will depend on the school policy. If your student does get a refund- make sure they know funds come back to parents. LOL!
 
The amount is up to $10,000. If the dorm and meal plan costs $9000 then you get back that amount, if it's $10,0001 then they pay $10,000 and you pay $1.[/QUOTE]

I have a question. What do you mean the amount is up to ten thousand dollars and if "the meal plan costs 9000 then you get that amount back"? Does that mean they give you the differnce. Could you explain.
 
The amount is up to $10,000. If the dorm and meal plan costs $9000 then you get back that amount, if it's $10,0001 then they pay $10,000 and you pay $1.

I have a question. What do you mean the amount is up to ten thousand dollars and if "the meal plan costs 9000 then you get that amount back"? Does that mean they give you the differnce. Could you explain.[/QUOTE]

I think what it means is that the AROTC scholarship will only cover up to $10k for room and board. If the actual cost of the R&B is only $9K then ROTC will only pay/reimburse you for $9K. If R&B is over $10K (like $10,0001) then you will get back $10K and will be liable to pay out of pocket the remaining $1. Anyone out there that sees that I need to be corrected, please do so.

I too have a question, how is the reimbursement handled if we pay out of pocket for the first $10K? Does it go directly to the school or to the student's personal checking account?
 
The amount is up to $10,000. If the dorm and meal plan costs $9000 then you get back that amount, if it's $10,0001 then they pay $10,000 and you pay $1.

I have a question. What do you mean the amount is up to ten thousand dollars and if "the meal plan costs 9000 then you get that amount back"? Does that mean they give you the differnce. Could you explain.[/QUOTE]

since it's a basically a reimbursement thing, I used the phrase "you get that back". Put another way, if the total bill is $9,000 for room and board the scholarship pays $9,000. If it's $10,001 the it pays $10,000 and the student must pay the remaining $1.
 
I too have a question, how is the reimbursement handled if we pay out of pocket for the first $10K? Does it go directly to the school or to the student's personal checking account?

The Army pays the school. If there is a balance on the account the school will reimburse.
As House says - policies differ here. Some colleges only reimburse to the student.

My advice - why tie up your money? Don't pay the college - let the Army pay the bill.
 
The Army pays the school. If there is a balance on the account the school will reimburse.
As House says - policies differ here. Some colleges only reimburse to the student.

My advice - why tie up your money? Don't pay the college - let the Army pay the bill.

My son's college will allow deferment of the housing bill but only until Oct 1. It clearly states that if financial aid doesn't come in or what was anticipated falls short, then it is the student's responsibility.
A hold is placed and then he wouldn't be able to register for classes for the spring.

Here is part of the email from the person who handles this kind of stuff at the ROTC,
"Also since he is using his scholarship for room and board instead of tuition, if he is living on campus I will need a receipt for the dorm (even if it is not totally paid, and the receipt must be an actual receipt with the housing address on it and it needs to show the total amount that his dorm is. The same goes for the meal plan if he is buying a meal plan I need the receipt from XXX Dining. If he chooses not to buy a meal plan then he can get reimbursed what the off campus Cadets get and that is the average between highest and lowest meal plan. Another heads up the money usually is not reimbursed at the earliest 15 Nov for Fall and 1 March for Spring so it is pretty much a reimbursement basis."
 
this is good information. That is why it is very important that each student/family ask their school what the school policy is. At the university where my husband was involved with ROTC the university was totally okay with the student's account going unpaid until the ROTC portion had been paid. This university also "kicked in" room and board.

So be sure to be prepared to pay whatever differences there are between ROTC scholarship and COA at individual schools and do so. It is better to make arrangements to pay and be current with student account and later be refunded by university than to be stressing over unpaid college costs.

It is also good to know ahead of time how ROTC scholarship will impact other FA student will be receiving. This has been discussed several times already on other threads.. We are in the very fortunate position of having to notify "expensive" university that 3 yr ROTC has converted to 4 yr ROTC and there will also be outside scholarships as well. All the while we are making tuition payments, as if student didnt have the extra scholarship.

I am sure during the summer FA package will be adjusted,(and self-help portion of financial aid rescinded ) that is okay because our portion of tuition will be paid, refund due and no stress over first year tuition.
 
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