USNA is not free

S

sosfiah

New Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2016
Messages
6
"Contrary to popular belief, USNA is not free."
That is the basic message I got while scouring the Internet for information on USNA, tuition/fees-wise. Tuition and housing are paid for, but everything else (books, supplies, uniform items, etc) must be paid for by the individual.

If I apply for scholarships, could they be directed to USNA as well?

Also, I looked at the 2015-2016 Budget Book. Are we obligated to get everything in bulk or could we just get however much we want.....Please help. D:

Thanks.
 
sosfiah said:
"Contrary to popular belief, USNA is not free."
That is the basic message I got while scouring the Internet for information on USNA, tuition/fees-wise. Tuition and housing are paid for, but everything else (books, supplies, uniform items, etc) must be paid for by the individual.

If I apply for scholarships, could they be directed to USNA as well?

Also, I looked at the 2015-2016 Budget Book. Are we obligated to get everything in bulk or could we just get however much we want.....Please help. D:

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Technically it is not all payed for, but realistically it is. They take the charges for all of the stuff you listed and more out of your income. You will actually make money while at USNA, not loose any.
 
And of course the main point being that you owe them time after graduation. Of course in this day and age with so many graduates flipping burgers, the prospects of a guaranteed Job and workexperience are just another Perk!
 
forumjunkie said:
And of course the main point being that you owe them time after graduation. Of course in this day and age with so many graduates flipping burgers, the prospects of a guaranteed Job and workexperience are just another Perk!
Click to expand...
Especially with the retirement age rising. Civillian jobs are slowing down when it comes to upwards mobility for kids fresh out of college due to the time extension caused by retirement age.
 
sosfiah said:
If I apply for scholarships, could they be directed to USNA as well?
Click to expand...

Absolutely, (per LG, above) you can indeed avoid some or even all of the need to finance any upfront costs of books, computer, supplies, uniform items, etc. My DS regrets not putting more effort into securing these scholarship opportunities.
 
If I apply for scholarships, could they be directed to USNA as well?

Also, I looked at the 2015-2016 Budget Book. Are we obligated to get everything in bulk or could we just get however much we want.....Please help. D:

Along with scholarships (& if applicable), you can also use Prepaid college options to help offset the ACE Loan, books, etc. Example Florida Prepaid: Student provides class schedule & scholarship refund form. Upon verification, student (or parent depending on deal made), receives check for current cost of total credit hours completed (2016=$116.70/per credit hr), or can request lump sum amount that has been paid. http://www.itppv.com/documents/pdf/prepaid/prepaid-scholarship-refund-form.pdf

But as mentioned above, you are not coming out of pocket for these expenses & the Academies are the only 'colleges' to pay you a monthly stipend instead of the other way around. Just think, if you get in & have additional scholarship money, you could give your folks some spending cash for the MIDStore- since us Plebe Parents are convinced that is where the scholarship funds are really going! $LOL$
 
LOL..no , USNA is not free...but a word of advice, don't base your decision on whether to apply/attend USNA based upon the cost. Of course, for those that can't otherwise afford college, free tuition, room and board is attractive, but unless you have a sincere desire to serve as a Navy/Marine Corps officer, USNA is not the place for you. With respect to bulk issue v. selective purchase, when I went through (30 + years ago), the initial issue is bulk issue, and you get stuff that you may not use much...but I would suspect that the bulk of the overall cost (books, replacement uniforms, consumables ) are personal choice . As noted above, a Midshipman is paid (if I recall correctly, 1/2 base pay of an Ensign), and the Academy manages the money for you -- you receive a small amount of cash for spending money (it increases a little each year), and can charge uniform and other items from the Midstore, and at graduation, you receive a check for the balance. I think I ended up with a small check (roughly $1000) .
 
If you are not attending USNA/USMA/USAFA/USCGA to become a warrior leader of the finest caliber, then you're doing it WRONG!

THIS IS NOT A FREE COLLEGE EDUCATION PROGRAM WITH A FEW STRINGS ATTACHED AT THE END OF THE GAME!

I managed to complete 4 years at USNA coming from the Fleet and depositing my $1500 on I-Day -1 (a good chunk of change in 1990 dollars) and surviving without scholarships or subsidies from ANYONE.
 
Our son chose not to apply for any scholarships. He had his appointment in hand and did not want to take scholarship funds away from anyone else. That was his call. He has never regretted that choice. You can report on IDay with nothing but the clothes on your back and survive just fine without financial support from other sources.
 
there is also travel to and from school, parent visits, and a huge bill for Commissioning week rental. We wish we could have been able to visit more but finances kept that to a minimum.

Sometimes when potential scholarship organizations find out you have an appointment they want to channel the money to others who are in more need but sometimes you and /they do not know if you have an appointment or not. Never hurts to try, but don't trip over dollars trying to grab pennies. You will find that your time comes at a high price ant the application process as well as maintaining your grades and sports will consume most of your time.
 
forumjunkie said:
there is also travel to and from school, parent visits, and a huge bill for Commissioning week rental. We wish we could have been able to visit more but finances kept that to a minimum.
Click to expand...

However, you would probably have those same expenses at most civilian colleges.

If you happened to have stumbled across USNA on some list of 'prestigious/free' colleges and that is you main motivation for applying, you have probably made a bad choice.
 
I applied and received multiple scholarships before coming to the academy and I have never been more happy that I did so. I was able to pay off roughly ~$8000 of the ACE Loan coming into plebe year. For the first 3 years at the academy, I didn't receive any pay bonus compared to my friends and company mates since all the extra money is put into a "held-pay" account. Before your first class year, they will only release to you $750 at a time (usually given out once a semester) from your held pay account.

Once you are a first class though, all the money that was building up over those three years is released to you at once so I made about $6000 more than my friends at the beginning of this year (I'm a 1/C now), and am making about $200 more per month then my friends who didn't pay off their ACE loan with scholarships.

TL;DR: Apply for scholarships. In the end, the money is coming straight back to your pockets.
 
I would like to make people aware that one is not allowed to claim a midshipman on the FAFSA. If the mid has a sibling in college at the same time, the sibling will be the only student claimed.
 
GoNavyPro,

Maybe I'm just a Grumpy Old Grad who came to USNA from the Fleet with nothing more than my initial $1500 required deposit check (1990 dollars) but I don't understand an ACE loan...

Sounds like you're boasting that you're getting college scolarships while attending a federal service academy on the taxpayer dime.

Not something my generation would be proud of...

So much for developing Midshipen morally, mentally, and physically.
 
There are few in my company who have applied outside scholarships to cover the ACE loan. Most didn't apply any external funds. Nobody really seems to care. I suppose it is not necessarily a bad thing to apply scholarships though, because the scholarship money was meritoriously earned, so why not put it to use...
 
The ACE (Allowance for Clothing and Equipment) "Loan" is what the deposit used to be, except midshipmen are not responsible for paying it up front on I-Day anymore. Loan is a colloquial term, there's no loan involved, it's a massive pay advance.

They don't see the money. They won't miss it. They'll come back from summer training with per diem from fleet cruises, internships, and various TAD training. They'll come back from every single leave period with COMRATS money for every single meal missed. Barring unusual circumstances (wrecked a car), your midshipman will not run out of money. If they blow all their money on food and drinks in DTA, spring break in Cabo, or a nice TV that's their problem and that should not be associated with the "cost of attendance."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top