AROTC scholarship award

Dart,

He shouldn't be shocked if he gets a couple of paychecks deposited every few days into his account at first. At least for our DS (AFROTC) it was every couple of days starting about 30 days in. It is just them playing catch up. I.E the 1st check maybe smaller because it is for the days he was actually contracted, not the whole pay period, than the book money shows up separately, than they should be on track for the regular 1st and 15th pay periods.

Just giving you that as FYI because I remember when he got his first deposits they just appeared in his account, but the amount wasn't what he thought it would be and had an OMG moment, until he realized he contracted on the 7th, thus the unit missed the cut off date for the 15th pay period, and additionally he was only contracted for 1/2 of that pay period. His father and I always purchased his books, so he just handed in the receipt, and it took him a few seconds to figure out why he was getting this odd number deposited...oh yea, book allowance!
 
Dart,

Your son's book money will come as a one time deposit each semester of $600.00, he should not need to turn in any receipts. When he talks to the HR person when signing the contract tell him to make sure HR records the contract that day with cadet command. The stipends will start from the day they are signed and recorded.
 
Jcleppe said:
Dart,

Your son's book money will come as a one time deposit each semester of $600.00, he should not need to turn in any receipts. When he talks to the HR person when signing the contract tell him to make sure HR records the contract that day with cadet command. The stipends will start from the day they are signed and recorded.
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When does that book money normally get paid? Did I read somewhere that it's like 45 days into the semester?
 
leapyear said:
When does that book money normally get paid? Did I read somewhere that it's like 45 days into the semester?
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No, it is Tuition/Fees that are referenced in the Scholarship Cadet Contract to be paid 45 days into the Term every year, not just at first Contracting. I've read varying reports of how Books are handled... it can be paid a few days into the term for returning Cadets, not sure about newly contracting cadets.
 
leapyear said:
When does that book money normally get paid? Did I read somewhere that it's like 45 days into the semester?
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All depends on how squared away the battalion HR person is and how they get the paperwork submitted.
 
I think it's almost completely dependent on the HR staff at your battalion. My son's tuition and room/board has been paid several days prior to the start of school each semester (so far!). His book $ tends to come in a week or so after the term begins.
 
So nice to see many posters post their personal answers to my questions. Thank you! Honestly, my husband and I have paid into his books and housing/dining since DS was awarded grants that paid his tuition:shake: AND we want to see some of that money back into our pockets:redface: I will let you know when we start seeing his bank account explode!!!
 
DartFrogLover said:
So nice to see many posters post their personal answers to my questions. Thank you! Honestly, my husband and I have paid into his books and housing/dining since DS was awarded grants that paid his tuition:shake: AND we want to see some of that money back into our pockets:redface: I will let you know when we start seeing his bank account explode!!!
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The $600 book stipend will be deposited directly into your son's bank account, as are the monthly stipends, so it is indeed his account that will explode. You may have to pry it out.

I wonder how the reimbursement will work for the $$ you laid out for housing. It is likely to be convoluted since there are as many as five parties involved: 1) ROTC 2) School Financial Aid Office 3) School Accounts Receivable 4) Your son and 5) You.

If you haven't done so, you may want to arrange access to his school financial account. I submit the following anecdote to support this recommendation. As Cadet Delahanty had received a full ride, including room and board, and was over 18, he did not offer and we did not insist on his giving us permission to be able to review his account with his school. Apparently he never looked into it either and just blithely swiped his ID/debit card when the need arose, never wondering where the money came from to fund his purchases. I doubt he was even aware that his school account had a favorable balance which had exceeded $20,000.

When we eventually examined a document known as 1098-T we had received months from the university months earlier (noting also that it had been filed with the Department of the Treasury), we were stunned by the astronomical figure indicated as the total of his scholarship. It turned out that the school had never bothered to cancel the generous merit award to which he was no longer entitled. In addition, other accounting errors had been made. After a number of calls to various offices I finally succeeded in reaching someone who understood (and scantily acknowledged) the mistakes the school had made. Somehow the account was unmuddled, at least on the school level.

We still don't have access to his account. But after an initiation into the nightmare of debt compounding at 1.5% monthly, Cadet Delahanty monitors his account with regularity.

Next Tale: Room, Board and the1040
 
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Wow! I don't understand why cadet Delahanty will not let you access his school portal. Yes, I am on his accounts and can look up or talk with them, so we hope we do not get into a situation like yours. Our DS in focusing on school and of course his portal, but I am the one that pays what needs to be paid from his checking account. A good lesson to be learned from you. Thank you for sharing that.





EDelahanty said:
The $600 book stipend will be deposited directly into your son's bank account, as are the monthly stipends, so it is indeed his account that will explode. You may have to pry it out.

I wonder how the reimbursement will work for the $$ you laid out for housing. It is likely to be convoluted since there are as many as five parties involved: 1) ROTC 2) School Financial Aid Office 3) School Accounts Receivable 4) Your son and 5) You.

If you haven't done so, you may want to arrange access to his school financial account. I submit the following anecdote to support this recommendation. As Cadet Delahanty had received a full ride, including room and board, and was over 18, he did not offer and we did not insist on his giving us permission to be able to review his account with his school. Apparently he never looked into it either and just blithely swiped his ID/debit card when the need arose, never wondering where the money came from to fund his purchases. I doubt he was even aware that his school account had a favorable balance which had exceeded $20,000.

When we eventually examined a document known as 1098-T we had received months from the university months earlier (noting also that it had been filed with the Department of the Treasury), we were stunned by the astronomical figure indicated as the total of his scholarship. It turned out that the school had never bothered to cancel the generous merit award to which he was no longer entitled. In addition, other accounting errors had been made. After a number of calls to various offices I finally succeeded in reaching someone who understood (and scantily acknowledged) the mistakes the school had made. Somehow the account was unmuddled, at least on the school level.

We still don't have access to his account. But after an initiation into the nightmare of debt compounding at 1.5% monthly, Cadet Delahanty monitors his account with regularity.

Next Tale: Room, Board and the1040
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Does AROTC pay for housing?

AFROTC only pays for tuition. Even if the tuition is 15K, but you have a Type 2 that pays up to 18K, that 3K difference does not go to your college account, because the key words are UP TO 18K, not flat 18K amount like a merit scholarship.

Dart,

To add onto EDelahanty's post and yours too. Parents of 1st time college students do not typically know that to access the students account at the college they(student) must create an account with a password for you personally.

I point this out because I can't tell if he created your own personal account or you are just using his access. The reason this becomes an issue is that most colleges require the students to change their access info every 6 months for security reasons. They do not require the parents to do the same, at least our kids different colleges kept our access info the same for their entire time there. Hence, if you rarely ever go into his account, come a few months from now you may be locked out and unable to understand why you can't get in.

I never had access to my kids bank accounts, not even on the account. We set up the system that any bill from the school came out of Bullet's and my joint account, but we were able to do that because the kids put us on their account for college with our own access. We can't access grades, just the ability to talk to the school about money issues. Didn't worry about the bank issue because I knew if he was short on money he would call home and we would run to the bank to make a deposit that day. I think the 3 of them have done this about 1x a semester every yr. They have never bounced a check, and they have lived on Ramen when they were waiting for payday instead of calling the folks. For them to call and ask for money it was really about not being able to afford even Ramen.

I could understand a child not wanting to share their portal access because typically that also means you can see everything including their emails. The system that we had with our kids colleges, gave them the best of both worlds. We can watch the financial account, but not their private lives.

Than again, I am a Mom that never requested them to be my friend on FB either until they requested it 1st. I am a strange duck!
 
Pima - you may be referring to my post above - my son received a Room and Board Scholarship from the ROTC department, which is paid at the same time as his tuition scholarship.
 
I was actually referring to EDelahanty's post about room and board. Your DS's came from the det at his college, not coming out if I am correct the ROTC scholarship program that candidates are applying for now as a HS student.

I.E. why I said key words for AFROTC is UP TO, candidates new to the system may see it as 18K a yr., without realizing it is only for tuition. Any excess would not be applied to R & B or a check cut back to them personally for however they want to spend it.

I wonder how the reimbursement will work for the $$ you laid out for housing. It is likely to be convoluted since there are as many as five parties involved: 1) ROTC 2) School Financial Aid Office 3) School Accounts Receivable 4) Your son and 5) You.
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ROTC is not involved per se as a scholarship recipient for HSSP, because like your DS that was the det., not the program.
 
Pima said:
I was actually referring to EDelahanty's post about room and board. Your DS's came from the det at his college, not coming out if I am correct the ROTC scholarship program that candidates are applying for now as a HS student.

I.E. why I said key words for AFROTC is UP TO, candidates new to the system may see it as 18K a yr., without realizing it is only for tuition. Any excess would not be applied to R & B or a check cut back to them personally for however they want to spend it.



ROTC is not involved per se as a scholarship recipient for HSSP, because like your DS that was the det., not the program.
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The AROTC Scholarship can be used for either Tuition or Room and Board. When the cadet signs the contract they check either the Tuition box or the Room and Board box.

My son chose the tuition because he was OOS and the tuition cost was higher then the Room and Board. Cadets that were in state usually chose the Room and Board box because the cost was higher then the tuition. The only difference is that if the cadet selects the Room and Board it will be taxable, for my son's school that was still a better deal since the in state tuition was much lower then the Room and Board.

Some cadets have an academic scholarship that pays for tuition, theses cadets can then opt for the AROTC HSSP Scholarship be used for Room and Board.

I assume that Jcc123's son is using the HSSP AROTC scholarship for Room and Board, the money does not come from the battalion, it comes from Cadet Command, the same as if he were getting the money for tuition. The amount the cadet is paid for Room and Board is based on the value of the Room and Board charged by the school, there is a formula that is used if the cadet lives off campus.

Some battalions do offer small scholarships that are paid for out of the Battalion's account for certain cadets, that depends widely on the battalion.
 
JCleppe - no, my son uses his ROTC Scholarship for tuition. He also has a separate full R & B scholarship that was awarded to him by the battalion itself.
 
Jcc123 said:
JCleppe - no, my son uses his ROTC Scholarship for tuition. He also has a separate full R & B scholarship that was awarded to him by the battalion itself.
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OK, Got it.

That's a nice benefit from your son's Battalion, congrats to your son.

For cadets who are not in Battalions that have the funds for these types of scholarships, they are allowed to use the HSSP Scholarship for one or the other.
 
Learn something new everyday.

AFROTC scholarship is for tuition and tuition alone. Never knew that AROTC they could use it for either.

That's why the word ASSUME means makes an...

That is a pretty sweet deal where the cadet can decide.
 
Pima said:
Does AROTC pay for housing ?
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Army ROTC Scholarship can be used to pay for Tuition and Fees or Room and Board, but not both.

Some schools will offer free Room and Board to AROTC Scholarship winners. Uncle Sam pays Tuition and Fees. School pays Room and Board. Student gets a free ride.

Here is a list of the comparable costs of North East schools with and without a scholarship based on published 2012 rates.

http://www.marist.edu/studentlife/rotc/scholarships.html
 
Tax Implications

Marist College ROTC said:
Army ROTC Scholarship can be used to pay for Tuition and Fees or Room and Board, but not both.

Some schools will offer free Room and Board to AROTC Scholarship winners. Uncle Sam pays Tuition and Fees. School pays Room and Board. Student gets a free ride.

Here is a list of the comparable costs of North East schools with and without a scholarship based on published 2012 rates.

http://www.marist.edu/studentlife/rotc/scholarships.html
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At many state-supported schools, room and board can equal or exceed tuition, particularly for in-state students, so it may make more sense to utilize the scholarship for R&B. However, note the following.

If the AROTC scholarship is used for tuition, it is not considered taxable income by the IRS.

If the AROTC scholarship is used instead for room and board, it probably will be considered taxable income. (verify that with your accountant - I am not offering tax advice).

If the school provides all or a portion of room and board as a supplement to the AROTC scholarship (which has been used for tuition), the R&B portion is considered taxable income.

Next Lesson: DIY and DIWY (Doing it Wrong Yourself)
 
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