Graduate School

LHSGrey29

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Jan 10, 2016
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20
Hello

Is it possible to attend graduate school after West Point while an officer in the Army?
 
Yes, it is quite possible to do graduate school.

If the Army sends you, it is a competitive process and you incur additional commitment. The upside is that you get full pay and benefits while attending. Also, graduate school admissions look very favorably upon applicants sponsored by the Army.

Another option is to get a graduate degree part-time, at your own expense, while serving.
 
Yes, it is quite possible to do graduate school.

If the Army sends you, it is a competitive process and you incur additional commitment. The upside is that you get full pay and benefits while attending. Also, graduate school admissions look very favorably upon applicants sponsored by the Army.

Another option is to get a graduate degree part-time, at your own expense, while serving.


While I am only directly familiar with Navy programs, I am confident the Army offers Tuition Aid and has the same general programs as the other services.

TA can be used to fund all or part of undergrad and advanced degrees for officer and enlisted. Those degrees generally have to be in some subjects of use to the Army, from an accredited institution, and can be online or after-hours. On your own time but I don't believe on your own dime completely.

Only a small percentage of new officers out of an SA or ROTC go right to grad school. There is TA, full-time student status at the Army War College, exchange duty slots at AFIT and Naval Postgraduate School, full-time programs at civilian grad schools, and more that I am sure Army folk will comment on.

Full-time student duty usually occurs at some point near the mid-to-end of obligated service period, but depends on many factors. In general, officers get their Master's sometime between O-2 and O-4 pay grades. It's one of those blocks to check for promotability.

I used Navy TA for my first Master's, going after-hours, and two tours later, the Navy sent me full-time to the Naval Postgraduate School for my 2nd. A Navy goof - to my benefit. They normally don't pay for two; they lost the paperwork for the first one.

I am sure Army folk can add more specifics. I did not agree with "at your own expense," but perhaps Army has dried up their TA fund to drive down-sizing. You can always pay for a degree on your own, on your own time, as usually there is additional service obligation required, running either concurrently or consecutively, depending on current policy. In that case, you owe no time.

Once you separate, there are GI Bill educational benefits and potentially educational benefits from state of residence and the state veterans agency.
 
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Hello all,
apologies if I am jumping in this thread with a personal "dilemma".
My DS is a Midshipman 1/C due to commission and graduate in engineering at a rather well known Ivy League University this Spring. He is a very bright young man and will probably graduate will full Honours etc... He was made aware only relatively late that he may have a chance to compete for a Naval Officer Scholarship Program for a Masters. The Graduate School accepted him immediately and, to make a long and complicated story short, he by hook or by crook managed to get his application in at very last minute. Just when all hope was lost, kudos to the US NAVY, his application was accepted and the NOPS scholarship offered. Unfortunately, when finally all pieces seemed to have fallen in place it became apparent that the merit scholarship amount offered by the University is just shy of the 50% of total tuition costs required by Navy regulations to fulfill OPNAV 1520.24D . This is the highest amount scholarship available so it would be impossible to cover the 50% of tuition through this means as required by the regulations. The actual residual $ cost is not a problem as the money is readily available as the difference between the amount offered by the scholarship and what is actually required is a rather small amount. Is there anyway a waiver could be contemplated ? I would really appreciate any help in this matter as DS is totally dedicated and appreciated by both cadre and academic professors. It would be a shame to lose this opportunity for just a very few '000s of $ (especially since we could easily make up the difference ).
My hope is that anyone familiar with the process at NPS in Pensacola might help .....

Mod - move?
This will get better play in another forum than USMA.

Surely others in NROTC have been in this fix before.

The USNA mids in the UK Scholars/IGEP (Immediate Grad Ed Pgm) group get postgrad scholarships, but are also bound by the 50% rule. Those mids write various organizations and apply for grants to fund the difference. There is a lot of shared information and resources built up by that group and its academic advisors over the years, so the mids know exactly where to apply each year for the extra cash grants. There are always a dozen or so headed for Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, etc., as well as the big-name Rhodes and the like.

If your DS cannot get help from his ROTC chain, there may be bright ideas from forum readers. Or, he could ramp up his best professional and appreciative phone voice and work the phones at USNA, starting in the Academic Dean's office, introducing himself as an NROTC 1/c accepted to X, and hoping to speak to the professor advising USNA midshipmen group selected for postgraduate education. Relying on the fact people are generally nice and like to help mids regardless of source, that prof may be able to steer him to the organizations the USNA mids apply to.
 
Mod - move?
This will get better play in another forum than USMA.

Surely others in NROTC have been in this fix before.

The USNA mids in the UK Scholars/IGEP (Immediate Grad Ed Pgm) group get postgrad scholarships, but are also bound by the 50% rule. Those mids write various organizations and apply for grants to fund the difference. There is a lot of shared information and resources built up by that group and its academic advisors over the years, so the mids know exactly where to apply each year for the extra cash grants. There are always a dozen or so headed for Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, etc., as well as the big-name Rhodes and the like.

If your DS cannot get help from his ROTC chain, there may be bright ideas from forum readers. Or, he could ramp up his best professional and appreciative phone voice and work the phones at USNA, starting in the Academic Dean's office, introducing himself as an NROTC 1/c accepted to X, and hoping to speak to the professor advising USNA midshipmen group selected for postgraduate education. Relying on the fact people are generally nice and like to help mids regardless of source, that prof may be able to steer him to the organizations the USNA mids apply to.
Thanks Capt.MJ for the quick reply and valued advice.
Unfortunately, one of the major issues seems to be that, having been involved late in the process, the deadlines for applications seem to have expired in most cases...
 
Yes but you have to duel with another officer who wants it because slots are limited. It's best to let them shoot first. If they miss you have all the time in the world to take steady aim and nail that grad school slot.
 
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