NROTC,Room,Board,Aid

ethaaan123

ethaaan123

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Nov 19, 2015
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I am a high school senior in Alabama. I just got accepted into Auburn. I am hopefully getting the NROTC scholarship to pay for most of everything, but I still need funds to keep me off the street and give me a roof over my head. I thought I could just get a student loan and pay for housing, but I paid a visit to my recruiter and she said If I accept the scholarship I can't apply for any federal procurement of any kind including student loans. She gave me this paper to sign. She said it stated if I sign it I am forfeiting my privilege to apply for aid if I accept the scholarship. It actually plainly stated I, blank, am not on any debarrment list. The paper explained the general services administration keeps a list of persons who can't apply for procurement programs I.e. FAFSA. It never stated I couldnt apply it just asked me to say I'm not on any such list. I have no idea what she is talking about. If I can't get a student loan idk what I'm going to do. I will live on the street if I have to but i really don't want to. Somebody help explain what my options really are.
 
Not true. You can have a student loan and a scholarship.

Where it gets interesting is that if you have multiple scholarships, they only apply to tuition and eligible fees -- and they won't be refunded to you. My son had a 4 year academic scholarship. The value of that scholarship was applied to his bursar account before his Marine Option NROTC scholarship -- in effect reducing the amount the NROTC scholarship had to pay.

Possibly she was talking about some other government scholarship and not a loan or possibly a government grant.
 
ethaaan123 said:
I am a high school senior in Alabama. I just got accepted into Auburn. I am hopefully getting the NROTC scholarship to pay for most of everything, but I still need funds to keep me off the street and give me a roof over my head. I thought I could just get a student loan and pay for housing, but I paid a visit to my recruiter and she said If I accept the scholarship I can't apply for any federal procurement of any kind including student loans. She gave me this paper to sign. She said it stated if I sign it I am forfeiting my privilege to apply for aid if I accept the scholarship. It actually plainly stated I, blank, am not on any debarrment list. The paper explained the general services administration keeps a list of persons who can't apply for procurement programs I.e. FAFSA. It never stated I couldnt apply it just asked me to say I'm not on any such list. I have no idea what she is talking about. If I can't get a student loan idk what I'm going to do. I will live on the street if I have to but i really don't want to. Somebody help explain what my options really are.
Click to expand...

+1 Rocatlin

OP, Are you speaking to a local Navy recruiter? If so, STOP! You need to speak to the NROTC staff member from Auburn University to get accurate info about NROTC and financial aid.

Mailing Address: Commanding Officer
Naval ROTC Unit
W. F. Nichols Center
Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849-5512
Phone: (334) 844-4364

Here is another thread that relates to this topic:
http://www.serviceacademyforums.com/index.php?threads/rotc-scholarship-other-scholarships.35607/
 
Yes, don't sign anything and talk to the CO at Auburn. Apply for FAFSA, what if you don't get the scholarship or are found medically disqualified? Nothing says you can't apply. I am not an expert on this topic but there might be limitations and what you can accept if you receive a scholarship. There are tons of school, state and local scholarships you can still apply for. Apply for them in case you don't get a scholarship. Some only allow them to be used for tuition, some you can request to be moved from tuition to R & B and others can be used for anything. Always read everything and understand what you are signing.
 
I expect that what the recruiter was referring to was things like Pell Grants. I agree with everyone here, don't sign anything and quit talking to the recruiter. They are notoriously misinformed on ROTC in most cases.
 
Agree with everyone else...think about a recruiter in a different way.
1. What is their job?
~ It is not to recruit officers, but enlisted. Due to this fact, as kinnem stated, they are notoriously mis-informed regarding how ROTC works.
~ They have a quota to meet/fill monthly.
2. What is their rank?
~ They are enlisted, hence typically do not have the background to understand the ROTC program.

I am not trying to slam them, I am positive if you wanted to discuss life as an enlisted in certain career fields they would be a wealth of information. This would be like talking to any PMS at a ROTC unit about the enlisted side. I mean no offense, it is just not in their wheelhouse.

I and the majority of posters here can emphatically state that you can use FAFSA. I know that when my DS was a sr. in college, AFROTC scholarship and merit from the college, they ante up the costs, and we were caught with how much was owed. (His sister was also in college, and his younger brother was a HS sr.) We decided for that year it would be best if he took the FAFSA loan. It was 7500, he owed 5300. The school cut us a check back for 2200 and we immediately sent that to his FAFSA student loan account. He got his tuition paid for, book allowance and stipend that year.

The only time to be concerned impo is when the college merit package comes down. The Devil is in the details. My DS was lucky his college merit came off the bill after the ROTC scholarship was applied to his account. There was no...merit must be used towards tuition only aspect. In essence, the school said - ROTC, than - merit. If it had been -merit, than - ROTC it could have been different.
~ Brain hurt...ROTC scholarship used for tuition is not taxable. ROTC scholarship used for R & B is taxable. Hence, this matters come next Jan. If R&B is 10K, and the folks pay 31% rate, than they will have to pay taxes because it was used for R & B and not tuition.

Contact the det and the bursar.
 
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