Scholarship and financial aid?

[danbucchin]

I just recieved notification that I recieved a AROTC scholarship to UDEL. This is great however I will still have a considerable amount of room and board to pay. Can I use both merit and financial aid scholarships IN addition to the AROTC scholarship?

 

[Pima]

Yes you can use merit and financial aid along with your ROTC scholarship.

 

[EDelahanty]

I just recieved notification that I recieved a AROTC scholarship to UDEL. This is great however I will still have a considerable amount of room and board to pay. Can I use both merit and financial aid scholarships IN addition to the AROTC scholarship?

Congratulations on your AROTC scholarship. You can use it either for tuition or room and board. So if your school is giving you a merit or other scholarship you may be able to apply that to tuition. (This strategy tends to work out best for public schools with low in-state tuition and relatively expensive R&B). However, the merit and financial aid scholarships are determined by the financial aid policy of your school, so you need to check with them. Some schools may cap total aid from whatever sources.

Also, some though not all schools provide some room and board grants to ROTC scholarship winners. Make sure you check this out. There is a Room and Board Sticky on the ROTC thread which may help.

 

[kinnem]

I just recieved notification that I recieved a AROTC scholarship to UDEL. This is great however I will still have a considerable amount of room and board to pay. Can I use both merit and financial aid scholarships IN addition to the AROTC scholarship?

I agree with Pima, but pay attention to the details of the scholarship. Some scholarships are limited to tuition and they would not be usable in conjunction with an AROTC scholarship (assuming the AROTC scholarship is being used for tuition).

And congratulations!

 

[Goarmymom]

My DS received a 4-year AROTC scholarship to VMI, and we lost our state grant as well as a financial aid scholarship that was awarded from VMI. We did still qualify for federal loans, though.

 

[goaliedad]

As with anything else, YMMV.

The known facts are that as far as federal financial aid benefits (Pell Grants, Federal Loans, federal work study) are concerned, your ROTC scholarship has NO affect. You don't even report it on FAFSA (Use the search function to find the threads and links that clarify).

As far as institutional need-based grants, most schools will require you to report your ROTC scholarship. They may or may not adjust your need-based aid accordingly. This is entirely within their powers.

As far as merit-based awards, you may want to investigate as to whether the award can be used for either tuition or housing charges. Many schools do not allow their awards to be used for charges other than tuition. In these cases (particularly at lower cost public schools), you may want to look at using the ROTC scholarship for housing and do the math as to which is better for your wallet. What the scholarship is paid for can be changed from term to term upon filling out the appropriate form.

In all cases, your school's financial aid office is the best source of how things work!

 

[Ohio2015Parent]

When you contact financial aid -- and you really should -- ask if they have someone who "specializes" in xROTC scholarships and/or military benefits. My DS's school has such a person and she has been so helpful to us as we sorted out his NG tuition, merit money, AROTC room and board grants and all the other federal loans and grants. Also, mom and dad, get ready because typically financial aid won't be able to talk to you once they're a student, unless the student gives special permission. I have DS's permission so financial aid is no problem to work with which is great since his situation changes each year.