The system has actually been completely revamped, most of it due to the fact that the Coast Guard was audited and is now having to deal with figuring out how to cut costs and such. Because of this, the Academy will now be following the normal military pay periods. Cadets will be receiving paycheck every two weeks. The 3rd and 4th class will receive x amount every two weeks and it will be a higher amount for 2nd and 1st class.
Supposedly, this will give us much more financial responsibility...the white card account is completely going away and we will now be responsible for making sure we stay within budget, balancing money for more fun activities as well as the costs any civilian college kid has, books, supplies etc...with the addition of uniforms, dry cleaning, tailoring, that kind of thing. I think this is a great idea because its something cadets should learn before they get into the fleet. What is not good, in my opinion, is that yes, they give you this money, but then tell you how and where to spend it. For example, even though I will now be responsible for paying for my books out of pocket, I can still only buy them through the bookstore. I paid $750 for my books this semester through the bookstore...I did some research and found that I could have purchased/rented all of my books for a grand total of about $275. That's what budgeting is in my opinion...figuring out what you need and then finding those items or needs at the lowest price possible.
But I digress...yes the system is changing and I'm sure Mr. Filipinas (aka the Money Ninja) will explain everything to the incoming class of 2015.