arotc money $$

Vista123

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Aug 5, 2011
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quick question.
Its time to put next years family budget together.
I know tuition/room/and board are covered.

Here is my question, if the freshmen on ROTC scholarship get $300.00 per month is that actual $300.00 per month? what ROTC costs are there and do they come out of the $300.00? For example: uniforms, boots, rotc travel, food while rotc traveling? Other than tuition/room/meal plan/personal travel what other expenses should we be looking at? $300.00 seems like alot of money to me.

(my plebe gets paid alot more than that but only sees a tiny fraction of it in his account-on the other hand except for a nominal sports fee and his sports equipment he pays for nothing)
 
$300 a month, split into bi monthly payments of $150.00 Its all his/hers. You also get a uniform and a book stipend, both are once per semester and are about $700.00 each. The Army takes care of you; because I go to an SMC where my tuition covers my books and uniforms, I basically get to treat the book and uniform stipend as extra pay.
The Army takes care of you.
 
quick question.
Its time to put next years family budget together.
I know tuition/room/and board are covered.

For a cadet on AROTC/AFROTC scholarship, either tuition OR room and board are covered. Though, both can be covered by a few ways, ie: if a student gets other scholarships to couple the ROTC scholarship with, or if they go to a college that allots room and board to ROTC cadets, etc. But, for most ROTC cadets its one or the other. Though, I think you already knew that :wink:

Here is my question, if the freshmen on ROTC scholarship get $300.00 per month is that actual $300.00 per month? what ROTC costs are there and do they come out of the $300.00? For example: uniforms, boots, rotc travel, food while rotc traveling? Other than tuition/room/meal plan/personal travel what other expenses should we be looking at? $300.00 seems like alot of money to me.

Again, for AROTC/AFROTC, cadets are paid a monthly stipend, paid out bi-monthly. So, for an AROTC freshman cadet its paid at $150. usually around the 15th for the first half of the month, and $150. around the 30th for the last half of the month.

There is not a uniform allowance. For uniforms, ACU's and ASU's and boots are normally issued. Anything other than that DS has had to buy himself.

On most of the outings/functions that DS has gone on, food has always been supplied. Now, there are times when ROTC cadets will do a function together for Pershing Rifles, Arnold Air Society, etc and they all chip in to buy pizza, cookies, etc for that event. Or, there are several fund raisers throughout the year that DS has used money to make a purchase and donate to that event.

For books, the stipend is paid at $600. a semester, usually paid a month or two after DS has paid for them already. So count on outlaying the money first, and then getting reimbursed. :thumb:


$300.00 seems like alot of money to me.

Yes, in the end, your DS can probably count on that $300. to cover whatever personal expenses he has.

For my DS, he doesn't live on campus and $300. is not enough for his expenses, so he also works part-time to make ends meet. Although, it's really tough to do so with all of his studying, class time and ROTC demands.

But the one thing that we have learned is to never really count on the money until it is paid. There have been a couple times when it has not been paid on time, and for some AFROTC cadets we know its been months since they were last paid. :eek:
 
There is not a uniform allowance. For uniforms, ACU's and ASU's and boots are normally issued. Anything other than that DS has had to buy himself.

There is definitely a uniform allowance. It is paid once per semester, about $600-700 (I haven't seen the pay stub in a while). I believe it is more oriented towards the purchasing of ASU's.
 
There is definitely a uniform allowance. It is paid once per semester, about $600-700 (I haven't seen the pay stub in a while). I believe it is more oriented towards the purchasing of ASU's.

Hmmm, odd. I just verified with my son and he has never been paid a uniform allowance, nor ever been told of one. :confused:
 
Was he issued ASU's and/or Dress Blues?
That was what we were told it was for, and since we don't wear ASU's until we commission, the Army just cuts us a check per semester.
 
Thanks HUGE for the input.
...should clarify his school awards room and board to Arotc candidates. His arotc scholarship covers tuition.

this is a small civilian school-not a military college.


thanks for the tip on book money coming later in the semester.
 
Yes, he was issued them. :smile: That's probably the difference between how public university units do it vs military college units?
 
That makes sense :smile:
I will not wear ASU's until commissioning day of my senior year, whereas until then I wear my SMC's uniforms. The downside is I'll have to save up/pay out of pocket for ASU's when the time comes.
Glad that issue is settled!

You're welcome, Vista. And to offer an anecdote about late payments and stipend....this last semester with the government shutdown was EXTRA interesting :shake: My roommate, who is AF, was backpaid about 3 months worth of stipends and his tuition in December.
 
They don't pay a uniform allowance. You're probably thinking of the subsistence allowance. All AROTC cadets purchase their commissioning ASU's out of pocket, but are issued a set (enlisted) for wear as a cadet, except for schools that have their own style of uniform.

Books- $600 per semester
Stipend- $300-$500 per month
Subsistence- Depends on your area
Travel to campus- Depends
 
Bull: I've been visiting this site for several years now and just started posting. If I recall, you were in the 5th brigade (?), which is what my DS is in. However, seems you've been posting for quite awhile, did you commission, yet? If not, seems you should be close. :thumb:
 
Bull: I've been visiting this site for several years now and just started posting. If I recall, you were in the 5th brigade (?), which is what my DS is in. However, seems you've been posting for quite awhile, did you commission, yet? If not, seems you should be close. :thumb:

Yes, I'm in 5th Brigade. I'm an MSIV with two semesters left to go. (I'll be an MSV for 1 semester which is why I have not assessed yet.)
 
Aveon,

Just want to place a correction out there.

AFROTC will not does not ever offer the choice to chose between tuition and R&B. It can only be used for tuition only. Additionally if it is a Type2 scholarship, the key word is up to 18K. IOW if the tuition is 15K, they will not place 3K towards R&B. Or cut you a check.

I believe Jcleppe will corect me, but what occurs at the commissioning point is that is when they will cut you a check if you return your ROTC uniforms. It will not cover everything you will need. Expect. to spend a couple of hundred at that time. You are also given the option to keep your uniforms, but they won't give you any money. We opted to buy all new for our DS, luckily since he went rated, we only had to buy 1 set of ABUs and Blues.
 
Vista,

One thing I would say is that the stipend may change. This yr. For AFROTC all of the stipends were cut. When our DS was a 400 his stipend was 550 a month, they cut it to 450 this yr, thus 300's did not get more money this yr when they became 400s So just place some room if AROTC does something like this for next yr.

This info did not come out until March or so... I.e. around the time of budget cuts being discussed.
 
Pima, you're absolutely right, AFROTC does not have the option for R/B. Thanks for correcting that for me.

FMB, that's great to hear that the back stipend finally came in for your friend. The AF cadets I know are still waiting. Hopefully, they will get paid soon, too! :thumb:
 
Aveon,

Not to divert the thread too much, but those AFROTC cadets waiting probably have a paperwork issue originating from the det. . I do not know anyone of our friends kids still waiting for any money. Their kids attend colleges in 4 different states.
~ Our DS years ago had a problem one semester and they back paid him eventually.

Back on track.

Vista, since you are doing your budget you should realize that this issue of not being paid occurs in every branch every yr. There was an AROTC parent that did not get their DS's tuition paid until the week before Xmas.

The issue becomes a problem when in the fall they are eligible to register for spring classes. Many colleges will "lock" their account, and thus, the child is the last to register, which may result in not getting the right classes or a funky schedule.

If your DS's college does what ours does...a monthly payment plan with 0% interest, you may want to put that money aside in case their paperwork gets messed up. You will recoup it whenever it is paid by a check cut from the bursar.
~For our DS when they messed up, all he had to do was have his set shoot a letter over to the bursar and they unlocked it that day. We also sent him to school with all of his ROTC scholarship paperwork for the just incase. Issue.
 
Pima: hmmm, that's really interesting. I will certainly pass on your information. I know its a small amount, but it has caused them a little bit of hardship as they depend on that stipend. Fortunately, it's the only time there has been a problem for them and it hasn't affected their tuition being paid. From your information, Im sure it'll be resolved soon :thumb:
 
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