Info: NROTC Scholarship Funding Article

rocatlin · Dec 10, 2014

Article may be of interest to us board watchers...

http://news.usni.org/2014/10/17/cno-greenert-navy-take-new-look-rotc-scholarship-mix

The head of the U.S. Navy said that service might take a second look at the mix of scholarships it offers to Naval ROTC midshipmen in the next few years.

Currently, the Navy places an emphasis on so called STEM undergraduate college majors (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) for its midshipmen over liberal arts degrees like literature, international relations and history for its about $106 million in yearly scholarships.

The Department of the Navy funds 4,200 NROTC midshipmen — around 3,300 Navy and about 870 Marine Corps midshipmen. For Navy options, 85 percent of the funds are devoted to STEM majors while 15 percent is left for liberal arts and language degrees.

Oldsalt · Dec 10, 2014

I find it ironic that the Army is running toward STEM, as the Navy is considering going away from it. Current midshipmen should not get their hopes up. The Navy is still having to draft Nucs with the current set up. If they open the window for LAS majors, they may not be able to meet quota.
OS

kinnem · Dec 10, 2014

I agree they should always periodically review this. I also think that some of the people quoted don't give enough credit to the problem solving skills they picked up in their engineering discipline, as opposed to the value of technical aspects of it.

Sampia · Dec 10, 2014

No wonder Marines seem to be such a minority on the forums.

I think they do need to look at factors beyond the degree. Brains can come in handy thinking yourself out of a situation sometimes. As volatile as the world is, our sailors need to be prepared for anything. Take for example the poor guys that just went on some nice relaxing shore leave in Turkey only to get harassed. That could've ended up much worse than it did.

trabi_skoda · Dec 11, 2014

I agree that technical skills are necessary, but even the humanities and social science majors will need to take a significant amount of calculus (2 semesters) and physics (also 2 semesters). If there are certain skills that they navy feels are necessary (math, science, etc.) these could be made mandatory without mandating major.

kinnem · Dec 11, 2014

trabi_skoda said:
I agree that technical skills are necessary, but even the humanities and social science majors will need to take a significant amount of calculus (2 semesters) and physics (also 2 semesters). If there are certain skills that they navy feels are necessary (math, science, etc.) these could be made mandatory without mandating major.

I agree to some degree in principal. Nonetheless they do actually need mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, etc.

trabi_skoda · Dec 11, 2014

And I totally agree with Kinnem. Some majors will bring something special, even vital, to the mix, and these might be worth extra points. Limiting tier 3's to such a small percentage, though, especially when they can be made to show/learn scientific/math skills, might be a mistake. I also realize, though, that I am a parent with an interest in my own child's possibility of getting a scholarship, and that might just cloud my judgement a bit. :shake:

kinnem · Dec 11, 2014

trabi_skoda said:
And I totally agree with Kinnem. Some majors will bring something special, even vital, to the mix, and these might be worth extra points. Limiting tier 3's to such a small percentage, though, especially when they can be made to show/learn scientific/math skills, might be a mistake. I also realize, though, that I am a parent with an interest in my own child's possibility of getting a scholarship, and that might just cloud my judgement a bit.

Ya think?
I like your idea on extra points for certain majors and doing that may be the solution to the entire problem... if there is a problem.