Scholarship cap?

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lgarmy

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Nov 19, 2015
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I was recently visited by a PMS officer that presented me with the AROTC scholarship, and I had heard about the room and board or tuition but I'm a little confused.
If you choose room and board the cap is 10,000. However, does the tuition have a cap or is it full?
So if it is full, and my tuition at the school I am hoping for is 40,000+ a year, then I should go with tuition correct?
Thanks for the help!
 
Last edited:
lgarmy said:
I was recently visited by a PMS officer that presented me with the AROTC scholarship, and I had heard about the room and board or tuition but I'm a little confused.
If you choose room and board the cap is 10,000. However, does the tuition have a cap or is it full?
So if it is full, and my tuition at the school I am hoping for is 40,000+ a year, then it's a no brainer to choose tuition right?
Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...
There are those in-state tuition and college scholarships where cadets have benefited by using the AROTC scholarship for room and board...however I think they're pretty rare. Generally speaking most cadets use the scholarship for tuition and fees. Personally even with tuition and fees covered by my DS' scholarship...room and board was still 15k/year.
 
I would advise that you should try to steer away from using scholarships toward R & B. It becomes taxable income when used for R & B whereas using it for tuition, fees and books is not taxable. (I am a CFP)

Per the IRS:
A scholarship or fellowship grant is tax free only to the extent:

  • It does not exceed your expenses;
  • It is not designated or earmarked for other purposes (such as room and board), and does not require (by its terms) that it cannot be used for qualified education expenses; and
  • It does not represent payment for teaching, research, or other services required as a condition for receiving the scholarship. For exceptions, see Payment for services, later.

Source: IRS website
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/ch01.html

Of course if using it for R & B is the ONLY WAY you can attend the college, then you may have to incur the tax liability.
 
lgarmy said:
I was recently visited by a PMS officer that presented me with the AROTC scholarship, and I had heard about the room and board or tuition but I'm a little confused.
If you choose room and board the cap is 10,000. However, does the tuition have a cap or is it full?
So if it is full, and my tuition at the school I am hoping for is 40,000+ a year, then I should go with tuition correct?
Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...
Some schools offer room and board to their ROTC scholarship students. You can find that information on the GOARMY website under "search for colleges." They list them by location.
 
Does anyone have a definitive answer to op's question? Does the AROTC scholarship cover 100% of tuition, regardless of cost, or is there a cap to tuition costs?
 
I can't say for sure if there is a cap or not but my daughter went to a private university and with all the fees associated with her major, the Army ended up paying $166,000 over the (4) years. As might be expected, tuition started in the low 30's her freshman year and by the time her senior year rolled around, the tuition & nursing major fees topped out at $54K.
 
If you get the AROTC scholarship designated to a school, they are committing to paying 100% tuition and mandatory fees for the next four years.

This is why transferring your scholarship to a more pricey school may be difficult
 
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