Scholarship question

CharityMay

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Feb 24, 2016
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Okay I have a question, let's say an out of state university is offering a student a scholarship that covers almost all of tuition (leaving only $2k a semester). If a student receives an ROTC scholarship, could they use it for tuition ($11k a semester) since ROTC would pay the full amount of tuition and use the excess for room and board once it's refunded to the student?
 
If it's Army ROTC, why wouldn't you just use the scholarship for Room and board? Your method seems quite a roundabout way of doing it.
 
It depends on the school. Many colleges will not apply their scholarships to room and board, but only credit it towards tuition and fees. If that is the university's policy, then you would need to use the ROTC scholarship for room and board and then still pay the $2k out of pocket. Call their financial aid department to find out for sure.
 
Seems to me you want to aim at minimizing your total out of packet cost and that applying the ROTC scholarship to room and board would probably do that. What am I missing? Why isn't this straight-forward?
 
It depends on the school. Many colleges will not apply their scholarships to room and board, but only credit it towards tuition and fees. If that is the university's policy, then you would need to use the ROTC scholarship for room and board and then still pay the $2k out of pocket. Call their financial aid department to find out for sure.

Okay thanks!
 
Seems to me you want to aim at minimizing your total out of packet cost and that applying the ROTC scholarship to room and board would probably do that. What am I missing? Why isn't this straight-forward?

Basically, if I opted to have my rotc scholarship go towards tuition there would be about $9k left over a semester which I could then use to pay for room and board (ideally). The alternative is having the rotc scholarship pay for room and board and being left to pay the $2k remainder of tuition a semester by other means.
 
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Colleges will treat scholarships differently, so to get the best answer for your college is to talk with that school's financial aid. If the scholarship is need based it could go away when you get the ROTC scholarship.
 
My DS went to an out of state school and the financial aid department worked with him on using ROTC scolarship money for tuition and his other academic scholorships towards room and board. I would assume you have called and talked to the finincial department and explained your situation, they usually are very helpful in looking at creative ways of maximizing all your scolarship together. Good luck.
 
My DS went to an out of state school and the financial aid department worked with him on using ROTC scolarship money for tuition and his other academic scholorships towards room and board. I would assume you have called and talked to the finincial department and explained your situation, they usually are very helpful in looking at creative ways of maximizing all your scolarship together. Good luck.
You were lucky! Some schools simply recalculate your scholarship allocations (especially need based) and remove them from your financial aid package when granted an ROTC scholarship.

As all have encouraged, the OP should talk to the school employee that handles ROTC scholarships in the Financial Aid or Bursars Office on how to best use the ROTC and other scholarships/aid .

Edit: Most ROTC scholarship recipients should have this discussion with the FA office prior to attendance.
 
Agree with AROTC Parent, you should also speak with the ROO at your unit. They are typically very knowledgeable about your university's policy and since their ultimate goal is to see you succeed can probably point you in the right direction. Your unit does not want to enroll a promising cadet, only to have them drop out because they are having financial trouble.
 
NEVER choose ROTC to pay room and board, if you can avoid it. Those scholarships don't get paid until the end of the semester (requiring you to prepay and await reimbursement). There is a current thread on Reddit on this very topic.
 
NEVER choose ROTC to pay room and board, if you can avoid it. Those scholarships don't get paid until the end of the semester (requiring you to prepay and await reimbursement). There is a current thread on Reddit on this very topic.

This is not good advice as it's totally school-dependent. Son's school was very aware of the Army's payment schedule, and did not require cadets using their scholarship for room and board to pay any money up front.
 
Making such a definitive statement like NEVER almost always gets you in trouble. It would have been much more accurate if @txpotato uses be aware that ... In addition ROTC room and board scholarships are taxable. If you already have a scholarship in hand that pays full tuition and you can apply your ROTC scholarship to Room and Board you can have your schooling fully funded. You may have some taxes due and you may need to up front some money, but it's not a bad way to pay for college.
 
I should've been more careful in word choice. Obviously it is school dependent -- we addressed this is a previous thread by this same poster (I believe) a few days ago about excess scholarship funds. It is my understanding that if ROTC pays R&B, it is capped at 5K/semester and paid directly to the cadet. If you can get the school to work with you, fantastic; if not, be prepared to pay and wait months to be reimbursed. My experience is based on two 4 yr scholarship winners with full merit scholarships from their school that allows stacking. Do the math and make some phone calls.
 
I should've been more careful in word choice. Obviously it is school dependent -- we addressed this is a previous thread by this same poster (I believe) a few days ago about excess scholarship funds. It is my understanding that if ROTC pays R&B, it is capped at 5K/semester and paid directly to the cadet. If you can get the school to work with you, fantastic; if not, be prepared to pay and wait months to be reimbursed. My experience is based on two 4 yr scholarship winners with full merit scholarships from their school that allows stacking. Do the math and make some phone calls.

Thanks for letting me know that!
 
You might be able to get the question answered by reading your merit scholarship fine print, I know I noticed this in the wording for my daugters going to University of Arizona (not for ROTC FYI), it says specifically not usable for room and board, and not for use with an ROTC scholarship. Yes call financial aid and find out there should be a financial aid counselor that handles all ROTC students.
 
You might be able to get the question answered by reading your merit scholarship fine print, I know I noticed this in the wording for my daugters going to University of Arizona (not for ROTC FYI), it says specifically not usable for room and board, and not for use with an ROTC scholarship. Yes call financial aid and find out there should be a financial aid counselor that handles all ROTC students.

Thanks! It was busy so I sent an email.
 
You might be able to get the question answered by reading your merit scholarship fine print, I know I noticed this in the wording for my daugters going to University of Arizona (not for ROTC FYI), it says specifically not usable for room and board, and not for use with an ROTC scholarship. Yes call financial aid and find out there should be a financial aid counselor that handles all ROTC students.

Thanks! It was busy so I sent an email.
 
I found the terms, it says "If you have excess funding for a particular term because of financial aid, Bright Futures, your admission scholarship, etc., the balance will be directly deposited in your bank account."
 
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