Disenrolled from ROTC, handed enormous bill.

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Calisurfboy1997

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I have a friend who was in Army Rotc and recently went through advanced camp this summer, unfortunately she did not pass land nav and got a few negative spot reports. She is now in the process of being disenrolled and will have to pay back 130,000. Does anyone else have experience with this? Not sure how she is going to be able to pay that back especially for a young person in a short amount of time. The army won't let her enlist either.
 
Holy moly, thats a ton of money. Has she tried to appeal? Can she go back again next year? I heard camp is being extended next year.
 
Calisurfboy1997 said:
I have a friend who was in Army Rotc and recently went through advanced camp this summer, unfortunately she did not pass land nav and got a few negative spot reports. She is now in the process of being disenrolled and will have to pay back 130,000. Does anyone else have experience with this? Not sure how she is going to be able to pay that back especially for a young person in a short amount of time. The army won't let her enlist either.
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Whoa! What year in school is she?
 
There are lawyers, usually former JAGs, who specialize in ROTC disenrollments and SA separations, and can work to negotiate better outcomes. They know the system and the contacts.

Use this search string:
“ROTC disenrollment military lawyers.”

Your friend should not let this drag on but be proactive about getting clarity on her options, especially if she is not getting specifics from her chain of command.
 
Just curious, if they wont let her enlist and she doesnt have the money, what exactly can they do to her. They can garnish her wages when she finally graduates but I have to imagine there is a limit on how much they can take from her payroll check. Not saying she shouldnt take care of this, but since they wont let her enlist, she should be able to dictate the terms. Its not like they are going to put her in debtors prison for not having the money. They are going to have to agree to terms with her. I agree with Capt MJ, get a lawyer and negotiate the hell out of this thing. I deal with the IRS all the time and this seems to me like comparable situation. The expression "you cant squeeze blood from a turnip" works when the person has no income and no assets.
 
Calisurfboy1997 said:
Technically an ms4, she graduates in December.
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So it sounds like she has completed 4 years of college and ROTC up to this point and is completing one extra semester?

As Capt MJ said an attorney that is experienced in separations will be her best bet. Usually the outcome results in a payment plan that lasts around 10 years, still hefty monthly payments considering the balance owing.

Has she talked with them about the option of enlisting?
 
Pretty shocking they didn’t offer enlistment since they are not meeting recruiting goals.
 
Humey said:
Just curious, if they wont let her enlist and she doesnt have the money, what exactly can they do to her. They can garnish her wages when she finally graduates but I have to imagine there is a limit on how much they can take from her payroll check. Not saying she shouldnt take care of this, but since they wont let her enlist, she should be able to dictate the terms. Its not like they are going to put her in debtors prison for not having the money. They are going to have to agree to terms with her. I agree with Capt MJ, get a lawyer and negotiate the hell out of this thing. I deal with the IRS all the time and this seems to me like comparable situation. The expression "you cant squeeze blood from a turnip" works when the person has no income and no assets.
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By they - you mean the American taxpayer, correct?

Full tuition - paid by the American taxpayer with one party not fulfilling the terms of the contract.

I'm not sure what the issue is. Returning the money for her college education to the American people seems like a no-brainer to me.
 
I am not sure what a "negative spot report" is, but getting a couple of them may point to her not trying too hard. That could lead them to not want to give someone the option to enlist. I have no problem with someone having to pay back their scholarship if they don't hold up there end of the bargain. Gotta pay the piper.
 
I am completely in agreement with payback. There are horror stories, though, of things not being made clear, bureaucratic fumbles, people get on with their lives, and then a big bill finally catches up with them. Getting a lawyer involved to negotiate a reasonable payment plan upfront before time passes and take into account any humanitarian elements, is the smart thing to do. A few years ago, here on SAF, I recall a former ROTC disenrollee who had let things slide, were never had clear paperwork on the repayment, never proactive to resolve it themselves. It came back to bite his young family with late fees to boot.
 
Soldiergriz said:
Humey said:
Just curious, if they wont let her enlist and she doesnt have the money, what exactly can they do to her. They can garnish her wages when she finally graduates but I have to imagine there is a limit on how much they can take from her payroll check. Not saying she shouldnt take care of this, but since they wont let her enlist, she should be able to dictate the terms. Its not like they are going to put her in debtors prison for not having the money. They are going to have to agree to terms with her. I agree with Capt MJ, get a lawyer and negotiate the hell out of this thing. I deal with the IRS all the time and this seems to me like comparable situation. The expression "you cant squeeze blood from a turnip" works when the person has no income and no assets.
Click to expand...

By they - you mean the American taxpayer, correct?

Full tuition - paid by the American taxpayer with one party not fulfilling the terms of the contract.

I'm not sure what the issue is. Returning the money for her college education to the American people seems like a no-brainer to me.
Click to expand...
There are two sides to this issue. Her side and the US taxpayer. However in no time did I say she shoudlnt pay back her loan. All I am saying is that she should get a reasonable amount of time along with a reasonable interest rate. If the goverment were to ask for the money back in four year at 4%, the monthly payment would be 2935.28 or 35000 per year. That would be a lot of money for a recent college graduate if not most people. She should get minimum of ten years to pay it back. Personally I would push it to 15 years depending on her future earnings.
 
I expect the money is more valuable to them than filling an enlisted slot, and it's their choice not the student's.
 
I think there is more to this story, that your friend hasn't told you.
In college for 3 months short of 4 years (she graduates in December) and the Army wants to kick her out for "not passing land navigation" and "getting a few negative spot reports" ?

If that's indeed all there is to it, then she should have passed land navigation.
A contract is a contract.
 
They would simply retrain and retry the land nav portion until you passed. They don't toss away a 4th year because they didn't pass land nav after a couple of tries. If that were the case, 25% of my West Point class would have gotten the boot. There is definitely more to the story. Negative spot reports take quite a bit of effort (or lack there of).
 
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