University awarded scholarships and AROTC tuition/fees award

EJF

EJF

AROTC Mom
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DS received an academic scholarship from his University. It is not specific to tuition, it's not a huge amount, but he is planning to use it to supplement his stipend for room and board etc and will be living off campus this year. His 3 year AROTC scholarship is set to kick in this fall and he'll be taking tuition and fees as he's attending out of state. Does anyone know if AROTC can use his Academic award from the University to reduce their payments for his tuition and fees, essentially taking credit for it? He is in communication with the Battalion on it, but the HR contact needed to find the answer for him ( she's new). I'm really hoping that money will be his to use as that's what he's been expecting, but wondered if anyone has any knowledge of a similar situation.
 
EJF said:
DS received an academic scholarship from his University. It is not specific to tuition, it's not a huge amount, but he is planning to use it to supplement his stipend for room and board etc and will be living off campus this year. His 3 year AROTC scholarship is set to kick in this fall and he'll be taking tuition and fees as he's attending out of state. Does anyone know if AROTC can use his Academic award from the University to reduce their payments for his tuition and fees, essentially taking credit for it? He is in communication with the Battalion on it, but the HR contact needed to find the answer for him ( she's new). I'm really hoping that money will be his to use as that's what he's been expecting, but wondered if anyone has any knowledge of a similar situation.
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The AROTC unit with have nothing to do with the college's scholarship; AROTC can't take credit for it. It comes down to the University's policies on how the scholarship can be used. Your DS would need to reach out to the financial aid/scholarship staff at the University to get this question answered. Some schools allowing "stacking" of all scholarships and will pay cash out for overages to tuition. Other schools will not and if the student has full tuition covered by another scholarship, will essentially take away the scholarship. My DD's daughter did the latter.
 
Thank you, that makes sense.
USMAROTCFamily said:
The AROTC unit with have nothing to do with the college's scholarship; AROTC can't take credit for it. It comes down to the University's policies on how the scholarship can be used. Your DS would need to reach out to the financial aid/scholarship staff at the University to get this question answered. Some schools allowing "stacking" of all scholarships and will pay cash out for overages to tuition. Other schools will not and if the student has full tuition covered by another scholarship, will essentially take away the scholarship. My DD's daughter did the latter.
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AROTC scholarships can be used either to cover tuition/ fees OR you can receive a fixed amount toward room and board - awardees choice.

As the other poster nicely stated, you need to confirm options to stack or use scholarships awarded to your DS and which of those moneys can be applied toward room and board or be refunded to your DS (which could be then used toward room and board).

Confirm too what the school may cover for ROTC participants - greatly varies per school and even per branch sometimes. Good luck.
 
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EJF said:
Thank you, that makes sense.
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I’m not specifically in that area, but I have worked in higher ed for about a decade and have a bit of experience navigating that flavor of bureaucracy… if you have issues getting an answer PM and I’m happy to try to help
 
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jbm2m said:
I’m not specifically in that area, but I have worked in higher ed for about a decade and have a bit of experience navigating that flavor of bureaucracy… if you have issues getting an answer PM and I’m happy to try to help
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Thank you! I appreciate your offer. Will let you know. Right now it seems we are stuck waiting to hear from his Battalion. The 3 people at the University I spoke with couldn’t confirm what has happened historically with their academic scholarship in this situation. I do know he can use it for whatever he wants from the schools perspective. Let’s just say that I hope this will be an opportunity for them to understand it as this isn’t the first time this has happened. I just must be the first to ask about it. I suspect that he will get credit for it, but for planning purposes we’d like confirmation.
 
EJF said:
Thank you! I appreciate your offer. Will let you know. Right now it seems we are stuck waiting to hear from his Battalion. The 3 people at the University I spoke with couldn’t confirm what has happened historically with their academic scholarship in this situation. I do know he can use it for whatever he wants from the schools perspective. Let’s just say that I hope this will be an opportunity for them to understand it as this isn’t the first time this has happened. I just must be the first to ask about it. I suspect that he will get credit for it, but for planning purposes we’d like confirmation.
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Not sure which offices you've talked to at the university. Typically the Bursar will know what restrictions each scholarship has (ie, if it is tuition restricted or can be applied to other costs, also if it can be used for housing costs if the student lives off campus).

Often a tuition restricted scholarship ends up reducing the amount that a ROTC scholarship pays. So finding out the scholarship restrictions is the first step.
 
DS is in same position and takes the room and board pymt from ROTC and uses the university scholarship to tuition. It’s an algebra/ goal seek exercise you need to do to determine which option gets YOU the best/most favorable out of pocket cash option. This is really restating what the prior comments said to do the analysis and be cautious if expecting any cash back from the university for their award if go tuition option from ROTC.
 
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Full Steam said:
Not sure which offices you've talked to at the university. Typically the Bursar will know what restrictions each scholarship has (ie, if it is tuition restricted or can be applied to other costs, also if it can be used for housing costs if the student lives off campus).

Often a tuition restricted scholarship ends up reducing the amount that a ROTC scholarship pays. So finding out the scholarship restrictions is the first step.
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We have tried the financial aid/scholarships office, and 2 people in the Bursar/finance office. We do know It is not tied to tuition only, so he can use it for whatever including off campus housing. Will likely be applied to tuition and fees in the account though prior to any payments from AROTC, ( 2 weeks after contracting maybe?) which would course reduce the amount showing as due. What we are expecting is that AROTC pays their set amount for tuition and fees and then he will have a credit in his account. Seems like such a simple question, so hope he has an answer soon!
 
Well, it's possible it will work that way. AROTC will certainly pay the foll amount.
 
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EJF said:
DS received an academic scholarship from his University. It is not specific to tuition, it's not a huge amount, but he is planning to use it to supplement his stipend for room and board etc and will be living off campus this year. His 3 year AROTC scholarship is set to kick in this fall and he'll be taking tuition and fees as he's attending out of state. Does anyone know if AROTC can use his Academic award from the University to reduce their payments for his tuition and fees, essentially taking credit for it? He is in communication with the Battalion on it, but the HR contact needed to find the answer for him ( she's new). I'm really hoping that money will be his to use as that's what he's been expecting, but wondered if anyone has any knowledge of a similar situation.
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I had a half-ride merit scholarship from my university. The Army paid the balance of my tuition and fees. So they paid the other half. Now it could be different depending on University, but from my understanding and experience the Army pays what is left after academic scholarship.
 
rr33h said:
I had a half-ride merit scholarship from my university. The Army paid the balance of my tuition and fees. So they paid the other half. Now it could be different depending on University, but from my understanding and experience the Army pays what is left after academic scholarship.
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Thank you, the one thing I'm hoping makes the difference is that the scholarship is not tied to tuition specifically. Still waiting for an official answer.
 
EJF said:
Thank you, the one thing I'm hoping makes the difference is that the scholarship is not tied to tuition specifically. Still waiting for an official answer.
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I think its highly dependent on the school. Mine was tuition only. Expensive liberal arts school.
 
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EJF said:
DS received an academic scholarship from his University. It is not specific to tuition, it's not a huge amount, but he is planning to use it to supplement his stipend for room and board etc and will be living off campus this year. His 3 year AROTC scholarship is set to kick in this fall and he'll be taking tuition and fees as he's attending out of state. Does anyone know if AROTC can use his Academic award from the University to reduce their payments for his tuition and fees, essentially taking credit for it? He is in communication with the Battalion on it, but the HR contact needed to find the answer for him ( she's new). I'm really hoping that money will be his to use as that's what he's been expecting, but wondered if anyone has any knowledge of a similar situation.
Click to expand...
My DS had University and 4 year. Uses 4 Year for Tuition. University covers room and board and refunds their leftover excess to themselves......But when he has charges to his account they will refund his account and zero it out. I do not think that works same way with US Army. They aren;t likley to refund anything to student. My DS does have a few private scholarships. If I can coordinate they don't get to school before Army and School cover his bill they refund those to him via a check.
 
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To close the loop here, son heard back from the Battalion. What he was told was there might be some fees the Army does not cover, not sure what those would be, but his scholarship would be thrown into the pot. Army pays what they do cover, and what’s leftover will get refunded to him, which should be most of the scholarship. Will see how it all shakes out in the near future. Thanks all!
 
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EJF said:
To close the loop here, son heard back from the Battalion. What he was told was there might be some fees the Army does not cover, not sure what those would be, but his scholarship would be thrown into the pot. Army pays what they do cover, and what’s leftover will get refunded to him, which should be most of the scholarship. Will see how it all shakes out in the near future. Thanks all!
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Hi, can I know how this sorted out? I am trying to figure the same thing out with my university, and they are looking for examples of other schools that do refund. Thanks!
 
gooseblitz said:
My DS had University and 4 year. Uses 4 Year for Tuition. University covers room and board and refunds their leftover excess to themselves......But when he has charges to his account they will refund his account and zero it out. I do not think that works same way with US Army. They aren;t likley to refund anything to student. My DS does have a few private scholarships. If I can coordinate they don't get to school before Army and School cover his bill they refund those to him via a check.
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Hi! did this work out?
 
willowandfern said:
Hi, can I know how this sorted out? I am trying to figure the same thing out with my university, and they are looking for examples of other schools that do refund. Thanks!
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We are still waiting for the Army to pay the tuition. I am told it comes later in the semester, but currently his academic scholarship has been applied to his tuition. Once the Army pays the original tuition owed, we were told the excess will be credited to my son's bank account. Hope that helps.
 
EJF said:
We are still waiting for the Army to pay the tuition. I am told it comes later in the semester, but currently his academic scholarship has been applied to his tuition. Once the Army pays the original tuition owed, we were told the excess will be credited to my son's bank account. Hope that helps.
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Wow this is great. This is my university had said they would do, but upon receiving the scholarship they deflated my academic scholarship to be at net zero. Is this a private university? and are you looking at a large excess?
 
willowandfern said:
Wow this is great. This is my university had said they would do, but upon receiving the scholarship they deflated my academic scholarship to be at net zero. Is this a private university? and are you looking at a large excess?
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Not a private college, it’s a state school, University of Wyoming. The scholarship is not specifically tied to tuition, it is merit based and it may be used by the student for anything they need it for. That might be the difference? It’s not a large excess, but he plans to use it towards his rent which will be helpful.
 
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