Dropping ROTC at semester- will scholarship cover it?

soldiernursecadet

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I am a four-year national army rotc scholarship winner. I am in my freshman year of college. I no longer want to pursue ROTC. If I drop ROTC at the end of first semester do I have to pay back the scholarship for that semester? I have already contracted and have received the money from the Army.
 
No...you will not have to pay back if you drop freshman year. Sign up for the sophomore year and show up for class and you serve or pay back. Did you not go over your contract before you signed it and did you not understand what you promised?
 
No...you will not have to pay back if you drop freshman year. Sign up for the sophomore year and show up for class and you serve or pay back. Did you not go over your contract before you signed it and did you not understand what you promised?

I received a nursing scholarship and no longer want to study nursing. I want to drop at semester in order to change majors (and universities) and/or possibly enlist in the national guard and attend basic (don't know if I want to wait 4 years to start serving). What I understood from the contract was that I could drop AFTER freshman year without having to pay it back(didn't look at it too in depth at the time). Does it make a difference if I dropped at the end of first semester of freshman year instead of at the end of the year?

I'm still exploring my options but want to have all the facts.
Do you know the possibility of transferring scholarships from a nursing scholarship to a general scholarship or SMP scholarship?
 
I don’t know the answers to your question specifically. But I would this as a father of an ROTC scholarship winner. Stay in school and get a degree. If you want to serve, which it seems like you do, finish it out and serve as an officer. Don’t rush into growing up. Enjoy a bit of your life before entering the working world no matter what the career is you choose. Just my advice. Good luck.
 
Or even serve enlisted AFTER finishing college. DS says his best enlisted Marines have college degrees and are his go to guys and gals. Some folks want to be more hands on and serve as enlisted.
 
What I understood from the contract was that I could drop AFTER freshman year without having to pay it back(didn't look at it too in depth at the time).

@soldiernursecadet, you’ve already admitted to not reading the fine print when you accepted your scholarship. Now would be a good time to start doing so. What does the fine print say about quitting after first semester vs. first year?

Do you know the possibility of transferring scholarships from a nursing scholarship to a general scholarship or SMP scholarship?

As a college freshman, it’s time to take responsibility for using primary sources, which will always provide the latest and most accurate information. Strongly suggest you direct this question to your ROTC officer leadership.
 
I think is an issue of semantics. The contract says she wont have to pay the scholarship back if she quits after one year and her question is what happens if she quits after one semester which I imagine the contract doesn't specifically talk about. She is taking the contract too literally. The contract doesn't say you have to complete one year and then quit. The contract means that if you quit at any time between day 1 of the school year and the 1st day of the sophomore year, you dont have to return the money
 
Dear soldiernursecadet:

You cannot transfer a nurse scholarship to non-nurse. If you are certain about not majoring in nursing, and still wish to be a cadet, the only thing you can do is to drop the scholarship but continue participating in ROTC, and hope to win a campus-based scholarship. Some have done it; if you get to the point that you are certain nursing is not for you, then talk to the ROO on campus about possibilities. There are no guarantees.

Everyone above has great advice for you! May I add my two cents? Three weeks into your first semester is not a great time to be making life-changing decisions. There is so much going on right now with your adjustment to college - physically, psychologically, socially, emotionally. Do some research, gather your facts, but my advice is to give everything more time before you put any decisions into action. Some other tips:
  1. Take advantage of your free on-campus counseling services to get some support and help to sort out your many questions.
  2. See your advisor or career counseling center and try to dig deep into why you want to change your major at this point. Why do you want to change from nursing? Are the science core courses hard? Do you feel you are in over your head? If that's the case, sign up for tutoring - this is also free at most campuses.
  3. Make sure you are eating right and try to get enough sleep, though this is understandably difficult in a noisy dorm.
  4. Talk to some older cadets - you have been assigned a mentor, right? - about your thoughts on ROTC nursing and your possibility of dropping it. Their experiences can give you a bigger picture of advantages and disadvantages. They likely felt like you did as a freshman, too - overwhelmed and confused.
There was another post a week or two ago from a freshman - a lot of great advice was given that could help you, too. If I can find the thread, I will share.
Best wishes.
 
the thread is from a student called "johnradiv" - I don't know how to copy and paste the link here -
 
Concerning not being able to change
from a nursing scholarship to non nursing not being possible -
FYI - this is not true. A major transfer can occur and a nursing scholarship can be transferred to a line scholarship. It was actually my daughter’s brigade nursing adviser that walked her through the process and it actually is a thing. It is not guaranteed, heavily dependent on the recommendation of the PMS and it does have consequences. The consequences depend on what year the cadet is when the request is made and granted. The consequence even if it is approved is a one semester administrative suspension of tuition benefits. Stipend and book stipend are still provided during the suspension. Also, the cadet has to be able to show via a new 104R that they can still graduate at the original graduation date , no extensions will be approved. If the student is a junior or senior at the time of the major change, then the only option is to be a non scholarship cadet. This is all explained in the contract. It is spelled out very clearly. I am certain this is true because my daughter asked for and was approved for a major change from nursing to communication studies during her sophomore year, she was recommended by her PMS and approved by the brigade months later. It was a hard decision for her to even ask. I am certain that the only reason she had the support was because her performance and dedication up to that point was looked upon very positively. She also handled herself very professionally during the process, talking appropriately to the chain on command and acting upon everything she was told to do. It was also important that she was in good standing in the nursing program, if she was failing that would of been a different story.

I will say that the PMS always has the option to do exactly what @brob explained, by denying the request and putting the cadet into the situation of having to compete for a campus based scholarship. By approving the transfer request the program “loses” the nursing scholarship. In some cases that simply would not be good for the program. In my daughter’s case, going into clinicals the following semester, and all other nurses in ROTC already having scholarships, it was unlikely that another nurse would be able to use that scholarship for that year anyway.

Also, the previous thread was for Air Force, I believe the OP of this thread is Army, but not 100% sure. My daughter is Army. It is not easy, but possible.
 
Agree with Dckc88. It is absolutely possible to change from nursing scholarship. Oldest son changed his major from nursing to OM (upon the advice of his PMS). I believe the PMS had to take the request to brigade, but it was approved.
 
Thank you, dckc88 and txpotato, for correcting me on this! My understanding was incorrect and I appreciate learning this information.
 
Thank you, dckc88 and txpotato, for correcting me on this! My understanding was incorrect and I appreciate learning this information.
I will add that it isn’t a super easy process and the cadet needs to truly want to be an officer above all else.
 
I'm going to state what I believe is true based off of these past comments and my research, but please correct me if anything I say is wrong
Freshman year: If you drop or switch majors, you do not need to pay the money back if you lose your scholarship, but will incur a 6 month suspension of tuition benefits if you keep the scholarship.

What is the policy for sophomore year and on? Am I allowed to switch majors during my sophomore year? I understand that you contract as a junior and have committed to a major, but until then what are the rules? Both if I switch majors or if I drop ROTC entirely? Ex. If I drop ROTC while on a scholarship after (or during) my freshman year, do I possess a service commitment?
 
You ALWAYS need permission to switch majors. Among other things you will have to show you will graduate on time. If you stay past freshman year you will either owe all monies you received, or will be required to enlist at DoD's discretion. You do not incur a service commitment during freshman year. If you contract later you MAY owe a service commitment but I'm not sure about that. Of course you could read a contract and make that determination yourself.

I know nothing of a 6 month suspension of tuition money if you switch majors. I've never heard of that.
 
You ALWAYS need permission to switch majors. Among other things you will have to show you will graduate on time. If you stay past freshman year you will either owe all monies you received, or will be required to enlist at DoD's discretion. You do not incur a service commitment during freshman year. If you contract later you MAY owe a service commitment but I'm not sure about that. Of course you could read a contract and make that determination yourself.

I know nothing of a 6 month suspension of tuition money if you switch majors. I've never heard of that.
Switching OUT of nursing has a 6 month suspension. Possible to get it waived though.
 
No...you will not have to pay back if you drop freshman year. Sign up for the sophomore year and show up for class and you serve or pay back. Did you not go over your contract before you signed it and did you not understand what you promised?
I have reviewed the Army ROTC and Air Force ROTC application contracts carefully because I have a child interested in ROTC - I am a contract lawyer. The AFROTC has clause 13(g) allowing a person to leave without penalty after Freshman year. The Army ROTC contract does not have such a clause at all - its penalty clauses are in effect from the moment you sign the application. Please tell me the statute, rule or contractual clause that forms the basis for your above statement, or if you were referring only to the AFROTC so I can advise my child correctly. Thank you.
 
Old thread.

DA 597-3, 3.c.1. You're likely looking at an outdated document if you can't find it.

It's a commonality across all ROTC programs.
 
I have reviewed the Army ROTC and Air Force ROTC application contracts carefully because I have a child interested in ROTC - I am a contract lawyer. The AFROTC has clause 13(g) allowing a person to leave without penalty after Freshman year. The Army ROTC contract does not have such a clause at all - its penalty clauses are in effect from the moment you sign the application. Please tell me the statute, rule or contractual clause that forms the basis for your above statement, or if you were referring only to the AFROTC so I can advise my child correctly. Thank you.
Here is a 2023 contract form. See page 3. Cadet obligation, near bottom of page. It’s written the opposite way - “will incite an obligation at x point…”

I think this got changed some time ago. Aligns with AF and Navy.



Old thread, but @clarksonarmy is a regular poster and resident Army ROTC expert. No doubt they will pop up and confirm.

And welcome new member of just over a day!
 
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