How does book payment work?

J

jrwork

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Oct 8, 2018
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DS received 4-year AROTC scholarship, which we are pumped about. He has asked his ROO lots of questions, but seemingly none of the ones that us dear old parents want to know, you know financial stuff :p

How does the book stipend work? I know nothing can be paid until he contracts, which requires passing the APFT. Pretty sure that is one of the first things they do the first week they are on campus but I also know that government red tape can make funding be slow. So how does DS pay for books for his classes if the funding hasn't come through yet? Also, do they purchase books and then get reimbursed for the exact amount or do they fund the $1,200?

I am 110% certain the ROO could answer this but I'm certainly not going to email him and DS is of the sort that "it will work out, let's not bother him right now" BIG SIGH
 
Once your DS passes his APFT and signs his contract the bimonthly stipend will begin. One of those payments may include the $600 per semester book stipend or it may be a separate direct deposit. For Fall 2018 it was included with one of my DS's stipends and for the Spring 2019 semester it was a separate $600 direct deposit. At his civilian college we had to pay for his books first at the campus bookstore. Hope this helps. For the Fall 2018 semester my DS had just under $1000 for textbooks but stipend for books was still only $600.
 
Thank you, very helpful. I thought we might need to pay for books up front and then get the money back later. I am just trying to plan ahead for as many expenses as I can think of, like a laptop, books, and dorm room stuff. So the army just gives $600 per semester and doesn't worry about what the cost actually will be? I mean, what if his books somehow end up costing less than $600? I know this is unlikely...college is damn expensive!
 
jrwork said:
Also, do they purchase books and then get reimbursed for the exact amount or do they fund the $1,200
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+1 AST...
They fund the full $1,200 split between the two semesters. There is no need to track receipts. if he spends only $200 on books and he receives $600 he keeps the difference! (or takes mom and dad to dinner when you visit).

Once the cadet realizes this, suddenly they learn to be frugal and start penny pinching on text books! :rolleyes:
 
Uh, yeah, he better be treating us if he ends up with leftover book money! Ha! Good news is that our bank account is the one on file with the school for overpayment of scholarship funds, which is likely to happen, so at least I will get that back :D
 
Just looked at the "budget" provided by the school and they estimate $500 per semester for books and supplies. Hope that is accurate, that would be sweet!
 
jrwork said:
Just looked at the "budget" provided by the school and they estimate $500 per semester for books and supplies. Hope that is accurate, that would be sweet!
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LOTS of variance in the "cost of attendance" estimates for books.

To save money:
  • Buy used books.
  • Buy "Kindle" or electronic versions of the book.
  • RENT instead of purchasing books.
  • Try alternative book sources like Amazon or Ebay. (watch out for matching edition numbers, though).
 
using online versions of books my son has averaged less than $200 every semester.
 
My kids only did Chegg. I don't think they ever spent more than 200 a semester. Chegg will deliver to your door within days. At the end of the semester you print up the return slip and drop it off at a UPS store. Free shipping.
 
If you search "Textbook Rental comparison" you will find Chegg and several other sites to review.

I wish I had these options back in the stone age.:confused:
 
Just and FYI for any ROTC nursing students out there. All $1,200 is funded in Fall. I think the thought behind this is many science classes are a year long with books (and they are expensive) have to be bought in the fall.

The book money goes directly into the account the cadet lists for direct deposit with the Army, not through the school. She has gotten her book money each year right around the first stipend, so about a month before tuition is paid by the Army.

We allowed our daughter to charge her books with our credit card and then pay the bill as soon as she got her money, before any interest was accrued. She has found Amazon used books and rentals to be easy to find what she has needed and kept track of all her rental returns in one place. Other services might be cheaper - but being an Amazon Prime family, we went with easy.
 
The money is supposedly to be used for books and such. In reality it can be used for anything they want. My son wasnt on scholarship but started receiving the stipend in his Junior year after he contracted. In reality, i paid for his books and school supplies and he lived of the stipend. He could have used the money for books and school and I could have sent him money to live on. In the end it all comes out in the wash.
 
Great info! We will either buy the books outright for him and let him keep the money (after all, as it stands now, we aren’t going to have to pay a penny to the school for anything), or we will buy them and have him pay it back once he gets the money. Gonna have to think on that and have a conversation with him about it, likely when we sit down with him to hash out the frame of a budget for him to follow. Time for adulting!
 
@jrwork one idea would be to have him buy his own books out of it and save that amount for him for later. We always let her keep the difference either way since it is her money. We have done that on a few things that the kids have paid for but we didn’t mind helping with - That way we had the kids learn the “adult habit” of budgeting but put that amount away over time, then they have a little nest egg when they need it. All three of our kids were able to earn scholarships for their education - so we felt the same as you do, getting off pretty easy.

EDIT - I didn’t explain myself well the first time!!!
 
Rent the text books. DS did this after his first semester and never spent more than $75 in a single semester. By far the best way to go.
 
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