Private Colleges vs. Public Colleges for ROTC

AROTCPMS

AROTCPMS

Former Army ROTC PMS for Claremont McKenna and USC
Banned
Joined
Sep 5, 2014
Messages
118
Hi Everyone,

As a former Army ROTC Professor of Military Science for two “high cost” schools (Claremont McKenna College and the University of Southern California) I am often asked if it is better to take ROTC at a public or private school? In cases where you have an Army, Navy, or certain Air Force ROTC scholarships which pay full tuition, my answer is almost always “a private school.”

Why?

Private Schools vs. Public schools often:

1. Give you incentives which pay for room and board and/or tuition for the first year of a 3 year scholarship. The “Gold Standard” for ROTC incentives IMHO is the University of Toledo. Maximizing these incentive benefits can amount to over $100,000 in savings over a four year period.

2. Help you gain admission to the school if you have a scholarship “in hand.” Have seen many examples of scholarship recipients getting admission to “reach schools” where otherwise they would not have gained admission without the help of ROTC

3. Have lower student-faculty ratios—students get more individual attention and often times a better educational experience.

4. Allow you to graduate on time so your scholarship benefits don’t run out. Public schools in a number of states are “impacted”—meaning classes are not available which extends the time to graduation

5. Often have nicer facilities for ROTC and greater support from the college administration


Overall, the decision on where to do ROTC is a personal choice and there are sometimes good reasons to select a state supported college or university over a private school. However, in most cases, the better choice is a private school.

Robert Kirkland, LTC (Ret)
"The Insider's Guide to the Army [and Air Force] ROTC Scholarship for High School Students and their Parents" (Amazon)
 
Last edited:
I don't disagree with the Colonel's perspective. The value that a private school education delivers when paid for by an AROTC scholarship (even a 3 year) is a tremendous value.

However, the one downside risk about private vs public is an issue over continuity.

Two years ago, my DS had an accident breaking his pelvis and radius during his MS-II year at a State University. Thanks to remarkable doctors and a very patient cadre, he was able to stay in school, remain in ROTC, and resume PT within three months. He will now commission this May, and he thrived during his time at a large flagship state university.

But the injury easily could have gone the other way.

Had he been medically disenrolled, he would have had to pay for college out of pocket moving forward. Because he chose a state school where we already had determined it was affordable, he would not have been forced to transfer out to another college. Had he been enrolled at Claremont, Stanford or USC, there would have been no way for us to afford keeping him there.

I only bring this up as an alternate point of view from a Parent's (and financial planner's) perspective.
 
...(I keep adding reasons)

6. At least in the Army ROTC case, if a cadet wants to transfer schools while in ROTC, it is much easier to transfer the scholarship from a high cost school to another high cost school or from a high cost school to a low cost school.

LTC K
 
LTC K,

I will be joining ROTC at USC next year (though I don't know which branch yet, I have scholarships in hand from each branch) and I am super excited for all of the opportunities there! I will be studying electrical engineering and although I am worried for the workload, I am optimistic about the whole college experience. Now I just need to weigh the options of service academies if I get in to Navy or Air Force...
 
I was NROTC at UCLA. Because of bad study habits, I was put on academic leave of absence for a semester. As I was in-state at a public school, I was able to afford to pay for school on my own for the time I was LOA. In addition, several public schools (UCLA, UC-Berkley, UMich) are consistently ranked in the top tier. Granted, at a university a student can get lost in the crowd, but a strong ROTC unit can provide that core to keep a student grounded.
 
Curiously,

Congrats on your ROTC scholarships to USC! Engineering at USC is a tough workload, no doubt. Also, you definitely get the "college experience" at USC vs. the Service Academies (I am a West Point guy and was an instructor there so I know the benefits of the Service Academies). BTW, you receive $5000 towards your room and board at USC. Please PM me if you'd like to talk more about USC.
 
My DD will be attending Syracuse on a 3yr AD AROTC scholarship this fall. All 3 and 4yr AROTC and AFROTC scholarship recipients at SU receive full Room and Board for all four years, and 3yr recipients are charged no tuition their freshman year. Considering a year's worth of tuition at SU is over 50k, that's quite the bargain!

Effectively, all 3 and 4yr ROTC scholarship recipients at Syracuse attend school at no cost.
 
Regarding room and board costs, do your due diligence and find out what each private or public institution will cover.
Don't assume "the richer the school, the more generous the room and board benefit." Some Ivies, for example, will only cover a portion of room and board, while there are non-Ivies (e.g. Syracuse as referenced above, or University of Rochester) that will cover 100%.
(See the Room and Board thread for more info.)
 
Frau Blucher said:
My DD will be attending Syracuse on a 3yr AD AROTC scholarship this fall. All 3 and 4yr AROTC and AFROTC scholarship recipients at SU receive full Room and Board for all four years, and 3yr recipients are charged no tuition their freshman year. Considering a year's worth of tuition at SU is over 50k, that's quite the bargain!

Effectively, all 3 and 4yr ROTC scholarship recipients at Syracuse attend school at no cost.
Click to expand...

not so much a comment on the thread, but I LOVE your forum handle. Not many people would understand it. Neeeehhhh....
 
So private colleges over public? I would offer an alternative view, especially if you have the credentials to qualify for a national ROTC scholarship. Anyone receiving a 3 or 4 year national ROTC scholarship will most likely have the grades and standard test scores to be competitive for academic merit awards, and waiver or discounts on R&B, in addition to financial need scholarships - now offered by most public colleges and universities - including many fine public schools. Would you turn down an offer to go to UVA, UNC or Georgia Tech with a nearly full ride - in order to have a full ride at a private college? The world of higher ed has dramatically changed across the country since the Great Recession. Many states have lowered their support for public colleges and universities - causing them to recruit heavily for out of state students - including competing with private colleges for the best students. While it is true private colleges generally can and do offer more incentives than public colleges (recent surveys by the College Board indicate that private colleges are now offering average discounts to applicants in their higher tier profiles in the range of 50% off their published tuition), many very excellent public colleges and universities offer competitive merit scholarships and discounts to top performing applicants. And - not all public colleges are large universities. Many large universities also offer Honors Programs with small classes. ROTC scholarship students typically rank academically in the 90% or higher top tier of applicants - 4 year scholarships especially. So look carefully at publics as well as private schools - you may be surprised at what they are willing to offer if you have the credentials.
 
glen said:
So private colleges over public? I would offer an alternative view, especially if you have the credentials to qualify for a national ROTC scholarship. Anyone receiving a 3 or 4 year national ROTC scholarship will most likely have the grades and standard test scores to be competitive for academic merit awards, and waiver or discounts on R&B, in addition to financial need scholarships - now offered by most public colleges and universities - including many fine public schools. Would you turn down an offer to go to UVA, UNC or Georgia Tech with a nearly full ride - in order to have a full ride at a private college? The world of higher ed has dramatically changed across the country since the Great Recession. Many states have lowered their support for public colleges and universities - causing them to recruit heavily for out of state students - including competing with private colleges for the best students. While it is true private colleges generally can and do offer more incentives than public colleges (recent surveys by the College Board indicate that private colleges are now offering average discounts to applicants in their higher tier profiles in the range of 50% off their published tuition), many very excellent public colleges and universities offer competitive merit scholarships and discounts to top performing applicants. And - not all public colleges are large universities. Many large universities also offer Honors Programs with small classes. ROTC scholarship students typically rank academically in the 90% or higher top tier of applicants - 4 year scholarships especially. So look carefully at publics as well as private schools - you may be surprised at what they are willing to offer if you have the credentials.
Click to expand...

Several considerations to your comment...yes, many students who receive the 4 year scholarships are top tier students. That does not increase the likelihood of merit based scholarships especially at high caliber academic schools because in reality, every student they admit falls under that same category. When you look close, these schools have very few slots for academic awards....don't count on it. As far as financial need scholarships, as soon as the school becomes aware of the ROTC scholarship, any grants or scholarships that were awarded will be adjusted to account for EFC (expected family contribution)...because the ROTC scholarship covers all tuition, and in many cases all that remains is room and board, there is a very good likelihood that all need based aid will be rescinded with the exception of student loans or work study for the student.
Here's my experience - my DS had extraordinary credentials. He got into several high caliber academic private schools, he got into some Ivy Leagues...and he was offered several academic scholarships to some very good public schools. Those academic scholarships however, were partial and at the end of the day weren't enough to impact his decision. When all was said and done he decided on a Private school. When we received the Financial Aid letter, he was offered a very nice grant that made the Private school as affordable as the Public Schools. Once the paperwork for the ROTC scholarship was processed through the financial aid office and the EFC was recalculated, the entire grant was eliminated because the ROTC scholarship covered all of his tuition leaving us with room and board. He was offered work study and student loans. My advice, if you decide to attend a school that does not provide room and board for ROTC participants, expect to pay for it.
What I would recommend for any high school junior, apply for those smaller external scholarships made available locally through your high school. The smaller scholarships can add up. My son had enough to cover room and board for freshman year. My DS was able to graduate a couple of years ago with no student loan debt thanks to his 4 year ROTC scholarship, and enough small scholarships and savings to cover room and board.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top