4 year AROTC tuition payment

[jebdad]

DD has received a 4 yr AROTC scholarship. She is accepted at her school, paid the deposit, and passed DODMERB. I realize she must pass the APFT to contract.

How does the whole process with paying the school work? When does the tuition and fees get paid to the school under the scholarship? Is there a time lag with the school being paid versus when the student actually enrolls in Aug and is taking classes? Does the school know they are going to be paid the tuition and fees by the scholarship and they don't expect that payment from the student? Does student simply pay the room and board portion when due?

Just wondering what to expect.

 

[kinnem]

Usually it gets paid late in the semester. The unit will pass along a list of names of the ROTC participants, so this is usually not a problem and the college will not expect payment before enrollment. However, some schools demand payment up front and then reimburse you when they receive the payment from ROTC. Call the unit, or perhaps the bursar's office, if you want to find out how your college works it.

Room and board are paid by the student (errr.... I mean the parent) when due.

 

[AROTC-dad]

+1 Kinnem.

It will vary by college and battalion. I can summarize my DS's experience which began in 2015 at a State University out in the West.

At my son's university, the battalion ROO notifies the university cashier/bursar about the scholarship.

The university cashier now knows the following:

1. They are guaranteed payment by the U.S. Army
2. Chances are good that the money may not be there by deadline (depending on government shut downs etc.).
3. But they are getting full retail cost of tuition.

Your cadet will likely be obligated to front the money or sign an promise to pay note pending receipt of the funds. Some schools will demand that you pay first before you can register for classes.

If you do front the tuition, the college will likely refund the payment as soon as Uncle Sam pays.

It is not a bad idea to line up a Stafford loan or Parent Plus loan option if the college is hard headed about fronting the funds. Once the tuition is refunded, you can then pay off the loan immediately.

Talk to the ROO about discounted Room and Board options. They may have some suggestions. Make sure your DS attends the Army ROTC orientation before the semester begins. A lot of these questions will be addressed then.

 

[AJC]

Just wondering what to expect.

Depends more on the school than anything else.
My son's Spring 2019 money was just paid to the school last week.
They will always take your money.
The advance deposit every year always ends up bring applied to his parking pass, which is the only thing that the Army or the school is not paying for.

 

[Dckc88]

Great questions! There will be a lag time. When she gets to campus she will pass the APFT and her HRA person with ROTC will let the school know that she has contracted. She will then get a form 104R signed by her advisor and her PMS, this is a four year education plan that shows she will graduate in four years and a reference for the Army that she is taking the classes she needs each semester towards her degree. Then she will create a Go Army Ed account and enter her invoice, 104R, etc into the portal to request payment to the school. Her PMS will review and approve, or send back to her for corrections . This process will take a few weeks after school starts. Then in my DD’s experience it has taken about a month after the PMS approves it for it to be reflected in the bursars office as tuition paid. My daughters school is aware and reverses all late fees once the Army payment comes in. She still always has a hold until paid which is always touch and go right before registration but has always worked out. The first semester is a little scary, I totally get it, and feels like it takes forever, but just know your daughter will not be the first student to have that situation. While your daughter will be doing all the communication with her Cadre, it is more than appropriate to have her give the school permission to talk to you about finances (probably through her school portal) and for you to start a dialogue with the financial aid counselor at her school that handles all ROTC students. Then you can find out the policies and how they handle it for your peace of mind and to guide her.

 

[Dckc88]

+1 Kinnem.

It will vary by college and battalion. I can summarize my DS's experience which began in 2015 at a State University out in the West.

At my son's university, the battalion ROO notifies the university cashier/bursar about the scholarship.

The university cashier now knows the following:

1. They are guaranteed payment by the U.S. Army
2. Chances are good that the money may not be there by deadline (depending on government shut downs etc.).
3. But they are getting full retail cost of tuition.

Your cadet will likely be obligated to front the money or sign an promise to pay note pending receipt of the funds. Some schools will demand that you pay first before you can register for classes.

If you do front the tuition, the college will likely refund the payment as soon as Uncle Sam pays.

It is not a bad idea to line up a Stafford loan or Parent Plus loan option if the college is hard headed about fronting the funds. Once the tuition is refunded, you can then pay off the loan immediately.

Talk to the ROO about discounted Room and Board options. They may have some suggestions. Make sure your DS attends the Army ROTC orientation before the semester begins. A lot of these questions will be addressed then.

Depending on the school you can also just turn the money back to the loan as if it never happened and the school can do that for you. They legally have to offer that for a certain amount of time, but it is shorter than it takes the Army to pay. So that is another great question for the financial aid counselor. Because my daughter was a 3 year that was upgraded to a 3.5, we had already accepted the loans for the second semester and the school just returned the funds on our request. The following year I asked the financial aid counselor if we needed to accept the parent plus loan and/or pre-pay and he told me that we did not need to pre pay, and we could accept the loans later if needed. If she came back to school and failed the APFT or did not qualify for her scholarship for another reason, at that point we could then take the loans. Her school requires a FAFSA to be filed for all ROTC cadets in order to get the coveted room and board waiver from the school, so it leaves that option open if we need it. Talking to the financial aid counselor about how all this works at a specific school helps everyone sleep good at night!