AFROTC February/March Board 2024

[Sully16]

The minimum GPA for scholarship recipients is, I believe, 2.5.

I've read through the scholarship contract and there is some ambiguous language in the document. Under the disenrollment section it says "... must compete favorably with applicants for POC enrollment application." What exactly does that mean? To me it possibly means even if you are above the PFA and GPA minimums, and haven't been a discredit to the program, you can be disenrolled. This is after the section where it says you can be disenrolled for failure to meet military, academic, or medical retention standards. So you could meet the standards and still be disenrolled if the Det/CC thinks you are not competing favorably? That is strange.

The AFROTC instruction document from June 2023 also says that "Even if I achieve GPA standards but my Det/CC does not feel my performance warrants scholarship retention, I understand my scholarship can be suspended or terminated immediately." That's also kind of concerning.

I am looking at a college which is offering about $86k in financial aid for tuition of $88k (it was just revised). So my tuition out-of-pocket cost could be $2k. If I take the scholarship and don't make the POC, I could potentially have to pay back $176,000. That's pretty risky.

 

[so7]

The minimum GPA for scholarship recipients is, I believe, 2.5.

I've read through the scholarship contract and there is some ambiguous language in the document. Under the disenrollment section it says "... must compete favorably with applicants for POC enrollment application." What exactly does that mean? To me it possibly means even if you are above the PFA and GPA minimums, and haven't been a discredit to the program, you can be disenrolled. This is after the section where it says you can be disenrolled for failure to meet military, academic, or medical retention standards. So you could meet the standards and still be disenrolled if the Det/CC thinks you are not competing favorably? That is strange.

The AFROTC instruction document from June 2023 also says that "Even if I achieve GPA standards but my Det/CC does not feel my performance warrants scholarship retention, I understand my scholarship can be suspended or terminated immediately." That's also kind of concerning.

I am looking at a college which is offering about $86k in financial aid for tuition of $88k (it was just revised). So my tuition out-of-pocket cost could be $2k. If I take the scholarship and don't make the POC, I could potentially have to pay back $176,000. That's pretty risky.

It's a legal technicality that allows the scholarship to be rejected for very abnormal cases but almost is never used. It "must compete favorably with applicants for POC enrollment application" means that they're required to go up for an EA during their sophomore year (competing for field training). Most sophomores go up for this just by default, but sometimes the AS200 or Det/CC decide that individuals are not fit for military service and/or need an extra year to prepare before going up for PSP (this is only like the bottom 1-2% of the class). If you are doing well enough to get a HSSP in this competitive time, you'll be fine. Yes, read the fine print, but you'll be fine. Work hard and focus on academics, physical fitness, and demonstrated followership and leadership, in that order, and you'll get an EA. This year was around 80-90% selection rate depending on the school which means that the bottom 10% (the dirtbags who don't put in any effort) didn't get through. In my opinion, some people who shouldn't have gotten an EA got them this year so they're definitely accepting more, but we'll see if that trend continues for you 2 years from now.

Also, as someone else said earlier, meet the GPA and PFA requirements so that you don't break the contract, and then you won't have to pay it back if you don't get an EA because that'll be the AF breaking the contract.

 

[so7]

I have a question for any AFROTC Type 1 scholarship winners from any of the 3 boards this year.

Does the contract language regarding potentially having to repay the tuition costs for your first two years if you are not selected for Enrollment Allocation (EA) in the Professional Officer Course (POC) make you think this might be a bad idea?

If I go AFROTC, I will be attending a school that has a $68,000 yearly tuition bill. Having to pay back 2 years of tuition and other costs is a serious concern. I have seen data for cadets going on to the POC in the last few years at rates of 70% to 82%. That's 3 in 10 or 2 in 10 cadets not advancing, and if they were on scholarship, they could potentially be in a world of hurt!

Does anyone know if scholarship cadets who are serious about the program but don't move onto the POC are required to pay back scholarships or serve as enlisted?

"Does anyone know if scholarship cadets who are serious about the program but don't move onto the POC"... If they're serious about the program, they'll probably make it through. It's usually the ones who aren't serious who don't make it through (the bottom 10-30%). Yes, you can enlist to pay off the commitment, but it rarely happens.