AFROTC Type 1 CICS Scholarship Questions

Valley18

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Hello all! I am a college freshman that just finished up my first year and yesterday I received word that I was selected for a type 1 AFROTC CICS (commanders in-college scholarship). I had a meeting with my detachment's NCO's but I didn't get all of my questions answered because they weren't really sure the answers. I am most concerned about how transferable the scholarship is to other schools. I am aware that other AFROTC scholarships are capped at a certain point or will only pay as much as your in-state tuition costs, yet the type 1 description on AFROTC.com as well as my NCO's lead me to believe I can go anywhere in the US and have full tuition covered. Everything I have found seems to be for those graduating high school and not for people like me that are already enrolled in a university and have a year under my belt. I can't seem to find anything on the internet about this as type 1 isn't usually offered to those already in college from what I've found. Please help!
 
Hello all! I am a college freshman that just finished up my first year and yesterday I received word that I was selected for a type 1 AFROTC CICS (commanders in-college scholarship). I had a meeting with my detachment's NCO's but I didn't get all of my questions answered because they weren't really sure the answers. I am most concerned about how transferable the scholarship is to other schools. I am aware that other AFROTC scholarships are capped at a certain point or will only pay as much as your in-state tuition costs, yet the type 1 description on AFROTC.com as well as my NCO's lead me to believe I can go anywhere in the US and have full tuition covered. Everything I have found seems to be for those graduating high school and not for people like me that are already enrolled in a university and have a year under my belt. I can't seem to find anything on the internet about this as type 1 isn't usually offered to those already in college from what I've found. Please help!

Congrats on this accomplishment - that's great news for you.

The following USAF Site outlines that this scholarship can be used at any institution with an ROTC Detachment. https://www.afrotc.com/scholarships/college/types/

TYPE 1
Reserved for Commanders’ In-College Scholarships (CICS) offered to cadets pursuing a technical major. It pays 100 percent tuition and authorized fees at any public or private institution with an Air Force ROTC detachment. Selectees also receive a monthly living expense stipend and an annual book stipend.

So that being said, my free advice is that you confirm how this works - who championed you to receive this, and find out if there are expectations with this award on where you will use it now that you've received it. You should confirm before mis-stepping. Written rule or not, just make sure your six is covered here - good luck.
 
While @Herman_Snerd is correct that it says a type 1 will pay tuition wherever you are attending school, it doesn't explicitly say a transfer is allowed. It might mean tuition will be paid in full wherever you are currently attending college when the scholarship is issued. Certainly follow up to get an answer about transferring as I'm not clear how to interpret that statement on the referenced web page. Certainly some officer can direct you on where to go or who you need to talk to to get a definitive answer. I expect most, if not all, recipients like you remain at the college they are currently attending, which might explain why the answer isn't readily available.

I have to ask, would you be looking at transferring to a different school if you didn't receive this type 1 scholarship? If not, might one consider transferring to be looking a gift horse in the mouth?
 
Hi OP and @kinnem I think it’s cool that both @Kinnam and I are trying to help you, we may not have identical views. From my view, the site previously shared expressly says this is scholarship is not a detachment-specific scholarship opportunity. But regardless, I think we’re landing at similar places in terms of general warning and guidance. OP, find out expectations and boundaries for transferring this scholarship. If your school or region fought for you to get this, and then you take it and use it at another school, will it be allowed, is it a good idea, is it a slap in the face to those who fought to reward you (over another member of their battalion or region) to get this? OP, do as @kinnem and I both have now suggested – please find out.


OP, I will say that time after time stories on this board forewarn and teach us that people who try to bend the military to meet their needs end up feeling like they pushed a rope – not a lot of progress, despite the effort. Ex. The young person who pushed and insisted he start in ROTC as a MS-250 because of AP credits, only to have his battalion tell him he wasn’t ready to move forward to commission a couple years later. Ex2. The statistics of applicants who complete X percent of the ROTC or SA applications and fall short because they don’t make it through the gauntlet and get it 100% “done” – one recommendation letter, one transcript short. Those who don’t meet weight requirements but argue that they are a nimble person and therefore should be given a mulligan because they can keep up in PT etc. So, OP - find out the boundaries both on reuqirement and decency here, and don’t try to push this outside of the rules – first, find out the rules and stay within them. And again, hard rule or not find out more about the options here. I would proceed with caution before you burn a bridge here and are caught on an island, without a welcoming “home” detachment because the folks who went to bat for you now to choose you instead of hundreds of others now think of you as disloyal.

Good luck OP and again cool that we share what we think can help this young person:)
 
Thank you all for your advice! I suppose I should clarify more on the transfer aspect of my post. I completely agree with you all that it would be a little bit of a stab in the back to leave my "home" det right after getting a scholarship like this, but that isn't my plan. I have been planning on transferring after my sophomore year since I started university last fall. I will be staying right here at my home uni for at least another year as there are some other really great opportunities I have right now in-state. My biggest concern with the scholarship was that it will cap its funding at my "home" university, and should I transfer down the line I won't be able to pay the full amount. Any thoughts on that? I would also be curious at how my current academic scholarships here which cover roughly 90% of tuition will be affected by this new type 1. I've heard that those scholarships will be activated but then paid directly to me, but that seems pretty crazy to me that the university would just scratch me a check for all of them. I really appreciate all the feedback, keep it coming!
 
First, what happens to the academic scholarships depends on how it is written. Normally those scholarships can only go towards tuition and would be lost when the AFROTC scholarship kicks in, but I've seen exceptions to that. That's a good question for the bursar's office. You might be allowed to apply it to room and board; but I get the impression you're living at home, and doing your first two years where you are in order to save a buck.

I don't think accepting the scholarship will cap your funding if you are able to transfer. Again, that's another good question to get confirmation on with your cadre and AFROTC scholarship research.

EDIT: I don't think your plan is a bad one but did want to point out the following to think about. I don't know how leadership slots are awarded for AFROTC cadets, so this could be all wet. I do know that for a lot of the leadership positions in NROTC that the Midshipmen in a position of authority drive the selection process. For example, my son was a squad leader for 2 semesters starting the second semester of freshman year. He was selected for those spots by the platoon commander and platoon Sgt. His position as Platoon Sgt later the Platoon Commander had, at least, significant input. Similarly the 2 times he served as Company XO, and the one time in a staff position, the Midshipmen he would be serving under had significant input.

My point is, if things work like that in AFROTC, that transferring would leave you as an unknown quantity at the new unit. It may not hurt you at all as they will have input from your current unit, but it's something one might want to consider. Not sure which side I would come down on since there are so many other factors influencing your decision.
 
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I agree with kinnem especially if you want to go rated since the rated board meets early spring semester of your junior yr. You basically would only have 1 semester under your belt at the new det.
You will also want to make sure that your SFT review is sent to the new det after you attend SFT.

On top of that the BIGGEST reason I see an issue with this is simple. Transferring as a junior may throw you off course for graduating on time. Many times colleges will screw with you and say you need this specific course, your old school did not match our requirement, which means you either have to take it over summer or extend your graduation date. Taking classes over the summer as a rising junior is difficult since you will be at SFT, and you need SFT to commission.
 
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