AFRTOC Type 7 scholarship and in state tuition

[VTPhil]

My son received a Type 7 AFROTC scholarship that will pay tuition for four years "at an AFROTC affiliated public school where you quality for that school's in state tuition."

He has been accepted to the University of South Carolina(we live out of state) and received a scholarship that allows him to pay the in state tuition rate.

When he tried to accept the AFROTC scholarship he was denied, as the in state tuition from USC has "stipulations attached". The stipulations are that he maintain a 3.0 GPA and be a full time student.

The AFROTC contact suggested that he switch to a Type 2 Scholarship which will pay up to 18K in tuition for years 2-4. This would be less beneficial to him since year 1 is not covered and it would be otherwise.

Has anyone else here been in a similar situation? Any advice, or are we pretty much out of luck as far as year 1?

 

[kinnem]

Is it the Woodrow Scholarship? Are you certain it's in-state tuition? When DS was awarded the Woodrow it was only "near" in-state tuition. I guess if it is in-state and there are stipulations that AFROTC won't endorse, then they are within their rights to do so. My guess, and it's only that, is that you are out of luck for year 1. Too bad, it's a great school (said the man with the SC avatar). Of course someone more knowledgeable than I may chime in.

 

[VTPhil]

Is it the Woodrow Scholarship? Are you certain it's in-state tuition? When DS was awarded the Woodrow it was only "near" in-state tuition.

Thanks for the reply kinnem. He is an "Academic Scholar – Superlative Award" recipient which qualifies him to "pay the same rate as South Carolina residents."

 

[Tbpxece]

Only certain states (TX, IL, OK, etc.) are authorized to pre-qualify as "in-state" tuition for HQ AFROTC's purposes. A tuition waiver (which is probably what your son's program is) is generally not accepted by AFROTC as they usually come with strings.

The aforementioned states actually passed state legislation that declares ROTC cadets to be military, and-in turn- qualify for the military in-state tuition rate. This is why AFROTC will approve those applications, but not your sons-- it is baked into state law (and therefore does not have strings other than military service, which AFROTC also requires).

My advice would be to (a) appeal the decision if you have evidence from USC to the contrary, (b) prepare to pay the first years' tuition out of pocket, and (c) consider another school if you can't afford the T2 conversion costs.

There are a few public schools in Texas that currently accept applications (UTSA and UTEP) come to mind, and he could use his Title 7 there.

Remember that AFROTC is a mechanism by which the USAF obtains and trains officers in 4 years. It is not a traditional scholarship program with the purpose of providing free or low-cost college to students. Therefore, HQ AFROTC is usually averse to any caveats that might lengthen that training period and/or increase costs.