Army ROTC scholarship for room and board

[Jcleppe]

Again, please tell me which IS you are at, I am moving there now! 13K a yr for everything is amazing. I was happy with 19.6K in VA!


Heck CC is 4K here on a good day!

I am assuming that the $3000 he mentioned for tuition was for one semester making the total for the year $6000, and the total out the door cost around $16000 per year.

Just as an example University of Idaho IS tuition is $13892 per year for tuition and room and board, nice deal for those in state.

 

[sjbd94]

yep those were the semester rates, tuition for the year is a little under 6000 and our meal plans are about 1900 a semester and the housing for the prison as we like to call it is about 2200 a semester while the nicer housing, which i want to switch to especially if i use it to pay for room and board is about 3000 a semester. So as you can see even in the cheaper housing its about a 1000 more a semester and i dont see how I would pay more than that in taxes

 

[Jcleppe]

yep those were the semester rates, tuition for the year is a little under 6000 and our meal plans are about 1900 a semester and the housing for the prison as we like to call it is about 2200 a semester while the nicer housing, which i want to switch to especially if i use it to pay for room and board is about 3000 a semester.

Just make sure what amount the scholarship will pay regarding R&B, it may be an average of the cost charged by the university, make sure what they pay will cover the cost of what you want leaving enough to pay the taxes before you sign anything.

 

[philmont]

Another room & board taxable question (I read there are no stupid questions, right?)

So, my DS tuition is covered directly by AROTC scholarship and room and board is covered directly by a Norwich scholarship (used to be called ID White Scholarship). By directly, I mean it goes right into his account, he never sees any money or checks. Does he have to pay taxes on the room and board $?

 

[goaliedad]

So, my DS tuition is covered directly by AROTC scholarship and room and board is covered directly by a Norwich scholarship (used to be called ID White Scholarship). By directly, I mean it goes right into his account, he never sees any money or checks. Does he have to pay taxes on the room and board $?

Any aid received in excess of required tuition, fees, and books is considered taxable income by the IRS. You should look carefully at the 1099 you receive from the school for details as to how much that would be.

The good news is that if he doesn't have other earnings (i.e. summer job - stipend is not taxable), he will have a personal exemption > $5000, even as a dependent on your taxes. And the rate on the amount above the personal exemption is only 10%, so we are only talking a few hundred in taxes.

 

[EDelahanty]

So, my DS tuition is covered directly by AROTC scholarship and room and board is covered directly by a Norwich scholarship (used to be called ID White Scholarship). By directly, I mean it goes right into his account, he never sees any money or checks. Does he have to pay taxes on the room and board $?

I don't know if SMCs get special treatment compared to other schools. For other public and private schools, room and board grants are considered taxable income. It doesn't matter whether the money passes through your son's account.

Any aid received in excess of required tuition, fees, and books is considered taxable income by the IRS. You should look carefully at the 1099 you receive from the school for details as to how much that would be.

The good news is that if he doesn't have other earnings (i.e. summer job - stipend is not taxable), he will have a personal exemption > $5000, even as a dependent on your taxes. And the rate on the amount above the personal exemption is only 10%, so we are only talking a few hundred in taxes.

I found the 1099 from my son's school to be useless as a source of information in terms of guidance. Maybe it's that particular school.

Regarding the standard deduction/itemized deduction on Line 40 of Form 1040 and the $3,800 personal exemption on Line 42, this is tricky since there are multiple variables, including: (1) Does your son have earned income (r&b is not "earned income"); (2) Is he filing a separate return; (3) If your son files a separate return are you taking him as an exemption on your (parents') form; (4) Do you itemize deductions or take the standard deduction on your own form?

Calculations will work out differently for people. In our case for 2011: (1) He did not have earned income; (2) He filed a separate return (3) we took him as a deduction on our return and (4) We itemize deductions. The bottom line was that he could not take the standard deduction on his return and we paid taxes at a 10% rate on his $10,000 or so of room and board grants.

 

[cjs]

If you live on campus, the Room and Board will pay for whatever your charges are up to $10,000. So you can chose the most expensive dorm and the biggest meal plan. If the total is $8,700 then that's what they pay. If the total is $10,100 then they pay $10,000 and you pay $100.

If you live off campus they will determine the average of what rent would be and give you that. If you don't take a food plan at school, then they average between the cheapest and the most expensive meal plan and give you that.

My son actually got more money when he lived on campus his first semester and had a meal plan than living off campus.

The money gets deposited directly into his checking account each semester.

I will warn you so you are prepared, using the scholarship this way will not pay right away. For the Fall semester, you will get the money anywhere from end of November through mid December. (At least that's how it's been the last 3 years for my son's school and 2 of his friends schools.) For the Spring semester the payment is quicker and seems to hit the accounts around mid to end February. It's been around 2/22.

 

[Marist College ROTC]

If you live on campus, the Room and Board will pay for whatever your charges are up to $10,000. So you can chose the most expensive dorm and the biggest meal plan. If the total is $8,700 then that's what they pay. If the total is $10,100 then they pay $10,000 and you pay $100.

Are you referring to AROTC, AFROTC, or NROTC ?

 

[EDelahanty]

If you live on campus, the Room and Board will pay for whatever your charges are up to $10,000. So you can chose the most expensive dorm and the biggest meal plan. If the total is $8,700 then that's what they pay. If the total is $10,100 then they pay $10,000 and you pay $100.

If you live off campus they will determine the average of what rent would be and give you that. If you don't take a food plan at school, then they average between the cheapest and the most expensive meal plan and give you that.

My son actually got more money when he lived on campus his first semester and had a meal plan than living off campus.

The money gets deposited directly into his checking account each semester.

I will warn you so you are prepared, using the scholarship this way will not pay right away. For the Fall semester, you will get the money anywhere from end of November through mid December. (At least that's how it's been the last 3 years for my son's school and 2 of his friends schools.) For the Spring semester the payment is quicker and seems to hit the accounts around mid to end February. It's been around 2/22.

I should have been more explicit earlier, since scholarships work differently among the various services and may vary at different schools.

My son is in school on an AROTC scholarship. His scholarship provides for full tuition, fees, books. His particular school provides room and board as a grant to ROTC scholarship students. I do not believe the school allows the r&b grant to be transferred off-campus to private housing.

The grant at his school is for a (very) basic room and the basic food plan. The cost of these combined ran around $10,000 in calendar 2011 and almost $11,000 in calendar 2012. These amounts are taxable income.

You can upgrade the type of room (e.g., double to a single) or dormitory and the meal plan. In this case you are responsible for the incremental cost.

 

[cjs]

Are you referring to AROTC, AFROTC, or NROTC ?

AROTC.

My son has used his scholarship for room and board since his freshman year and this was the paperwork and explanation that we received. He had the biggest meal plan at the school his freshman year and chose the dorm he wanted.

For his freshman year he had to give a copy of his dorm receipt and meal plan receipt to get paid what he spent. Once he moved off campus he no longer had to do that as it was a set amount for all the cadets. His scholarship for the spring was $4554.50.

 

[cjs]

I should have been more explicit earlier, since scholarships work differently among the various services and may vary at different schools.

My son is in school on an AROTC scholarship. His scholarship provides for full tuition, fees, books. His particular school provides room and board as a grant to ROTC scholarship students. I do not believe the school allows the r&b grant to be transferred off-campus to private housing.

The grant at his school is for a (very) basic room and the basic food plan. The cost of these combined ran around $10,000 in calendar 2011 and almost $11,000 in calendar 2012. These amounts are taxable income.

You can upgrade the type of room (e.g., double to a single) or dormitory and the meal plan. In this case you are responsible for the incremental cost.

My son is in school on an AROTC scholarship as well. He just uses it for Room and Board rather than tuition as he has a state scholarship that he uses towards tuition. His school does not give a grant for room and board to those on the scholarships.

 

[runslikeajohndeere]

Perplexing

Wish I was a tax accountant. Thanks for the insight and rambling ideas. DS is apparently using scholarship for R&B. Trying to advise him on all possibilities. Thankful for this forum and the scholarship AROTC. Will see what Uncle Sam has for us(him) later this year

 

[nnmfam]

As of last year Room and Board were not taxable as they are repaying with commitment of time after graduation. I hope this helps.

 

[cajuncarrier]

This is kind of the way my tax accountant explained it. He said that ROTC scholarships weren't taxable ( in our case). With all of the posts concerning this topic and the references to the tax instructions on scholarships being used for R&B, you would think it would leave no room for misinterpretation. That's our tax laws/codes for ya!! I guess there is no black and white.

 

[Vista123]

why not both?

this may be worth looking into when choosing schools but it didnt even occur to us for some reason to look into this. So we were pleasantly surprised (to the tune of $45,000) but DS' school throws in room and board if you get a ROTC scholarship. I was very confused when I got a bill for $0.00...but it was a lovely confusion.

 

[cajuncarrier]

YEAH!!!

 

[Pima]

I posted this on another thread. There is a sticky on the ROTC forum regarding Room and Board.

Heereis an example

Wake Forest offers full room and board for 3 and 4 year scholarship recipients. MSII will get 1k tuition assistance. IIIs get 2 K and IVs get 3k

 

[paradoxer]

IRS regulations

As of last year Room and Board were not taxable as they are repaying with commitment of time after graduation. I hope this helps.

It would be most helpful if you could show us what IRS publication allows for this sort of waiver. I've never seen this in any of the IRS materials and if it's true we need all to be aware of this possibility.

 

[Pima]

Honestly, I am a conservative when it comes to taxes...live in fear we will be audited and so I want the ability to say...fine, I am coming back and readjusting my side.

Just me, but I would declare it. It just seems to me that it is very clear ROTC does not meet the standard.

I am not trying to upset anyone, but I don't get why the 529 is even being discussed. 529s are not ROTC. That aspect is comparing apples to oranges. Maybe I am missing something.

 

[sheriff3]

Someone should become an expert in this subject matter and open a consulting business like Glenn did on the DoDMERB side.