AROTC and Presidential Merit Scholarship

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aCGAhopeful

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I have a 4 year Army scholarship at a school which offers free room and board for 4- year winners. I just got an email that I received the Presidential Merit Scholarship ($14,000) and was wondering would I just get to keep that money? I know I need to contact the school's financial aid office but was wondering if I'm way off base on wondering this.
 
aCGAhopeful said:
I have a 4 year Army scholarship at a school which offers free room and board for 4- year winners. I just got an email that I received the Presidential Merit Scholarship ($14,000) and was wondering would I just get to keep that money? I know I need to contact the school's financial aid office but was wondering if I'm way off base on wondering this.
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Yes, you'd be best contacting the school to ask. The only dilemma I'd see is an ethical one if your school is one of those that only offers a select number of free room and board vouchers for 4-year winners. In that event, you might consider letting a fellow cadet have that benefit.

But...that is a personal decision if the school doesn't have a requirement that you relinquish it-- don't let anyone guilt or shame you into a decision. You earned both on your own merit, I assume, so there is nothing necessarily wrong with keeping both benefits (free room and board, and the Presidential Merit Scholarship) if the school lets you.

Of course all of the above is assuming that $14k would be enough to cover room and board at your school. If not, then I'd strongly suggest keeping both.

Don't forget to write a thank you letter to the Presidential Merit Scholarship board and congratulations!
 
You were correct the first time. Contact the financial aid office. Many, if not most, scholarships come with restrictions on how the money can be used and varies by scholarship type and school. I doubt very much that you can keep the money in this case, but only your hair dresser knows for sure (or something like that). When calling the financial aid office it might be good to ask what happens if for some reason you must discontinue AROTC, due to injury or whatever; would the Presidential Merit Scholarship be re-instated? Again, it usually isn't but it's best to get as much info as possible while you're on the phone.
 
My DS and I are on site at schools in FL this week asking this very question. Two schools. Two diametrically opposite answers. If you’re comfortable sharing which school you are referring to I can share what we’ve learned.

Is this the Presidential level merit scholarship from a school that rhymes with Pembry Fiddle? Let me know if I can help. Good luck.
 
I spoke with the financial aid office. The merit scholarship would go away but if something happened and I couldn't do ROTC, it could come back.
 
We had that experience, my daughter had a one semester administrative suspension of scholarship. During that time her merit scholarship kicked in, the school even kicked in additnal grants to help her because during the suspension she also lost her room and board for one semester. She is back on her ROTC scholarship and room and board waiver, and again the merit scholarship went away. Like I already mentioned, her school also waives room and board for ROTC scholarship recipients. We never thought of the possibility that she would be suspended. So the merit money came in handy. FYI - she was a nursing scholarship recipient and in her sophomore year knew nursing wasn’t for her but conversely by then she knew for certain a military career was. She requested and received (long process) a scholarship transfer to pursue a different degree, with that approval came a one semester administrative suspension of scholarship. So when the school says it is there if you need a different source of funding they are holding it for you, just know sometimes things happen you cannot foresee right now, so that is super good for you to know!
 
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