Becoming a History/Economics Professor after the military?

SamAca10

SamAca10

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One of the things that I am considering after I get out of the service (whether that is 5 years, 20 years, or even 30 years) is becoming a History or Economics professor. Is this possible at all or not?

Very Respectfully,

SamAca10
 
Heck yeah. You can even do it while in the military. The Army has a few professorships at West Point that are Army officers.
Roughly, the Army pays for the PhD, the professor teaches at West Point until retirement. They are full Colonels and the professorship is their final position in the Army.
Otherwise, after you get out, us your GI bill to go get your PhD. You can do this at any age. If you don't want to get your PhD you can get your MA and teach at a college as an instructor or associate prof.
 
All the same is true for the Navy as well
 
CGA has a similar program.

There are ways to continue your education while you are active too. If you have the time and find the right fit (local institution, online, etc), you can work on your education on your own time to prepare accordingly.

Some active members take these steps outside of a paid-program and work adjunct at their local college on their own, with permission from the command of course.
 
Just_A_Mom said:
Heck yeah. You can even do it while in the military. The Army has a few professorships at West Point that are Army officers.
Roughly, the Army pays for the PhD, the professor teaches at West Point until retiremen.
Click to expand...

JAM.......I want to be certain that we not mislead SamAca10 in any way concerning his hopes of a Phd with the Army or the USMA. Please define "Roughly, the Army pays for the Phd"........it is my understanding as few as 10- 12% of USMA graduates even attend Grad School.....much less attain Doctoral degree.......So "Heck Yeah"......is just a bit ....well.


Gen2 said:
CGA has a similar program.
Click to expand...
80% of Coast Guard Academy graduates attend Grad School at the Coast Guards expense.
 
Be careful on relying on GI Bill to finance education after the service if you are looking at an SA/ full ROTC Scholarship for undergraduate education. Generally, this is not available for veterans who are service academy graduates or those who received full ROTC scholarships. Chapter 31 essentially requires that you contribute a certain amount into the Montgomery GI Bill for the first year of service, and then, if you meet the other service requirements (at least 3 years active duty, honorable separation, etc.) you would be entitled to benefits. There has been a recent change to the GI Bill, with the post-9/11 amendments, although I don't believe it affects SA/ROTC scholarship folks. There is a limit to the amount of money you can receive from the service via an ROTC scholarship and still be entitled to GI Bill (and it's not a lot-it was like 3400 a year, or something similar a year or two ago). When you report to your first duty station, the finance/personnel guys will determine if you are eligible to contribute, and if you are, the contributions come out of your pay for the first year (unless you refuse to contribute). Finally, remember that GI Bill is not a military program, it is run by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and is thus not a way to get a graduate education through the military (not implying that this was said, just want to clarify).

I used Chapter 31 to fund law school, and it is great if you are entitled. I was ROTC College Program though (no scholarship), and thus was eligible. For what it's worth, the GI Bill, while a great program, will not cover all tuition/living expenses usually; but, it should help a fair amount depending on where you go to school. That is, if you are in-state at BIG STATE U for grad school, it might cover the whole tuition; however, if you are in med school at Georgetown, it will only help a little (but...better than nothing).

Just wanted to throw that out there
 
kilovictorhotel said:
JAM.......I want to be certain that we not mislead SamAca10 in any way concerning his hopes of a Phd with the Army or the USMA. Please define "Roughly, the Army pays for the Phd"........it is my understanding as few as 10- 12% of USMA graduates even attend Grad School.....much less attain Doctoral degree.......So "Heck Yeah"......is just a bit ....well.

80% of Coast Guard Academy graduates attend Grad School at the Coast Guards expense.
Click to expand...
KVH - true that many CGA grads attend grad school but do they get their PhD? Probably not many get advanced degrees in History either.
What is your source on the 10-12% number?


I have no idea what the competition for the Army PhD program - but the opportunity exists. Sam asked the question and it's not for me to judge if this would interest him or if he would eventually be qualified.

There is also the opportunity to ADSO for grad school that is Army specific. If you agree to serve an additional three years - the Army will send you to grad school. You generally go between Capt and Major.
This program exists for WP and ROTC grads as well.

A few WP grads will gain the opportunity to attend grad school right after Commissioning by winning a scholarship. This past year 13 West Point grads were awarded Graduate scholarships.

In the Army today, the majority of officers promoted to Major have a grad degree. I don't think it's officially "required" but close.
Basically to make the Army your career you should count on getting a grad degree. Sometimes the Army pays, sometimes not.

sprog said:
Be careful on relying on GI Bill to finance education after the service if you are looking at an SA/ full ROTC Scholarship for undergraduate education. Generally, this is not available for veterans who are service academy graduates or those who received full ROTC scholarships.
Click to expand...

Sprog - The New GI Bill can indeed be used by SA/ROTC grads. After you serve your commitment, you need to serve 3 additional years to qualify.
For instance, if one has just a 5 year AD commitment (no grad or flight school), after 3 more years of service one will qualify for the New GI Bill.
it can also be used for grad school.
Officers (ROTC/Academy Grads) Officers who graduated from service academies or received ROTC scholarships do qualify for Chapter 33 (the new, post-9/11 GI Bill). However, time spent satisfying the ROTC/Service Academy active duty obligation does not count toward the active duty service necessary to qualify for the benefits.
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http://www.newgibill.org/get_answers#45

The requirements for a full Professor require a PhD. While one can get a MA part time the demands for a PhD usually require a few years of full time dedication.
 
I stand corrected. This is a significant, and recent, change in the law.
 
Just_A_Mom said:
KVH - true that many CGA grads attend grad school but do they get their PhD? Probably not many get advanced degrees in History either.
What is your source on the 10-12% number?
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Just_A_Mom.......this link from the USMA was the source of my comment.

http://www.usma.edu/opa/adso/FAQs.htm

Q: (Comment) I find it hard to believe that only 12% of a West Point class receives graduate education from the Army.

A: The officers at USMA are a select group - it is virtually impossible to be on the staff and faculty and not have a graduate degree of some kind. While any officer can pursue a graduate degree on his/her own time, the Army only sends approximately 12% of a commissioned cohort to graduate school on a FULLY FUNDED program. Fully funded means, you receive full pay and benefits, your tuition is paid for, and you do not wear a uniform to class.

Just to be clear to SamAca10............While any officer can pursue a graduate degree on his/her own time, the Army only sends approximately 12% of a commissioned cohort to graduate school on a FULLY FUNDED program. Fully funded means, you receive full pay and benefits, your tuition is paid for, and you do not wear a uniform to class.
 
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KVH: you are most likely looking at numbers that don't necessarily apply to what this person is talking about. The 10-12% likely is looking at those who graduate from WP and go on to graduate degrees either immediately after graduation or within their initial obligation. The reason you are probably only seeing a 10-12% number is due to the number of people who get out of the military without ever wanting or thinking about a degree.

For any officer above O4 an advanced degree is almost a requirement....and most officers are getting this advanced degree with the tuition paid for by the government in one way or another (War College, Tuition Assistance, Service Postgrad school, etc etc).

For someone who puts in the time to think about getting a phD and staying in the military they would likely have a very large portion of their cost covered by various military programs.
 
For the AF to be promoted to 0-5 you must have not only a masters and PME (ACSC) completed to be considered competitive.

Bullet was smart and timed his when he was a capt. The AF pd 75% of the cost and he had to sign a 3 yr committment which ran concurrent with his PCS.
The longer you put it off the harder it becomes within your life, since you will gain more duties along the way. The smart ones do it while they are still FNGs, because their "squadron" job is usually SNACKO. In addition, since it runs concurrent, they have it completed by the time their 1st committment is ending making them more competitive in the real world if they decide to walk.

I do not recall anyone having a phD unless they did it as a fellow on the AF's dime full time, and there are only a handful that I can count who were accepted into this program. BTW they all went to Harvard, which is ironic since they don't allow ROTC on campus.
 
Pima said:
For the AF to be promoted to 0-5 you must have not only a masters and PME (ACSC) completed to be considered competitive.

Bullet was smart and timed his when he was a capt. The AF pd 75% of the cost and he had to sign a 3 yr committment which ran concurrent with his PCS.
The longer you put it off the harder it becomes within your life, since you will gain more duties along the way. The smart ones do it while they are still FNGs, because their "squadron" job is usually SNACKO. In addition, since it runs concurrent, they have it completed by the time their 1st committment is ending making them more competitive in the real world if they decide to walk.

I do not recall anyone having a phD unless they did it as a fellow on the AF's dime full time, and there are only a handful that I can count who were accepted into this program. BTW they all went to Harvard, which is ironic since they don't allow ROTC on campus.
Click to expand...
The AF paid for my first Masters, a civilian company paid for the second.

I killed myself with ALL the PME (SOS, ACSC, and AWC) either in residence or by correspondance. Trust me, doing a masters and PME really digs into your spare time but as Bullet and Pima have alluded to: it is SOOOOO much easier to do when you're "Blue Four" (FNG) than when you're an IP, flight commander, etc...etc...

And the AF rewarded me by promoting me even when friends/colleagues were not. Why?

Because I, like Bullet and others, had shown the AF that I was/am serious about my career and my possible contributions to the AF. And that's what they want and expect of both junior and senior officers.

For that matter...try to find a Chief Master Sergeant that doesn't have a masters degree now. A bachelors is mandatory but more and more have masters.

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
 
My dad was able to get his PhD at Virgina Tech while he was a Capt. I think he had to go to the ROTC classes in uniform every Friday, but it was a pretty good deal for our family. We were able to travel a lot because he tried to treat his school as a job (usually 6-5 or something) and leave the evenings and weekends open for all of us. We had the opportunity to see 49 out of the 50 states during that time. Worked out pretty well.

Later,

Brian
 
or that matter...try to find a Chief Master Sergeant that doesn't have a masters degree now
Click to expand...

I got my Masters using STAR, (the military paid 35% and Bullet did not owe anything, including commitment) I was the minority, the only wife in any class, the rest were a 50-50 makeup between officers and enlisted.

This was 11 yrs ago, so I agree with flieger, NCO's are plotting their "after military" career. They realize that at 38, with a Masters they will be making big time $$$ in mgmt.
 
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