Commissioning Question

turtle7584

turtle7584

Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2019
Messages
86
Do you need a scholarship to commission? Does this vary across branches?
Thank you!
 
For Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force, no ROTC scholarship is required to commission through ROTC.

You must earn an approved four year degree, complete the academic and military curriculum, earn a contract (usually by the end of the sophomore year of college) and qualify medically.
 
Just to expand on @AROTC-dad a bit, each branch has a process where you can contract and commission without getting a scholarship. For NROTC this is called Advanced Standing. If you do not get a 2 or 3 year side load scholarship, you apply for advanced standing and earn a contract that way. Advanced Standing midshipmen do not get their tuition paid, but get monthly stipend and will commission just like everyone else when they graduate. The service requirement is 3 years active duty for those who commission via Advanced Standing. If you fail to achieve either a scholarship or Advanced Standing after your sophomore year, you are dis-enrolled from the program. My DS did say there is a way the PNS can possibly keep a junior on as a 3rd year college programmed in some circumstances.
 
+1 @ProudDad17
The Army (of which I am most familiar) has an arrangement similar to NROTC as described above. The nomenclature is just different.

Army ROTC divides its curriculum into two sections:
  1. The Basic Course (MS-I and MS II); and
  2. the Advanced Course (MS-III and MS-IV)
Anyone can enroll in the basic course and here often the best non-scholarship cadets are evaluated for a campus based scholarship, or a contract assuring them of entry into the Advanced Course. The Advanced Course is exclusive to contracted cadets. You must be contracted or hold an Army ROTC scholarship in order to enter the Advanced Course.* A non-scholarship cadet who becomes contracted does receive a monthly stipend during the academic year.

Similarly to NROTC, if a cadet is not offered a contract or scholarship by the end of the MS-II year, they can no longer participate in ROTC.

* The Advanced Course is not the same as Advanced Camp which is a required summer program which serves as a "capstone" evaluation of sorts for rising MS-IV cadets.

For additional info: https://www.umass.edu/armyrotc/about/frequently-asked-questions-faq
 
Last edited:
For the Air Force, it works like this. You can enter AFRotc with or without a scholarship. You can earn a scholarship while at Rotc or not. At the end of year two, you get invited to AF Field Training or whatever they call it today. If you dont get invited (my sons class 100% got invited but that isnt true previously or subquently) you can't contine regardless of scholarship although honestly i dont know what happens to those with scholarships. Beginning in Year 3 you contract with the AF although those with scholarships contract at the start of Year 2, so i have no idea what happens to those who contract in year 2 and dont go to Field Training. I would say most dont get scholarships. First of all while not impossible, you wont get a scholarship unless you have a STEM major. My son's major was Professional Flight (becoming a pilot) and that didnt qualify under STEM so he couldnt get any money. Having said that, my sons detachment had a formal dinner every year and the Rotc gave out small scholarships anywhere from 1500-9000 to its best achieving cadets. The one thing everyone gets when they contract is a monthly stipend which i think is around 500. Each year got a different amount but i think its standard amount for everyone now.
 
All good posts above.

For AFROTC, when scholarship winners who after 2 years of participating are not invited to continue, an orchestra in a pit starts gradually playing these specific candidates off off in louder and louder music, and there are some fabulous cash and parting gifts and the home version of Jeopardy they can keep. hoo-ahh, that's my attempt at humor.

Just to add in case it may help, I believe those who are simply not continuing by someone else's choice do not owe back moneys or any service commitment. For some that would be a relief - for others, devastating. Hopefully all AFROTC participants understand where they stand relative to the risks. A part of that risk is their performance. Another is the needs of the Air Force which may make moving forward more selective - participants should look to be clear on both.
 
The amount of the stipend is currently $420 for AROTC paid bi-weekly at $210 for 10 months.
 
Humey said:
First of all while not impossible, you wont get a scholarship unless you have a STEM major.
Click to expand...
Mmm... I don't think I would say he wouldn't get a scholarship if he wasn't a STEM major. I also wouldn't say it is near impossible or even unlikely. Many of my rook siblings (SMC jargon) were/are AFROTC. One is a business management major. He had a decent GPA at a 3.4 and a PT score of around 95. He got a 3.5 year. Another one of my rook siblings is a mechanical engineering major and had a 3.2 GPA and a PT score of around 85. She just got a contract out of field training. There are other students I know that are International Relations, History, Spanish, Communications, and Biology (isn't considered STEM) majors that all have scholarships. I even know a hometown friend that went to Texas Tech, and majored in English. He got a 3 year scholarship as well.

My point is, it is definitely feasible. There are other factors that are taken into consideration than GPA, PT, and major. Some students are just really good cadets, and display great leadership skills. This doesn't go unnoticed, nor unrewarded.

Overall, I would say in "my" experience (emphasis on my), it is around half tech majors that get scholarships and half non-tech that do as well. Some people may have different experiences like Humey.
 
KuzNROTC said:
Overall, I would say in "my" experience (emphasis on my), it is around half tech majors that get scholarships and half non-tech that do as well
Click to expand...
For AFROTC scholarships, it has been stated that 80-85% will go to Tech, and the remainder will go to non-tech. If you even look at the breakdowns,, the highest chance for a non-tech scholarship is a type 7, where 25% go to non tech. Type 1, is only 5% of all scholarships offered, and only 5% of those go to non-tech. Type 2 is 15% of all scholarships and 15% go to non-tech. The remaining 80% are type 7, as stated only 25% are non-tech.

Back to the OP, yes you can commission without a scholarship for AFROTC, but you must be selected for SFT as a sophomore. Attending and completing SFT equates to the cadet becoming a PoC at the start of their junior yr. This means they will get a stipend, but it does not mean they will pay for any part of their college.
 
Pima said:
For AFROTC scholarships, it has been stated that 80-85% will go to Tech, and the remainder will go to non-tech. If you even look at the breakdowns,, the highest chance for a non-tech scholarship is a type 7, where 25% go to non tech. Type 1, is only 5% of all scholarships offered, and only 5% of those go to non-tech. Type 2 is 15% of all scholarships and 15% go to non-tech. The remaining 80% are type 7, as stated only 25% are non-tech.

Back to the OP, yes you can commission without a scholarship for AFROTC, but you must be selected for SFT as a sophomore. Attending and completing SFT equates to the cadet becoming a PoC at the start of their junior yr. This means they will get a stipend, but it does not mean they will pay for any part of their college
Click to expand...
And that is understood. For four year scholarships, yeah, I don't know a student that is not an engineering major (or nursing). I didn't know though whether that applied for campus based though. If it is the case, then that is good to know, and I'll stand corrected.
 
Slightly off this thread topic, but I think this group will know the answer to my questions. My son just completed his first semester (aerospace engineering, GPA 3.5, 95 on PT test) and is "all in" as an AFROTC cadet with a top rated detachment. He is vying for a coveted Type 1 scholarship but will take whatever he gets or doesn't get as his primary passion & goal is to be an officer in the AF. When are freshman scholarship recipients determined/receive notice that they got one? If a cadet earns a Type 2 scholarship are they ever "upgraded" to a Type 1 if merited? If they don't earn a scholarship as a freshman are they still eligible as a sophomore? He states there is no application process or deadlines which seems odd to me. Thanks in advance for your help!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top