Completing College after 4 years.

[jessjackjoey]

I am curious, my DS received a 4 year AROTC scholarship. What happens or how does it work if it takes him longer to complete his Bachelors degree then the 4 years?

 

[USMAROTCFamily]

I am curious, my DS received a 4 year AROTC scholarship. What happens or how does it work if it takes him longer to complete his Bachelors degree then the 4 years?

This will be specific to his ROTC unit. If he has an engineering major, they may allow and even encourage a 5-year plan, in which the ROTC scholarship will cover all 5 years. They will fill out a form that shows all the classes they must take in order to fulfill their graduation and commissioning requirements within the typical 4 years allotted for a typical degree. They can't simply take a lower class load or drop out of classes whenever they want to lighten their load without permission. All of this must be discussed with the cadre at their detachment. My DD's NROTC detachment does not allow 5 year programs, so as an engineering major it has meant many 20-21 credit hour semesters to meet her degree and NROTC course requirements.

 

[Oldsalt]

I agree with USMROTC with a qualification.
The local unit does not approve scholarship extensions. The folks in P-cola do.
Just because others have hacked the 20-21 units per semester, doesn't mean you have to do the same.
NROTC adds 4-8 units per semester, half of which don't meet any degree requirements.
(Some schools count NAV as an elective, but not many)
The history and language requirements can sometimes be double counted.
The unit will also pay for summer school, even not at your home unit. Good way to get the GE's required by NROTC that do not fit graduation requirements.
If you need it because you are dropping classes, it will likely get denied. The earlier you plan for it, the easier it is to get.
Have watched many local units "deny" things for petty reasons. Do your homework, make the request.
I got NROTC to pay for summer school at home all three summers. Finished a 5 year plan in 4.
I was denied at the local level all three summers. They didn't want to have to do the paperwork.
An extra semester is usually easy. An extra year is not unusual for most Tier 1 degrees.
OS

 

[clarksonarmy]

I think OP is talking about AROTC. First off...scholarship won’t pay for summer classes unless you want to trade a regular semester of benefits.

If you exceed the planned graduation date you will be expected, in most case, to pay your own way to complete your degree, and if you fail to earn your degree you may be disenrolled and expected to pay back.

 

[Oldsalt]

I have no idea about summer school for AROTC and I disagree with ClarksonArmy at my own peril, but my child visited a couple of schools that had Army cadets finishing identical engineering degrees in different time frames, all under scholarship.
Units show flexibility for those that perfom.
OS

 

[USMAROTCFamily]

I have no idea about summer school for AROTC and I disagree with ClarksonArmy at my own peril, but my child visited a couple of schools that had Army cadets finishing identical engineering degrees in different time frames, all under scholarship.
Units show flexibility for those that perfom.
OS

We visited over 20 Army ROTC units with our DD and DS as they were looking at colleges. Both of them received 4 year ROTC scholarships and I can tell you that at least half of these schools encouraged them to take 5 years to get their engineering degrees and that the units said they would have no problem "extending" their 4-year scholarship to cover 5 years. They did say that this was NOT an option for a non-engineering degree, however. In the end, neither of them ended up going with the AROTC scholarships, but perhaps some current/recent 4-year AROTC scholarship recipients/parents can chime in with their experience on extending their scholarships.

 

[clarksonarmy]

Cadet Command is going to expect an academic plan up front. If the engineering degree at the school takes 5 years then they are going to pay for five years. If you don’t graduate in five years you will be a completion Cadet, and most likely will be on your own dime if you didn’t graduate on time, unless there are some extenuating circumstances.

Not sure how the Navy works, but for the Army it’s not going to be up to the ROTC program, and there isn’t a lot of flexibility in budgeted scholarship funds. Continuing to pay for the school of someone who doesn’t graduate “on time” is not something that happens often.

 

[Oldsalt]

We are all on the same page. I was referring to Engineering degrees.
Have no experience with other majors.
OS

 

[Jeepman]

I have a similar situation, but with a son who is currently at Greystone, and will be "graduating" with one full year of (4-year) college credits under his belt. He is considering many NROTC options just in case he does not get into academy. He likes the 3-2 program at Holy Cross which allows him to get his engineering degree from Columbia in two years after 2 years at Holy Cross (using the one year he is completing at Greystone). This would allow him access to NROTC while being a Tier 1 applicant.

Any insight as to how this would work? Would he be bale to get four year scholarship since it is a 5 year program? Right now, he is finishing up four year application. It is my understanding that even if he applies for the 4 year he can still later apply for the three year? He is trying to figure this out, so any insight would be appreciated. Thanks and happy new year to all!