Contract/scholarship late signup question...

[lpd]

Greetings to all.... first posting here.
My son signed an army rotc contract/scholarship at the end of the first term of his 3rd year of college (Oct,2019)., with a "2 year scholarship"...
Upon coming back after break for his second semester, the tuition and other payments showed up and are currently normal so far. The question is: why is the contract/scholarship stating payment of 2 years of tuition and other mandatory fees, when he is only have 1 year and a half left of school ??

If he only gets the "1 and a half year" scholarship, will that reflect towards his mandatory active duty time..?? Is it a year of active duty= per scholarship year..??

thanks

 

[Jcleppe]

My son signed an army rotc contract/scholarship at the end of the first term of his 3rd year of college (Oct,2019).

What does the date of Oct,2019 refer to?

Did the scholarship pay for the first term of his third year?

 

[lpd]

First term Spring- JAN to APR
Second term Fall- AUG to DEC

he signs the contract in Oct 19 2018(CORRECTION=not OCT 2019, like stated in my post), halfway thru his second term in 2018 .
No payments were done for the first term of his year.

Sorry about the years confusion...

 

[kinnem]

I would have thought they would have paid for the fall semester, but then my wife tells me I am wrong from time to time. His cadre should be able to answer his/your question about his service commitment. It would be a good time to mention the scholarship wasn't paid last semester which is the source of the question. It's possible something can be changed. I suppose it's even possible the college was paid but they failed to re-imburse you. In any case someone needs to check the ROTC records to see what went awry, if anything.

 

[Jcleppe]

First term Spring- JAN to APR
Second term Fall- AUG to DEC

Just trying to understand the timing.

You state that his first semester was Jan thru Apr. and the second semester was Aug thru Dec.

Did he start school at the middle of the year making that his first semester?

Kinnem is correct, the best thing for him to do is talk to his ROTC Cadre and the Battalion HR person that handles the paperwork, they will be able to give him all the answers regarding scholarship payments and service obligation. I believe his service obligation will be the same as other scholarship cadets, 4 years Active and 4 years IRR or, 8 years Reserve/National Guard.

 

[lpd]

First term Spring- JAN to APR
Second term Fall- AUG to DEC

Did he start school at the middle of the year making that his first semester?

No, he is been a full time student since 2017. Looks like somehow his scholarship/contracting were delayed and he didnt get to sign it until OCT 18.

 

[Jcleppe]

He should talk to his Cadre and Battalion HR person to find out if the scholarship was to be paid for the semester in which he signed.

 

[KuzNROTC]

What a lot of people don't know is that if he is on a 1.5 year or 2 year scholarship, his GI Bill benefits do not accrue till after his 4 year active duty obligation. A scholarship recipient is a scholarship recipient. The rules of service and benefit accrual still act the same.

To summarize, if he is thinking about getting a masters degree after the Army, he will not gain the full post 9/11 GI Bill till after 7 years of service, compared to the 3 years of active duty service of a non-scholarship contracted cadet.

 

[lpd]

Thanks for the info, very important information. We learn something every day. Definetely something we had no idea and he would have to plan accordingly for future schooling. He is planning on going to med school and thats another story, a few ways to go about it and prepare for because you are never given accurate information ahead of time.

 

[KuzNROTC]

Thanks for the info, very important information. We learn something every day. Definetely something we had no idea and he would have to plan accordingly for future schooling. He is planning on going to med school and thats another story, a few ways to go about it and prepare for because you are never given accurate information ahead of time.

If your son is looking to go to medical school and/or wanting to go medical route, he could branch as a medical corps officer come time his senior year. If he branches as a medical corps officer, he would be eligible to take advantage of unique education benefits as an active duty officer. He could apply for the Health Professionals Scholarship Program (https://www.goarmy.com/amedd/education/hpsp.html/). This is competitive, but I had a friend last year that is going to dental school, and will commission as an 0-3 after he is done. In active duty, he could earn $120,000 in student loan repayment through the Active Duty Health Professions Loan Repayment Program.

So your son does have options of pursuing medical school while in the Army.

 

[lpd]

Thanks for the info, very important information. We learn something every day. Definetely something we had no idea and he would have to plan accordingly for future schooling. He is planning on going to med school and thats another story, a few ways to go about it and prepare for because you are never given accurate information ahead of time.

If your son is looking to go to medical school and/or wanting to go medical route, he could branch as a medical corps officer come time his senior year. If he branches as a medical corps officer, he would be eligible to take advantage of unique education benefits as an active duty officer. He could apply for the Health Professionals Scholarship Program (https://www.goarmy.com/amedd/education/hpsp.html/). This is competitive, but I had a friend last year that is going to dental school, and will commission as an 0-3 after he is done. In active duty, he could earn $120,000 in student loan repayment through the Active Duty Health Professions Loan Repayment Program.

So your son does have options of pursuing medical school while in the Army.

That is the plan right now, and some of the options are the hpsp, usuhs or reserves/guard med program. Not sure of which route to go about right now....
You are right, these are competitive and the MCAT score plays a huge part...

 

[BUArmyROTC]

Good Morning Sir, and thanks for your family's commitment to the Nation.... I propose that it is worth reading the "fine print" of the scholarship offer and contract. There is a wrinkle in the way the contracts are written, that make national 3-year awards have some 4-year annotations on the contract, as they fall into a dual category. In a similar fashion, 1.5-year scholarships fall into the 2-year category. It is possible that your Son was awarded a 1.5-year scholarship and did not catch the difference. On the other hand, if it IS a 2-year scholarship, payment takes some time. Unfortunately, some of that time delay can result from actions take by the Cadet (your Son). First of all, the issuance of the ID Card depends on the completion of the Security Clearance Application being completed. Having the ID Card (CAC) generates many of the administrative actions that help the Army to recognize him as a Service Member (though Cadets are Reserves of the Army, and not full Service Members, hence not deployable like most Soldiers). In addition, your Son will need to create his GoArmyEd account, create his academic plan, get it fully endorsed, upload it, get his tuition bill and submit it. The real point of my post is to help educate you to help you help him to get timely payment and best understand the scholarship that he has. If I have created questions or concerns in any of what I have indicated here, please feel free to message me personally. After more than a dozen years working ROTC, I have encountered some less than obvious wrinkles. Again, Thanks, and Congratulations to him for getting the scholarship! (I am also available if he has questions about Active Duty, Guard, Reserves, which branch to choose, etc., as I am still serving in the USAR for a few more years.)