Disnerollment Advice

[sa999]

I just finished AS 200 year and was on a tech HSSP scholarship. Recently I found out I got disenrolled from AFROTC due to not meeting my scholarship academic standards. I have gotten a bill to pay back my scholarship money; however, I have been told that I could potentially come back to ROTC if I got my grades back up. My cumulative GPA currently is well above the minimum requirement to be in ROTC.

My question is, would I still have to pay back the scholarship money even if I came back during the spring, went to FT, and eventually commissioned? How would that work as far as DFAS stuff goes? Could I be exempt from the debt I have to pay back or would I still have to pay the scholarship money back? Similarly, if I joined a different branch (Navy or Army), would I still have to pay back the scholarship money or would I be exempt from the debt I have to pay back?

Is this something that I should handle on my own, or would a military lawyer be helpful for these sort of items.

Thank you.

 

[Tbpxece]

My question is, would I still have to pay back the scholarship money even if I came back during the spring, went to FT, and eventually commissioned?

Most likely, yes-- at least until you commission or enlist. AFI 36-2011 governs ROTC and scholarships - start reading it. Section 2.4 is where you start.

How would that work as far as DFAS stuff goes?

Para. 2.4.6.2.
Cost of educational debts are determined by the AFROTC Registrar (AFROTC/RR) and forwarded to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service to establish the accounts receivable. Monetary accounts receivables for educational costs are established by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service for appropriate collection action.

So, they will either bill you directly, garnish your civilian wages, slap a lien on you, garnish your tax returns, or you will have a debt incurred on your LES (and DFAS will establish the repayment plan-- it is usually feasible, but far from painless.)

Could I be exempt from the debt I have to pay back or would I still have to pay the scholarship money back? Similarly, if I joined a different branch (Navy or Army), would I still have to pay back the scholarship money or would I be exempt from the debt I have to pay back?

Para 2.4.6.1.
Active duty service is a means of reimbursement for an AFROTC cadet’s education; however, monetary reimbursement or an educational delay for the purpose of allowing the disenrolled cadet to obtain an alternative commissioning source can be considered under appropriate circumstances.

Note that "Active Duty Service" can be either as a regular officer, warrant officer, or enlisted. Have you considered enlisting?

Is this something that I should handle on my own, or would a military lawyer be helpful for these sort of items.

Generally, you're not going to get out of repayment if that is what you are after. You will have to pay it back by either AD service, physical repayment, or a combination of the two. You could toss several grand at a military lawyer who might be able to get you a deferment, but outcomes aren't stellar.

Ask yourself-- if you dug yourself into this hole academically, are you really going to be able to pull down the back-to-back 4.0 GPA semesters required to barely make yourself eligible for AFROTC again? The bar is pretty low to stay on scholarship, and those tech degree classes only get harder and harder each semester. After re-entry, you still have to somehow be eligible for FT, so you're looking at dragging that low GPA way back up to 3.1+ to even be competitive for FT.

It's possible, but not probable. Consider another branch's ROTC or do what most wind up doing and enlist. Once enlisted, you can finish your degree with 100% tuition assistance and avoid most of that repayment. After you've completed your ADSC, apply for OTS with a (mostly) clean slate or separate/Palace Chase/Palace Front and reapply to AFROTC for your master's degree.

Good luck. If you really want it, it's very doable. Very tough, but very doable.

 

[sa999]

Thank you so much for your insight, this was very helpful!

 

[sa999]

I do have one more question, how likely would it be to have my disenrollment appealed, assuming I got my grades back up and I got accepted into FT? My PFA score is 95+ and my AFOQT scores are above 80 for academic sections. Would that help?

 

[Tbpxece]

I do have one more question, how likely would it be to have my disenrollment appealed, assuming I got my grades back up and I got accepted into FT? My PFA score is 95+ and my AFOQT scores are above 80 for academic sections. Would that help?

There are too many variables in play to say one way or another.

At this point, you breached the contract you made with AFROTC by failing to maintain your grades. That's a mark against you. You will have to overachieve everywhere you can to be competitive vs. everyone else who didn't get dis-enrolled due to low grades. Even then, you have also shown you can't be trusted to care enough to keep your grades up-- you've probably burned a bridge for the short term.

I'll restate what I said previously: It's possible, but not probable. Consider another branch's ROTC or do what most wind up doing and enlist.