Masters Degree

Seanaf

5-Year Member
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May 8, 2011
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After graduating from a service academy or rotc program, can an officer still go for their masters degree while serving for the contracted 4 years or must it be after? Thanks.
 
Yes, you can. And as long as your service is paying for it, you will owe more time.
 
Thank you for the response. But do you know how much more time will be owed?
 
Thank you for the response. But do you know how much more time will be owed?

Depends on the Service that you're in.

Your advanced degree also affects what type of payback tour that you do. For instance, if you get a Masters degree in EE your next tour is most likely going to be teaching at the Academy or doing something related to the degree....that's why I plan on getting an MBA if I go to grad school through the CG
 
For more extensive information click on the search tab above and use the search term "Grad school" or "graduate school."

Air Force is generally 2 for 1 extra commitment, concurrent with any other commitment.
 
After graduating from a service academy or rotc program, can an officer still go for their masters degree while serving for the contracted 4 years or must it be after? Thanks.

you can do it your own if you can make the time. I would say with online programs, possible make time.
 
Yes you can obtain your Masters degree while serving during your initial contracted years. There are two options for the most part, one that the service pays and one you pay for. Each service has its own set of rules on payback time. For the most part it is 2 years owed for every year of school, but not always. Also each service has its own "payback" tours that vary depending on the degree you earn. As a former Marine, I am most familiar with that path. For instance a Marine who goes to Naval Post Graduate School and earns a Masters in Computer Science will most likely get sent to Marine Corps Systems Command or some other similiar command to use those new skills in something related to CompSci. If you earn a Masters on your own dime in your own time, then obviously you don't owe anything. Just as a caution, doing this in you first few years is extremely difficult with deployment schedules and OpTempo of being a brand new officer. Most of my friends started their Masters degrees when they rotated after their first operational tours to shore tours/B billets/staff assignments where they did not deploy. This allowed them to attend classes at night much easier and most could complete their Masters during those tours. Online programs are getting better and better and often offer the flexibility needed for military officers.
 
Then there's Voluntary Graduate Education Program (VGEP)

Midshipmen who have completed Academy course requirements early through any combination of validation and overloading can compete for selection and begin work toward master’s degrees at nearby civilian universities, such as the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Up to 20 midshipmen can participate annually, starting graduate work during their first class year and completing their master’s degree programs within seven months after graduation from the Naval Academy. Fields of study are selected from Navy-approved graduate education programs leading to Navy subspecialty qualification.

I'm sure other SA have similar programs.
 
There are several Navy options for getting your Master's. As mentioned above, one is VGEP.

Another is to rank high enough in your class to be invited into the "UK program." About 20 Firsties in the program apply for various major scholarships, including Rhodes, Marshall, and possibly a number of other scholarships (there's a long list, and each Mid decides what to try for besides the Rhodes) If you win one and get accepted by Oxford, Cambridge, or another appropriate university in the UK, you would go straight there for your Master's the October after USNA graduation. There's also the possibility of winning a Bowman (sp?) Scholarship for a year of study here in the US.

Another possibility is to be chosen for the Engineering Duty Officer (EDO) program for either SWO or subs. Again, very few people get to do this straight from USNA (max of 10 this year for subs). Not sure of the timing for SWO, but for subs, you'd go through the normal training of about 15 months, then 2-3 years on a boat, then you would do a technical Master's at either the Naval Post Graduate School or MIT (full time duty). After that, you would be obligated to do another 2-3 year tour on a boat. It's also possible to do a lateral transfer into EDO, but I don't know if the Navy pays the freight for your Master's.
 
There are several ways to get a masters in the Navy after graduation. The Academy has several options - IGEP and VGEP where you go immediately after graduation. Also you can do your masters on your own with several programs like TA.

Like 2012mom said before, you can also transfer to EDO. I did that and they sent me to NPS full time for a mechanical engineering masters and post masters degrees. I also did a masters in engineering management through Old Dominion a few years back using transfer credits from a deal that they have set up for nuclear trained officers and I got most of that paid for without additional commitment time through NCPACE, a program which has been changed since.

You also will get the Post 9/11 GI Bill which you can use after meeting the requirements of the program.

To answer your question - there are a lot of ways to get graduate school paid for, it just takes a bit of research.
 
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You also will get the Post 9/11 GI Bill which you can use after meeting the requirements of the program.

I understand that the 5 years spend fulfilling ones SA obligation do not count toward GI Bill time. Can someone in the know please confirm? And, how many more years service are required for SA graduates to earn GI Bill benefits?

Thanks
 
Osdad - you are correct. I cant remember all the details (I transferred to my wife and there are other transfer rules that apply), but your USNA payback portion does not count towards the time in service required for the GI bill service months. If you want the 100% level you would have to do 5 years + 36 months for GI bill. There's a tiered system as well so you can get partial benefits as well.
 
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