My son received the QNV from AFA yesterday. Still no word from NA so we are forging ahead with the 4 yr. NROTC scholarship to the UF (Tier 1). He received the scholarship in December. Our questions is a financial one since DS will be our 3rd child in college money is getting really tight. Will he still be allowed to keep the Pell grant and I DOUGLAS TURNER Grant the school has predicted he will receive? Does the NROTC scholarship have any affect on these other grants?
NROTC Scholarship can we keep Pell grant too?
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Pima
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The Pell if I am correct is based on your income, and according to them you meet the fiscal barrier for receiving one for your DS.
The one thing to think about is our federal govt is going through a severe budget crisis and they will be cutting programs. I was a Pell and Owens Corning recipient back in my day. We went into a budget crisis and I lost my Pell because they changed the rules; folks made too much when they changed it. It was my jr yr in college, and it made it very hard financially on me, actually caused me to increase credit load, take summer classes at the CC so I could graduate early...only way I could afford to stay would be if I did that.
You need to plan ahead for the what if scenario. They want to trim 33 Billion from the budget, nobody knows where that will come from. For all you know they could raise the financial barrier and you may not qualify for the Pell next yr. What would you do at that point?
Additionally, nobody here or anywhere can guarantee that scholarship all 4 yrs. Look at the class of 13 for the AFROTC scholarship recipients, when they accepted their scholarships they didn't realize that not getting into summer field training would jeopardize their scholarship, but here they are now. They are at the college of their choice, for many only because the scholarship made it possible, and now they are going to lose it. They now have 60+ credits, and usually that is the thresh hold for transferring. Thus, they either find a way to make up that 20K a yr or transfer and risk having to spend another yr in college at a new school. Not an easy choice; fiscally or emotionally.
The other thing is that with the scholarship comes that mandated gpa, fall below that line and they can take it away. Usually they will put you on 1 semester probation, but that is not a position you want to be in.
Kids walk into college thinking academically it will be just as easy as HS, only to realize in their freshman yr it is nowhere near HS. (That comment is intended for 1st time college parents). If you do not put into the equation that the scholarship has the mandated gpa and major, than you can face problems if this is the only way to get there.
FWIW, this is why posters say be honest in the scholarship application. Yes, you can apply engineering, and try to change over to a different major, but if that is your intention you need to know it comes with a high risk. They may say NO and now you are forced to either remain in that major or lose the scholarship.
As with everything in this world, read the fine print because the devil is in the details. What if your child breaks their leg playing ultimate frisbee with friends, requires pins and the NROTC puts them through DodMERB review, where they medically dq them? What now?
I know that is Janie Raincloud, but I have seen all of these things happen in the past few yrs. You need to be prepared for the what if. Because even in 2 yrs, you may be able to make up the loss of the Pell, but could you make it up if he lost the scholarship for any of those reasons, yet was allowed to remain at the college.
Good luck.
OBTW, if this is his dream school, I am sure you probably have the same answer as Bullet and I came up with, we will sell a kidney, we will sell a car, we will eat only Ramen and Mac and Cheese like college kids. We would find the money somewhere, but for us it was important to determine that we had the what if plan before we said go for it.
The one thing to think about is our federal govt is going through a severe budget crisis and they will be cutting programs. I was a Pell and Owens Corning recipient back in my day. We went into a budget crisis and I lost my Pell because they changed the rules; folks made too much when they changed it. It was my jr yr in college, and it made it very hard financially on me, actually caused me to increase credit load, take summer classes at the CC so I could graduate early...only way I could afford to stay would be if I did that.
You need to plan ahead for the what if scenario. They want to trim 33 Billion from the budget, nobody knows where that will come from. For all you know they could raise the financial barrier and you may not qualify for the Pell next yr. What would you do at that point?
Additionally, nobody here or anywhere can guarantee that scholarship all 4 yrs. Look at the class of 13 for the AFROTC scholarship recipients, when they accepted their scholarships they didn't realize that not getting into summer field training would jeopardize their scholarship, but here they are now. They are at the college of their choice, for many only because the scholarship made it possible, and now they are going to lose it. They now have 60+ credits, and usually that is the thresh hold for transferring. Thus, they either find a way to make up that 20K a yr or transfer and risk having to spend another yr in college at a new school. Not an easy choice; fiscally or emotionally.
The other thing is that with the scholarship comes that mandated gpa, fall below that line and they can take it away. Usually they will put you on 1 semester probation, but that is not a position you want to be in.
Kids walk into college thinking academically it will be just as easy as HS, only to realize in their freshman yr it is nowhere near HS. (That comment is intended for 1st time college parents). If you do not put into the equation that the scholarship has the mandated gpa and major, than you can face problems if this is the only way to get there.
FWIW, this is why posters say be honest in the scholarship application. Yes, you can apply engineering, and try to change over to a different major, but if that is your intention you need to know it comes with a high risk. They may say NO and now you are forced to either remain in that major or lose the scholarship.
As with everything in this world, read the fine print because the devil is in the details. What if your child breaks their leg playing ultimate frisbee with friends, requires pins and the NROTC puts them through DodMERB review, where they medically dq them? What now?
I know that is Janie Raincloud, but I have seen all of these things happen in the past few yrs. You need to be prepared for the what if. Because even in 2 yrs, you may be able to make up the loss of the Pell, but could you make it up if he lost the scholarship for any of those reasons, yet was allowed to remain at the college.
Good luck.
OBTW, if this is his dream school, I am sure you probably have the same answer as Bullet and I came up with, we will sell a kidney, we will sell a car, we will eat only Ramen and Mac and Cheese like college kids. We would find the money somewhere, but for us it was important to determine that we had the what if plan before we said go for it.
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Thank you for your information Pima.
We are now in the process of learning all we can about ROTC and its new lingo as we switch gears from academy talk to ROTC talk.
We are prepared to cosign loans if needed but as far as accidental bodily injury we will have to leave that one up to God and luck.
We are now in the process of learning all we can about ROTC and its new lingo as we switch gears from academy talk to ROTC talk.
We are prepared to cosign loans if needed but as far as accidental bodily injury we will have to leave that one up to God and luck.
Great advice, Pima! While there are more conflicts around the world than ever in my lifetime, there are also more uncertainties in the military, which seem to be driven by budget issues. I guess I was lucky to serve my time during the Reagan years, when the goal was a 600-ship navy and there were no wars! Many are questioning why we are even willing to let our son serve in the military now, with so much going on in the world. We are leaving it up to him, but are making sure that he is not naive, and that we are not naive about the possible loss of a scholarship at any time. Thanks for outlining some of potential problems!
I sent you a PM. Go Gators!
pell and other scholarships vs rotc
to answer the poster's inquiry - my son has received pell funds and initially college offered other schoalrships - in small print offer letter stated that may change - once the NROTC scholarship funds showed up the financial awards did change - bottom line was the same to us, the NROTC replaced some of the generous awards school had given in name of foundation scholarships - my son is now finishing 2nd yr, so far, each year awards have totaled about the same bottom line to us - waiting to hear for next year -
I wrote this because i do believe many colleges have same small print, they may first offer awards plus the pell, but once they see student has rotc funds, then may back out some of theirs - check with college - our financial aid office is very friendly and willing to explain anything. good luck- larrys mom
to answer the poster's inquiry - my son has received pell funds and initially college offered other schoalrships - in small print offer letter stated that may change - once the NROTC scholarship funds showed up the financial awards did change - bottom line was the same to us, the NROTC replaced some of the generous awards school had given in name of foundation scholarships - my son is now finishing 2nd yr, so far, each year awards have totaled about the same bottom line to us - waiting to hear for next year -
I wrote this because i do believe many colleges have same small print, they may first offer awards plus the pell, but once they see student has rotc funds, then may back out some of theirs - check with college - our financial aid office is very friendly and willing to explain anything. good luck- larrys mom