Thanks Pima!
Our DS has been starting to think about his plan B which is SMP (Army ROTC and National Guard). I've helped him with some research into the tuition assistance benefits available to him. We compared State level National Guard tuition assistance programs and found that Minnesota seemed to be the most comprehensive.
Once you complete basic training, you are eligible for 100% tuition reimbursement up to $12000 per year, plus the Federal Tuition Assistance (paid directly to the school) of $4500 per year (the two combined cannot exceed the total annual tuition however). I have found no restrictions on using the state program for an out of state school in the documentation I read thus far.
On top of that, you would have your monthly weekend drill pay of $196, and the MN GI Bill of $1000 per semester (not limited to tuition maximum).
Once you complete AIT (technical school for us Air Force blue-suiters), you would also be eligible for the MGIB (Mongomery GI Bill, pre-911) which is $356per month and GI Bill kicker of $350 per month (while attending school full time 12 credits or more per semester).
If and when you Contract with Army ROTC, your monthly drill-pay increases to $287 per month (E-5 rate), and you would then also receive your ROTC stipend of $300 per month. While enlisted NG SMP with college ROTC, you would also qualify for $7500 annually for Federally backed student loan repayment (which would stop once you commission and leave NG for active duty).
Of course there are drawbacks... DS would need a vehicle to drive from college to Armory for drill weekends, it is another committment on top of normal college and daily ROTC requirements, and you effectively have no summer breaks (Basic prior to Freshman year, AIT prior to Sophomore year).
Would also need to be careful to ensure you have an SMP slot so that you are not in a deployable status which would certainly interfere with completing college in 4 consecutive years if you deployed for 6-12 months.
If you truly want active duty, you would need to be careful to not be swooned into accepting a GRFD scholarship, which would lock you into Guard duty only (two years scholarship: Junior and Senior years).
The one big question I have is if DS signs up for enlisted NG and they schedule him for Basic Training, can he rescind this enlistment contract in the event he receives an AFROTC scholarship, AROTC scholarship or AFA/USMA/CGA appointment prior to departing for Basic? I think the answer is Yes, but we do need to verify.
DS' ROO at ISU stated he needed to meet with a NG recruiter very soon if he wants to attend Basic Training in time (summer 2013) to start college Fall 2013.
DS is hopeful for a 3-year AFROTC type 7 scholarship to either ISU or University of North Dakota for Meteorlogy (ISU is his 1st choice, UND 2nd). ISU is out of state tuition for us, as MN and IA do not have tuition reciprocity. UND would be in-state tuition (ND and MN have tuition reciprocity). DS does qualify for a $4500 merit scholarship from ISU (good for all 4 years), so that does help reduce the out of state tuition down to a more manageable amount.
I wish the AF had an SMP type of program. The only path to AF commissioning in that Plan ("C" perhaps), would be to enlist in the MN Air National Guard, qualify and use the above noted tuition bennies, not do ROTC at all (which also means no cadet stipend, no E-5 drill pay bump), and when in senior year, meet with Air Force Officer Accessions (recruiter) to apply and qualify for an OTS (Officer training school) slot and complete the application paperwork for ANG release.