Not sure why is is that way other than maybe the tuition is paid to the school and the room and board is given to the student?
Can you switch between having the scholarship cover either tuition or room and board? Say you get a 4 year scholarship and have several 1-year scholarships (like from your high school), plus a pretty decent merit scholarship from the college. Can you use the scholarship for room and board the first year, and then switch to having it cover tuition the other years?
I was thinking that an ROTC scholarship would be better than an academic scholarship. For example, at Alabama, I believe the non-resident scholarships only cover a portion or all of the tuition (which is significant) but does not cover room and board which is approx. 14,000 per year. Do most ROTC scholarships cover room and board or is that a university decision?
Alabama specifically states that if tuition is paid by an outside source, then merit scholarships can be used for room and board, books, fees, etc. My son has the full Presidential plus a 4 yr ROTC so he is going to school for free. Each school varies on whether or not they allow stacking. I've also heard that ROTC can be slow paying R&B so this has been a good option for us.