The Citadel Cost

29HopefulMom

29HopefulMom

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How do people afford The Citadel if you are out of state and don’t have an ROTC scholarship?? Our daughter would love to go but we get nothing from FASFA and have no money saved for college unfortunately.
 
The Citadel offers several merit-based scholarships that may not require financial need. These are often awarded based on academic performance, leadership potential, or other criteria like community involvement and extracurricular achievements. It’s worth having your daughter apply for these scholarships, as they can significantly reduce tuition costs.

Even if you don’t get aid from FAFSA, you might still be eligible for scholarships from your state or private organizations. Many states offer scholarships for students attending out-of-state colleges, and there are numerous private organizations offering scholarships based on a variety of factors (like career interests, ethnicity, or community service).
Websites like Scholarships.com or Fastweb.com can help you find opportunities.

Have you tried calling their Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships to ask how other students in your similar situation have funded their tuition?
 
29HopefulMom said:
How do people afford The Citadel if you are out of state and don’t have an ROTC scholarship?? Our daughter would love to go but we get nothing from FASFA and have no money saved for college unfortunately.
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I've asked the financial aid office at The Citadel a few questions and they said that their aid offers come out around March 14,so she may still get something.

There are obviously student loans and parent loans, but not sure that is the best route with the amount of money we're talking about.
 
gck105 said:
I've asked the financial aid office at The Citadel a few questions and they said that their aid offers come out around March 14,so she may still get something.

There are obviously student loans and parent loans, but not sure that is the best route with the amount of money we're talking about.
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Agreed. DS is a Citadel Knob with a 3-year AROTC scholarship. It would be almost impossible to bear the $65,000 annual OOS cost without significant aid.

The Citadel offers generous aid to 3-year ROTC scholarship recipients to help subsidize freshman year until the federal money kicks in. DS was also invited to the 1842 Scholars program that carries additional merit aid.

With all that this year was doable and future years will be very affordable. However without the 3-year ROTC scholarship to leverage additional institutional scholarships we never could have done it.
 
RetiredVeteran said:
The Citadel offers several merit-based scholarships that may not require financial need. These are often awarded based on academic performance, leadership potential, or other criteria like community involvement and extracurricular achievements. It’s worth having your daughter apply for these scholarships, as they can significantly reduce tuition costs.

Even if you don’t get aid from FAFSA, you might still be eligible for scholarships from your state or private organizations. Many states offer scholarships for students attending out-of-state colleges, and there are numerous private organizations offering scholarships based on a variety of factors (like career interests, ethnicity, or community service).
Websites like Scholarships.com or Fastweb.com can help you find opportunities.

Have you tried calling their Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships to ask how other students in your similar situation have funded their tuition?
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They gave her the LEAD scholarship but that only covers 10,000 per year.
 
If your DD had the academic credentials to receive the LEAD merit award this means the college would like her to enroll. Many who receive awards choose to attend other colleges, so I would continue to talk with the Financial Aid Office. Especially when the FAFSA results come in. There are many private small endowments for Citadel cadets, and it’s possible they will be available as some applicants choose other schools. Good luck.
 
All good advice above. You may want to check out Norwich as well. They have the best (by a long shot) financial aid offerings compared to the other SMCs.

All of these SMCs are very expensive without aid/scholarships. Best of luck to you.
 
RBI90VMI said:
Past the official deadline. I have it on good authority that they can and will still review an application. Call and talk to admissions if interested.
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Yes, I agree. Last year DS pivoted from "regular college" to SMC very late in the cycle. VMI still made a generous financial aid offer and if memory serves it was right around this time in March.

Never hurts to ask. The worst they can say is no.
 
The Citadel tuition Out-of-State is outrageous. They state that 82% receive aid, but this is false. They offer $5,000 loans to middle class. Your only hope is ROTC scholarship. In-state tuition is reasonable.
 
vmi1991fromva said:
The Citadel tuition Out-of-State is outrageous. They state that 82% receive aid, but this is false. They offer $5,000 loans to middle class. Your only hope is ROTC scholarship. In-state tuition is reasonable.
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The counting loans as "aid" is pretty ridiculous. They aren't giving you any money. Seem like all colleges do it that way though.
 
In fairness The Citadels costs are comperable to many other public colleges, almost identical to VMII and actually cheaper than some schools like Clemson and U. of North Carolina. If you think public colleges are expensive take a look at the cost of private schools, a friends nephew is attending Boston College at 84K a year.
 
vmi1991fromva said:
The Citadel tuition Out-of-State is outrageous. They state that 82% receive aid, but this is false. They offer $5,000 loans to middle class. Your only hope is ROTC scholarship. In-state tuition is reasonable.
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I think the rate of aid is more like 70%. The OOS costs for VMI and The Citadel are identical and costs for The Citadel are on par with most other public colleges.
 
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