Using and AFROTC 4year scholarship with a Post 911 GI Bill

[NORWICH89]

My daughter received a 4 year AFROTC scholarship to The University of Virginia. I had transferred my post 911 GI Bill to her years ago as well. We are now trying to see what the best course of action is. The school is telling us it would be beneficial to change the scholarship to a Room and board scholarship (I know it's just the room not the food). Are they correct in telling me that the Post 911 GI Bill will pay for tuition and fees, book stipend and the AFROTC scholarship will pay for her dorm room, then she will use her BAH to pay for food. I think the BAH rate is 1653.00 per month so it would more than cover it and whatever is left over she would pocket. Would she still rate a book stipend from the AFROTC? Would she still get her 300.00 per month as a freshman?

 

[Aglahad]

I can't remember what the timeline is for use, but could she just pocket it for now? I held onto mine until I got into my doctoral program and it has been invaluable as a poor grad student. I didn't think I would go back to grad school when I was a cadet, but here I am with a BS and 2 MS degrees later....

It's rough to go from six figures to nothing as an adult (the BAH helps enormously). Something to consider.

The stipend shouldn't change.

 

[EDelahanty]

To add to Aglahad's prudent advice, if after serving the period required under the ROTC scholarship, she were to decide on a big ticket law school or business school, the financial benefit of having the GI-Bill/Yellow Ribbon Program benefits could be a large multiple of the money you may now be considering for Room & Board. For example, tuition and fees at UVA Law for the 2022/23 academic year came to $71,500 for out-of-state students.

 

[EDelahanty]

And let's say she decides to attend U of Chicago Law School or Harvard Business School. The 2023 BAH for E5 with dependents (which I believe is the GI Bill allowance) is 40% more in Chicago than Charlottesville and over 100% more in Cambridge, MA.

 

[JohnMcLane]

If financially feasible recommend saving the GI Bill for grad school or next child. The short-term benefits of using it now in tandem with a scholarship are not likely as great as the benefits of using it later unless room and board are astronomically high. My 2 cents. I was fortunate the military paid for my grad school but most aren't so lucky and grad school has become almost an absolute requirement for promotion if you are planning on making the military a career.

 

[NORWICH89]

Thanks for all the info. Our thinking is that she will be commissioned in the AF after school and will most likely get her masters with tuition assistance while on active duty. If she gets out, she will have her own GI Bill.

 

[Capt MJ]

Thanks for all the info. Our thinking is that she will be commissioned in the AF after school and will most likely get her masters with tuition assistance while on active duty. If she gets out, she will have her own GI Bill.

Plenty of options, great start with the AFROTC scholarship. If she does the TA approach to Master’s, with luck the service obligation incurred with that can run concurrently with initial ADSO.

SA and ROTC grads have to do an additional 36 months past their ADSO to earn 100% of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, but it’s worth it, I think.

I started on a Master’s right away as an O-1 using TA, and the service obligation I incurred ran concurrently with my ADSO. I was sure I was getting out. (Hah) Later the Navy sent me to the Naval Postgraduate School for another, and I incurred 2-for-1 service obligation, but by then I knew I was staying in.

 

[NORWICH89]

Plenty of options, great start with the AFROTC scholarship. If she does the TA approach to Master’s, with luck the service obligation incurred with that can run concurrently with initial ADSO.

SA and ROTC grads have to do an additional 36 months past their ADSO to earn 100% of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, but it’s worth it, I think.

I started on a Master’s right away as an O-1 using TA, and the service obligation I incurred ran concurrently with my ADSO. I was sure I was getting out. (Hah) Later the Navy sent me to the Naval Postgraduate School for another, and I incurred 2-for-1 service obligation, but by then I knew I was staying in.

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Interesting. So, your obligation for the ROTC scholarship is your ADSO (4 years) but to get the additional Post 911 GI Bill you have to do another 36 months for the full benefit. Seems logical. Same with the additional time if you do TA. The AF has to get their ROE. LOL

 

[Capt MJ]

Interesting. So, your obligation for the ROTC scholarship is your ADSO (4 years) but to get the additional Post 911 GI Bill you have to do another 36 months for the full benefit. Seems logical. Same with the additional time if you do TA. The AF has to get their ROE. LOL

I wanted to make sure all the known factors for when-to-separate were on the table for strategic planning purposes. I’ve seen the five-and-dive urge hit our USNA sponsor family members, assuming they can roll right to grad school and use that Post 8/1/ GI Bill, only to realize they are not eligible, and they can’t stop the separation orders train. They got the brief on it at some point, but it didn’t stick.

The GI Bill time does not run concurrently with initial ADSO but consecutively. TA time usually runs concurrently.

If the member does <36 months, they get <100%, so if they do, say, 24 months, there is still a benefit.

 

[Aglahad]

Interesting. So, your obligation for the ROTC scholarship is your ADSO (4 years) but to get the additional Post 911 GI Bill you have to do another 36 months for the full benefit. Seems logical. Same with the additional time if you do TA. The AF has to get their ROE. LOL

Keep in mind TA is rather minimal and won’t cover all that much. It’s a supplement. Yes you need to serve past your obligation to get the GI bill. This could be a problem if the AF isn’t for her.

I knew a lot of gung-ho cadets who I thought would go the distance and got out a long time ago.

If she does stay in and pockets the GI bill, she could use it for her kids as well.

 

[Capt MJ]

TA percentages can adjust upward and downward with retention/attrition situations. It was 90% reimbursement when I used TA, and I’ve seen it cycle up and down in the decades since. But it’s never 100%!

 

[Aglahad]

TA percentages can adjust upward and downward with retention/attrition situations. It was 90% reimbursement when I used TA, and I’ve seen it cycle up and down in the decades since. But it’s never 100%!

Oh, I thought it was a maximum dollar amount? From what I remember it was 4500 a year?

 

[Capt MJ]

Oh, I thought it was a maximum dollar amount? From what I remember it was 4500 a year?

The program’s reimbursement formula has varied many times, to a percentage (there’s always a cap) to straight dollar amount. How generous it is varies directly with need with retention needs.

I think this screenshot is current AF TA policy, which may or may not be the same as other services, or may itself be adjusted in a future year: