Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps - Scholarships

Scholarships

The United States Army offers ROTC scholarships that allow students to finance their education. Scholarship eligibility requirements

• Must be a U.S. citizen
• At least 17 years of age before the scholarship is effective
• Scored a 920 on SAT or 19 on ACT
• 2.5 GPA or higher
• Participant in leadership, extra-curricular, and athletic activities
• Under 27 years old at time of commissioning
• High school grad or equivalent
• Agree to accept a commission upon graduation
• Meet physical standards
• Must be accepted to the university that offers the scholarship

Note that these are just the minimum requirements. The Army seeks to recruit what it calls Scholar, Athlete, Leaders (SAL's). A typical 4-year scholarship winner scores around 1250 on the SAT (or 24 on the ACT), and has a high school GPA of 3.5. A large number of scholarship winners are also members of the National Honor Society, serve in student-body government, or are varsity sports team captains.

Types of Army ROTC scholarships

There are three types of Army ROTC scholarships available:

• The four-year scholarship is designed for high school students planning on attending a four-year college program.
• The three-year scholarship is available for students who have three academic years of college remaining.
• The two-year scholarship is available for students who have two academic years of college remaining.

The Army ROTC scholarship entitles its recipients to full-tuition assistance, as well as a textbook/fee allowance and a monthly stipend to cover the student’s living expenses. Typically, cadets receive tuition assistance. However, they also have the option to apply the scholarship to their ‘room and board’ expenses instead of school tuition.

The amount that cadets on the ROTC scholarship receive for their monthly stipend depends on their year in school:

• Year 1: $300 a month
• Year 2: $350 a month
• Year 3: $450 a month
• Year 4: $500 a month

Alternative to the ROTC scholarship

The Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP) is an alternative route to receive military scholarship benefits. The program requires that cadets enlist in a reserve unit while enrolled in ROTC. This can include the Army National Guard or the Army Reserve. ROTC cadets on scholarship are not allowed to participate in SMP. SMP cadets are not required to complete Basic Combat Training (BCT) or Advanced Individual Training (AIT), but it is necessary to receive specific benefits. The benefits are as follows:

Army Reserve benefits

• Drill pay at E-5 or higher
• Cadet rank
• GI Bill
• Full tuition assistance

Once contracted, ROTC cadets cannot be deployed. However, they are required to attend all drill events with their unit. This includes drill weekend and advanced training.