by Lisa Albro, former admissions officer at Goucher College

We recently discussed the relative merits of military academies and ROTC programs as a means to earn a four-year degree and an officer’s rank in the United States military. This week we take a more targeted look at some more specifics of ROTC programs.

If you’re interested in attending a traditional four-year college and embarking on a commitment to serve as an officer in the Army, Navy, or Air Force, you’re in luck! Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) programs can be found on over 1,700 college and university campuses in the United States. (The Coast Guard offers its own program, called the College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative, or CSPI). In many cases, an ROTC scholarship is a way for students to pay for some or all of their college tuition—in exchange for several years of military service, of course.

by Lisa Albro, former admissions officer at Goucher College

While it isn’t unheard of to attain an officer’s rank without a college degree, two highly sought-after paths involve earning both the title and a bachelor’s degree concurrently: military academies and ROTC programs. But which one is the best fit for you?

Interested in participating in Reserve Officer Training Corps—ROTC for short—in college? We’re welcoming Rob Kirkland, author of The Insider’s Guide to the Army ROTC Scholarship for High School Students and Their Parents, to share his thoughts on applying to these programs. In another in our Biggest Myths series, we’ll look at some myths in both admissions and college finance.

In this week’s episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, host Elizabeth Heaton provides an overview of ROTC programs, from both a parent and student perspective, and answers listener questions.

This is the fifth in a series of posts that college finance expert, Laurie Peltier, is writing about her own experience going through the college application and enrollment processes with her kids. Her previous posts focused on how to stay organized during the college search and final decision-making processes, getting to know your school and the Federal Work Study program. Here, she discusses the application process and benefits of the Army ROTC program.

There are many decisions teenagers make that can cause a parent’s heart to stop. Getting a tattoo, driving a motor cycle, and proposing marriage are good examples. When my daughter announced she was applying for an Army ROTC scholarship, my heart stopped. On the one hand, out of my three children I thought she was the most suited for it, but on the other it was not something I was knowledgeable about. While I can now say it was a good decision, it took a while to get to this point.