ROTC Scholarships Could Be Slashed This Decade as Army Deals with Glut of Officers
Military.com | By Steve Beynon
Published September 27, 2024 at 2:30pm ET
The Army is eyeing a roughly $100 million cut to Reserve Officers' Training Corps scholarships through the rest of the decade as the service aims to correct an oversaturation of officers in the force.
Between 2026 and 2029, Army planners are looking to slash the ROTC program’s annual $315 million budget by $25 million or $30 million, multiple service officials with direct knowledge of the plans told Military.com.
The decision is not final and would ultimately be a part of future budget proposals Congress would have to approve, and service officials are still calculating what impact the cuts may have. However, such reductions could lead to an overall decrease of between 2,500 and 4,000 commissions during the four years. Budgets are also approved annually, which allows the Army to adjust the spigot for commissions if it felt it overcorrected.
The move would have no impact on the other military services' ROTC programs. There would also be no effect on any cadet's scholarship, and anyone's admittance into the program would not be interrupted. Instead, the cuts would only impact the number of new cadets the program can bring in.
The ROTC program gives full-time college students the opportunity to earn a commission as an officer while pursuing a degree at a typical civilian university. The scholarships are awarded to students in the program to cover the cost of college.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/09/27/army-mulls-100-million-cut-rotc-scholarships-over-next-4-years.html
