Virginia Campuses Offer Wide Range of Military Benefits
Scholarships, ROTC, and other programs make college cheaper at many Virginia schools
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From small, private institutions to large research universities, military personnel and veterans who attend Virginia colleges can choose from a variety of need-based, state and federal benefits and scholarships, along with a smattering of benefits available to specific groups of veteran's children.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg is one of many schools in the state that feature financial benefits designed for each branch of the U.S. military. The university's Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program offers recipients competitive scholarships ranging from two to four years, and includes tuition, student fees, ROTC uniforms and $300 for textbooks, according to the Virginia Tech military scholarship Web site, www.finaid.vt.edu/types_of_aid/scholarships/military.
The Virginia Tech scholarship Web site also states that Army ROTC students who earn the scholarship also receive a $250 monthly stipend that increases by $50 every year throughout the life of the scholarship. The university's Navy and Marine ROTC scholarship is also competitively granted, offering $100 in monthly spending money. Virginia Tech also offers a scholarship opportunity specifically for freshmen in the school's Regimental Band. Applicants are awarded according to their financial need and academic record, according to the Web site.
Col. Christopher St. Jean, Virginia Tech Army ROTC Battalion Commander and spokesman, said the university is one of six designated Senior Military Colleges recognized by the U.S. government. Virginia Military Institute, North Georgia College & State University, Norwich University, Texas A&M; University, The Citadel are also Senior Military Colleges.
Education benefits for Virginia Tech ROTC saw a 35 percent increase in applicants between the start of 2009-2010 and end of 2010-2011 academic years, St. Jean said, adding that 80 percent of Virginia Tech's Army ROTC cadets are "on some form of ROTC scholarship."
"Our scholarship recipients are very grateful and excited when they are awarded" an ROTC scholarship, St. Jean said. "All of our scholarship recipients at [Virginia Tech] are truly scholars, athletes [and] leaders with a strong sense of service, commitment, and values."
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Heather Barackman said that without the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs' Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program (Yellow Ribbon Program) - a provision of the Post-9/11 GI Bill which matches funding from a college or university - she wouldn't have enrolled in Marymount University's physical therapy doctoral program. Barackman served in Iraq from 2007-2008.
Funding from the Post-9/11 GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Program, Barackman said, covered about half the physical therapy program's $27,000 tuition. She said national scholarship opportunities are a necessary safety net for military members and veterans who aren't awarded competitive scholarships on local campuses.
"It helped me make the decision to come to school, and I did," said Barackman, 35, who was raised in Northern Virginia and piloted helicopters in Iraq. "I didn't want to incur a lot of loans. ... I still am, but it would have been twice as much [without the federal funds]."
The Yellow Ribbon Program, unlike many scholarships, delivers tuition directly to the university, meaning students don't have to make time in their busy schedules for a monthly trip to the bursar's office.
"I don't even have to be the middleman," Barackman said.
James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., has some of the most targeted scholarship opportunities in the state. The Dolphin Scholarship Foundation, for instance, give grants to children and stepchildren of the Navy's Submarine Force members who have served at least eight years in the unit. Students must be younger than 24, according to the Dolphin Scholarship eligibility rules.
The Women's Overseas Service League, a group formed during World War I, offers $500 and $1,000 scholarship grants to James Madison students who are committed to military or public service and maintain a 2.5 grade point average or above, according to the organization's scholarship criteria.
The university also has the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation grants for children of Marines, with particular attention given to those whose Marine parents have been killed or wounded in the line of duty.
In Charlottesville, Va., The University of Virginia's School of Medicine offers a full-ride scholarship to service members who serve 45 days of active duty annually for a minimum of three years. Along with tuition and fees, the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program also provides more than $1,300 in monthly stipends for the 10 months the student is not on active duty and reimburses all health care costs during the recipient's education, according to the university's Armed Forces Web page.
While many Virginia colleges only offer the Yellow Ribbon Program's benefits, the University of Richmond is one of the few U.S. schools that is "fully need-blind in its admission process," said Brian Eckert, a Richmond spokesman, making the university an attractive option for servicemen and women who don't receive benefits through competitive scholarship programs.
"That means that [we] do not consider a student's ability to pay in the admission decision, and it promises to meet 100 percent of any American student's demonstrated financial need," Eckert said.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg is one of many schools in the state that feature financial benefits designed for each branch of the U.S. military. The university's Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program offers recipients competitive scholarships ranging from two to four years, and includes tuition, student fees, ROTC uniforms and $300 for textbooks, according to the Virginia Tech military scholarship Web site, www.finaid.vt.edu/types_of_aid/scholarships/military.
The Virginia Tech scholarship Web site also states that Army ROTC students who earn the scholarship also receive a $250 monthly stipend that increases by $50 every year throughout the life of the scholarship. The university's Navy and Marine ROTC scholarship is also competitively granted, offering $100 in monthly spending money. Virginia Tech also offers a scholarship opportunity specifically for freshmen in the school's Regimental Band. Applicants are awarded according to their financial need and academic record, according to the Web site.
Col. Christopher St. Jean, Virginia Tech Army ROTC Battalion Commander and spokesman, said the university is one of six designated Senior Military Colleges recognized by the U.S. government. Virginia Military Institute, North Georgia College & State University, Norwich University, Texas A&M; University, The Citadel are also Senior Military Colleges.
Education benefits for Virginia Tech ROTC saw a 35 percent increase in applicants between the start of 2009-2010 and end of 2010-2011 academic years, St. Jean said, adding that 80 percent of Virginia Tech's Army ROTC cadets are "on some form of ROTC scholarship."
"Our scholarship recipients are very grateful and excited when they are awarded" an ROTC scholarship, St. Jean said. "All of our scholarship recipients at [Virginia Tech] are truly scholars, athletes [and] leaders with a strong sense of service, commitment, and values."
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Heather Barackman said that without the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs' Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program (Yellow Ribbon Program) - a provision of the Post-9/11 GI Bill which matches funding from a college or university - she wouldn't have enrolled in Marymount University's physical therapy doctoral program. Barackman served in Iraq from 2007-2008.
Funding from the Post-9/11 GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Program, Barackman said, covered about half the physical therapy program's $27,000 tuition. She said national scholarship opportunities are a necessary safety net for military members and veterans who aren't awarded competitive scholarships on local campuses.
"It helped me make the decision to come to school, and I did," said Barackman, 35, who was raised in Northern Virginia and piloted helicopters in Iraq. "I didn't want to incur a lot of loans. ... I still am, but it would have been twice as much [without the federal funds]."
The Yellow Ribbon Program, unlike many scholarships, delivers tuition directly to the university, meaning students don't have to make time in their busy schedules for a monthly trip to the bursar's office.
"I don't even have to be the middleman," Barackman said.
James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., has some of the most targeted scholarship opportunities in the state. The Dolphin Scholarship Foundation, for instance, give grants to children and stepchildren of the Navy's Submarine Force members who have served at least eight years in the unit. Students must be younger than 24, according to the Dolphin Scholarship eligibility rules.
The Women's Overseas Service League, a group formed during World War I, offers $500 and $1,000 scholarship grants to James Madison students who are committed to military or public service and maintain a 2.5 grade point average or above, according to the organization's scholarship criteria.
The university also has the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation grants for children of Marines, with particular attention given to those whose Marine parents have been killed or wounded in the line of duty.
In Charlottesville, Va., The University of Virginia's School of Medicine offers a full-ride scholarship to service members who serve 45 days of active duty annually for a minimum of three years. Along with tuition and fees, the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program also provides more than $1,300 in monthly stipends for the 10 months the student is not on active duty and reimburses all health care costs during the recipient's education, according to the university's Armed Forces Web page.
While many Virginia colleges only offer the Yellow Ribbon Program's benefits, the University of Richmond is one of the few U.S. schools that is "fully need-blind in its admission process," said Brian Eckert, a Richmond spokesman, making the university an attractive option for servicemen and women who don't receive benefits through competitive scholarship programs.
"That means that [we] do not consider a student's ability to pay in the admission decision, and it promises to meet 100 percent of any American student's demonstrated financial need," Eckert said.