My husband and I recently filed BK so our credit is pretty sick right now and we are just keeping our heads above water. Here's the situation.

My DD is a freshman in an ROTC program. She never had any previous interest in the military as a career, but after our financial problems the last few years she was adamant that she did not want any student loans. Now she is realizing that she got into this program primarily to fund her education and does not think she will continue with it. She feels guilty that the others in the program want to be there and she's into it for the bucks. I'm very proud of her--she has worked very hard mentally and physically to make this work but just doesn't think military life is for her. She has no military or financial obligation for this year so if she decides to quit that part is OK.

Will she be able to get student loans in her name only and is there a maximum cut off? She has a $4500 scholarship per year from her college for her SAT scores and will probably apply to be a resident hall advisor next year which will cover her room and board. She also has 2 part time jobs. There are competitive sign-on bonuses in our area for her career which could help down the road.

I'm going in to the financial aid office with her next week to check out our options. She is going to a private school and could transfer to a cheaper state school but with her scholarship and possible RA job it would be about the same costs.

I'm familiar with FAFSA (oldest son is in junior college) and will fill that out as soon as we get our tax info. I know I need to apply for a Parent Plus loan in order to get turned down so she can get more money as well.

Thanks for any info or advice!

This is what she can expect to get as a dependent student:

Freshman $2,625.00
Sophomore $3,500.00
Junior $5,500.00
Senior $5,500.00

Independent students may borrow up to the following amounts:
Freshman $6,625.00
Sophomore $7,500.00
Junior $10,500.00
Senior $10,500.00


Your daughter is under the age of 23, I take it? If so, she would fall under the dependent student category. You should definitely discuss this with her financial aid office.

Best of luck to you and her!

As a junior this year I was offered approximately $2500 in subsidized stafford loan this year (each semester--for a total of $5k sub loan). I think the unsub offered was like $2k a semester and my pell grant was $2500 I believe. Does she qualify for the pell grant? Is the college a state supported college and/or does she qualify for any state grants (for instance I received the TEXAS grant this past semester).

Transfering down from private to state probably isn't a good idea. Most people do the opposite.

She should consider taking loans... a small bit of debt won't hurt too much, and if she pays it back properly, will actually help her credit.

For money beyond the government loans, there are private loans like CitiAssist [Citibank] and Signnature Student Loan [Sallie Mae]. If he has no credit history, a co-signer may be needed. (If this is the case -- she needs to start establishing a credit history now, so get her to apply for 2-3 student cards)

I would disagree. It just depends on WHICH state school she is looking to transfer to and whether or not they are a good school overall and ESPECIALLY whether or not it is a good school for her major/deparment. There are PLENTY of state schools that are just as good academically as private schools.

And just because "most people" do something doesn't mean it's a GOOD idea. I do agree that a some debt may help her, though.

Just wanted to comment on this portion...Your daughter would be amazed at how many active duty members got their start by the reason your daughter gave. She has absolutely nothing to feel guilty about. My husband is active duty and joined as enlisted just cause he wanted to get out of the house. Almost 20 yrs later, he's now an officer, and is looking at retiring.

I realize that not everyone is meant to be in the military. Me, for instance (husband says I'm untrainable). But let her know that true military life is much different from ROTC, and she might enjoy military life after she graduates There are other active duty members on the board...maybe she just needs to vent to them and receive some advice

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I have a suggestion: Have your daughter keep on top of privately funded scholarship offers for her school. I have had friends get scholarships for the strangest things. Sometimes they got them because they were the only one to apply.




In my neck of the woods, people kill to get into the State school. In fact, if they are in certain private schools, the U of F probably turned them down.

You are all so wonderful, thank you so much for the input. She is going to hang in there for the rest of the quarter, maybe even until the summer. All of her ROTC stuff is done at a different campus which is on the semester system, so she's off from that for about 2 more weeks. Her academic classwork is done at a small private college 20 minutes up the freeway. It's on the quarter system so it gets a little confusing. It has an excellent reputation, but she says it feels like she's at an all girls prep school. Her major is nursing, and in our area there are a lot of good sign on bonuses for graduates so that could help eventually. She's going to keep thinking about it and in the meantime we'll visit the financial aid office next week to get some ideas. She knows she could always live at home, but with 3 brothers she was ready to get out and willing to work for that.

One good thing is that she does have established credit...it's better than ours now, so we'll have to see if she could get something on her own. She's 19 and has been working part time jobs for the last 3 years and has a Kohl's card (former job), Chevron card, Chase Visa, Cap-1, and Ann Taylor (newest job). Limits are low (highest is the Visa at $500) but she feels she has plenty and doesn't want to get in trouble. She's the only one in the family who listens to me about creditboard!

CCK2006, you have a good point. One of her ROTC friends transferred in from another unit and says that this one has a totally different feel than her previous one. No sense of camaraderie. She keeps telling her to hang in there. My brother was career Navy and retired after 20 years, too, when it "wasn't fun anymore."

Thanks again.

Here's another question. I really think she is going to quit ROTC at the end of the quarter (late February). We figure she needs about $4,000 to finish out the year. I never applied for the Parent Plus loan but know that if I'm not credit worthy I would be turned down and she would be able to get more aid in her name. If I applied now and was turned down because of our recent BK, could she get the entire extra she could have gotten at the start of the 05-06 school year, or would they only give her 1/3 of it because it would be for the spring quarter?

TxQuiltGirl, I'm the person from Sugar Land you were so nice to talk to about your townhouse. Do you know of any banks in our area who would maybe approve a small loan for her based on her own credit?

She really needs to get into the financial aid office and get her FA package reworked since she now has a change of circumstances.

If she still comes up short, there are alternative or private loans available thru the school. They do offer low interest and deferment priveleges where a normal bank loan would not.

Yes I remember.

I think that your daughter should take Lynn's advice first and work with her financial aid office; what school is she attending? Was it UH?

My head is spinning. This morning DD thought she should just try and hang on until the end of the year since it would be paid for and then make her final decision. She's struggling with this but trying to do the smart thing.

We're checking with financial aid next week so we will know all the options just in case. That's great that there may be some private/alternative loans available.

Thanks SO MUCH for the help.

(Quilty, think SW at Fondren --I don't want to say it "out loud.")

Not trying to hijack. But did your daughter have to do basic training to do ROTC? I looked into ROTC but the recruiter told me I had to basic which would have made miss fall semester but I think he was trying to get me to do reserves instead of ROTC. I'm thinking about it again but don't want to do basic as I plan on doing 12 credit hours this summer.

ETA: I just checked their website and I believe I'd have to do summer training since I only have 2 years of college left. Oh well! Good luck to your DD!

Hi MrsRNA,

No, there wasn't any basic training. She did have a week of orientation this summer before classes began. She attends classes at one campus and does the ROTC at another. Early morning PT and drill is part of it, but not a traditional boot camp. Good luck to you!