ROTC scholarship recipients compete nationally for a federal scholarship; those who earn a scholarship can use it to attend any of the 1,700 colleges or senior military colleges hosting ROTC programs.
Federal ROTC scholarships cover tuition, but they leave a significant financial gap. Room, board, and quartermaster fees—about $15,000 per year and up to $60,000 over 4 years—remain the responsibility of the cadet and their family. For many high achieving cadet prospects, that gap becomes the deciding factor in whether or not they can attend VMI.
Covering the additional costs beyond tuition means prospective cadets choose VMI because of the excellence of the program, unrelated to the cost. Each year, we want to recruit no fewer than 100 CTD Scholarship cadets in each rat class.
Nationwide, competition for that cohort of candidates is fierce. The cost of education is high, and grants are the deciding factor—some candidates will drop to their second, third, or fourth choice because they get an offer of a better financial package.
The single highest imperative for VMI is to consistently fill barracks with qualified cadets. In order to do that, we must build an endowment to sustain 4-year CTD scholarships in perpetuity. This will take time, but the need is immediate. Cadets are in barracks now, and covering the $15,000 annual gap per cadet is essential to securing their enrollment while the long-term endowment fund grows.
