Programs & Scholarships

Air Force ROTC offers a variety of ways to get the money you need for school. But the benefits extend well beyond graduation – starting with a career as an officer in the Air Force straight out of school.

General Scholarship Information

In Air Force ROTC courses, you normally receive academic credit as part of your electives.

You will be taught by a world-class military faculty supplemented with distinguished speakers that bring policy and history to life through firsthand experience. Each instructor is an active-duty Air Force officer usually accorded the academic rank of assistant professor. The unit commandercommanderThe officer in charge of running an Air Force unit's day-to-day operations. has an academic rank of full professor.

What’s Covered

Air Force ROTC scholarships cover tuition, an annual textbook allowance, most lab fees and up to $500 spending cash per academic month. The application deadline for high school students is December 1 of your senior year.

Programs

There are primarily two routes you can take to an Air Force officer commissioncommissionBestowed upon an AFROTC graduate by the President of the United States recognizing them as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. through Air Force ROTC – the four-year program and the two-year program. And you can enroll in Air Force ROTC classes at the same time and in the same manner as you do for other college courses.

The Four-Year Program

General Military Course

The first two years of the Air Force ROTC four-year program, the General Military Course, consist of one hour of classroom work and one to two hours of leadership laboratory each week. The General Military Course is an opportunity for students not on an Air Force ROTC scholarship to try out the program with no obligation. After completing General Military Course requirements, if you wish to compete for entry into the last two years of the program, the Professional Officer CourseProfessional Officer CoursePOC - ROTC course for juniors and seniors. , you must do so under the requirements of the Professional Officer Course selection system. This system uses qualitative factors, such as grade point average, unit commander evaluation and aptitude test scores to determine if you have officer potential. After selection you must successfully complete a summer four-week field-training unit at an assigned Air Force base before entering the Professional Officer Course. And once you are enrolled in the Professional Officer Course, you must attend class three hours a week and participate in a weekly leadership laboratory (lasting from one to two hours).

Professional Officer Course

In the Professional Officer Course, you apply what you have learned in the General Military Course and at field-training units. And in Professional Officer Corps, you actually conduct the leadership laboratories and manage the unit’s cadet corps. Each unit has a cadet corps based on the Air Force organizational pattern of flight, squadron, group and wing. Professional Officer Course classes are small. Emphasis is placed on group discussions and cadet presentations. Classroom topics include management, communication skills and national defense policy. And once you have enrolled in the Professional Officer Course, you are enlisted in the Air Force Reserve and assigned to the Obligated Reserve Section. This entitles you to a monthly $300-$500 nontaxable subsistence allowance during the academic year.

The Two-Year Program

The Air Force ROTC two-year program and the last two years of the four-year program are the same at the Professional Officer Course level. However, the entry procedure differs. Entrance into the Professional Officer Course is highly competitive and you must successfully complete a six-week extended field training unit. The additional two weeks of field training prepares you for entry into the Professional Officer Course. But you are not committed to the Air Force until you return to school in the fall and make a decision to enroll in Air Force ROTC. If you are a transfer student, sophomore or prospective POCPOCProfessional Officer Course - ROTC course for juniors and seniors. cadet, you need to apply early in the fall in order to complete all necessary actions for the POC and field training selection process.

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