Parents who spent the 1960's burning
down ROTC buildings might be pleasant-
ly surprised to learn that the Army
forgives and forgets. Students with good
grades and high SAT scores can apply for
full-tuition ROTC scholarships, assuming
they meet the physical requirements as
well. Among those requirements are 20/20
vision without correction and perfect den-
tal health. And if a boy or girl agrees to
enlist in the military before entering col-
lege, the G.I. bill and the Army College
Fund will provide $17,000 for education
after two years' service and $25,200 after
three.
Other than government-financed
Presidential Scholarships, which award
$1,000 a year to the top 120 high school
graduates in the country, and the Arts
Recognition and Talent Search program,
which designates another 20 or so, that's
about it for entering freshmen. The only
other possibilities are athletic scholarships
for students who played varsity sports in
high school, and the $250,000 that the
Miss America people dish out every year.
In both cases, the odds are substantially
better for girls than for boys.
The vast majority of students,
regardless of their academic talents, will
have to demonstrate some degree of finan-
cial need before they qualify for assistance.
Even the prestigious National Merit
Scholarship program, which selects its can-
didates on the basis of standardized test
scores, requires detailed financial
disclosures of its recipients. Score high
enough on the Preliminary Scholastic Ap-
titude Test and you'll get something from
National Merit; how much depends entire-
ly on how much you need.
At the lowest level of need, National
Merit awards a one-time $1,000 grant. The
effect of that award will be to reduce by
$1,000 the amount of other financial aid
the student receives and to raise by $1,000
the value of his family assets. But if a stu-
dent demonstrates substantial need, a col-
lege participating in the National Merit
program may award up to $2,000 per year.
For parents and students willing to sub-
mit a detailed financial statement to the
College Scholarship Service, about which
more later, literally billions of dollars are
available. Nor must a student necessarily
possess extraordinary academic abilities to
collect a portion of it. While some scholar-
ships still require a modicum of academic
talent, many more select their recipients
solely on the basis of financial need. And
nearly all educational loan programs func-
tion independently of academic achieve-
ment or aptitude.
CLOSE UP
thly salary. For a student interested in a
military career and sufficiently talented to
win an appointment to Annapolis or West
Point, it's a great opportunity. For every
10 students who seek such an appoint-
ment, one will actually get in.
If all else fails, and
for middle class
families it probably
will, parents may
look to private or
public sources for
educational loans.
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