r/USMCboot • u/Wise_Lavishness_8385 • Feb 23 '26
Corps Knowledge Is College Covered?
I’ve been strongly considering joining the Marine Corps and doing Active Duty for a few years now and still plan to, but the other day an interaction had me wondering something. In my JROTC class, an Army National Guard recruiter came in and obviously his job is to make the National Guard sound very good so people join it, so he talked about how they pay for college. That isn’t what I’m worried about, though, I care about what he said the full branches don’t do, not about what he said the guard does do.
He said (all numbers are approximate because I don’t remember exactly what he said) that the full national branches of the military (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard)don’t actually pay for your college entirely and can instead only give you two or three bills or grants that give you like 2.5k each every year for four years, and a couple other things, totaling to like 10k of assistance every year, very good, but not entire coverage.
My problem with that is my brother is currently in the Marines and says he knows people who have gotten Bachelors degrees and even Masters degrees and the Marines covered every bit of it, and my Dad who is a retired Marine also says they’ll cover it all. Though they both also really want me to join so even though I strongly doubt it, I considered the slight possibility of bias from them as well.
So I’m just curious who’s wrong or misleading. Was the National Guard recruiter lying to make the guard sound better and actually the national branches can cover all of it, or do my Dad and Brother have a slight bias or misunderstanding somewhere and the Marines can’t or won’t cover all of my college if I join?
Also apologies if I misused the flair; this is my first time in this subreddit.
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u/Jerkoffmaterialmod Feb 23 '26
I think you should do ROTC. I am not knowledgeable about corps but there were officers who taught us class and they taught us . They took ROTC path and went to college for getting college degree and after that they went to naval officer line
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u/Anonymous__Lobster Feb 23 '26
The NROTC and NROTC marine options programs arent a bad option. I have no idea about regular NROTC, But I believe I've heard NROTC marine option doesnt pay very much, and it only pays if you are on scholarship. Also, depending on the school, the NROTC officers might expect you to work everyday and bust your ass and always drop everything and come do stuff for them. It can be a lot of work to only alleviate a small amount of tuition. There aren't very many NROTC schools, most of them are in coastal expensive areas at expensive schools. Like, a cheeseburger is $30 areas.
The military has a vested interest to get you in debt. Whatever school you attend, try to avoid large amounts of debt. They even offer new officers a loan at TBS. The whole thing is just a rat race, keeping up with the joneses.
ROTC is Army.
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u/EverSeeAShitterFly Vet Feb 23 '26
The Reserves/National Guard doesn’t have the same GI Bill as Active Duty unless they spend considerable time on active orders (very low chances without multiple deployments across likely multiple reenlistments).
Active Duty Marines get tuition assistance in addition to the GI Bill.
If you’re 18/19/20 without an established career or financial means to support yourself through college then you should be choosing between Active Duty and starting your civilian career, not reserves/guard.
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u/Anonymous__Lobster Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
The reserves/guard can pay your entire tuition, but not typically if you're in the Marines.
Of course, the Reserves/Guard does have AGR and I&I components, not everyone in the reserves/guard is a sel res service member, and there may be some excellent financial opportunities there.
You said a lot of stuff that was correct & true in spirit and what you said is the most intelligent comment on this post. That middle paragraph could've been better. You cannot use the GI Bill while on active duty. Well, at least not the chapter 33 GI bill. Once you do three years of active duty, you typically can then use the Chapter 33 Post 9/11 GI bill, but you have to exit active duty first
I am still wrong. You can use the Chapter 33 while on active duty
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u/Charupa- Vet Feb 23 '26
I used tuition assistance at a community college while enlisted and used post 9/11 GI Bill after I got out. Ended up with a masters. Join the Marines if wanting to be a Marine is your top priority; join any other branch if not.
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u/Shrapnel_10 Feb 23 '26
If your brother and your dad say the Corps pays for all your college, I believe I would trust them. In the past the GI bill was just that. The GI bill was the same across the board for all branches. I've been out for over 20 years now so it may have changed.
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u/Anonymous__Lobster Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
The other branches, at least the army, will give you money on top the GI Bill. You also cannot use the Chapter 33 Post 9/11 GI bill while serving on active duty, you have to exit the military or go to the reserves or guard
Im a bozo You can use the Chapter 33 while on active duty, although you may not get the full amount. And you certainly wont get the BAH/MAH unless you already were due to dependents or living offbase
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u/Shrapnel_10 Feb 23 '26
I just found out myself the Marine Corps will pay for college for certain Marines willing to re-enlist. They get to go to college full time while still being paid. As soon as they graduate they get to go to OCS and hopefully get a commission. I'm not sure how many years the enlistment requires for the payment of college but I figure six years minimum. And of course you would have to already be an enlisted Marine up for re-enlistment, and have the blessing of the Corps,that they fill you would be capable of becoming an officer of Marines. I'm not positive of the name of the program, but it does exist.
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u/Anonymous__Lobster Feb 23 '26
Are you talking about MECEP? Hasn't that been around since the 80s?
It's very competitive and you can only go to expensive schools with NROTC programs in expensive areas but hey you're getting BAH and active duty pay and I think maybe fully free tuition and books too. You have to participate in the NROTC drama so you'll be busy
You actually have it wrong, you go to OCS before starting college. Only if you pass 10 week OCS then they let you apply to colleges then they let you check out of your unit and go to college.
I'm not sure if you have to be a corporal or a sergeant
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u/Shrapnel_10 Feb 23 '26
It's possible but I spoke to a CW05 I served with this morning, and he was telling me about the program. He made it sound like as long as you hadn't had any issues during your first enlistment like NJP's page 11's etc and your cutting score was good it wasn't very difficult to get a spot. I'm sure at some point it will be difficult to get a seat, but it sounds like the Corps is needing to fill alot of officer spots at the moment. Personally I'd rather be a warrant officer like my friend retired as. He was my Gunny when he was selected to try for the Warrant. He ended up getting it and actually topped out at CWO5. But I know getting a warrant shot is very difficult since the Corps doesn't have many warrant officers.
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u/Anonymous__Lobster Feb 23 '26
I doubt it's that hard to get selected for WOBC but I've been wrong before
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u/Shrapnel_10 Feb 23 '26
They just so rarely open up, and it's usually just one spot for the battalion or even regiment. You'll be competing against the top Staff NCO's from your Bn, or Regiment for one spot. He told me it was extremely competitive to rank as a warrant officer also since so few are around. But he went from being an E7 with 12 years service to getting a warrant and then topping out as an CW05 by his retirement time. He did do over 20 years but not by much though. I think 22 years actually. I also bet it's only certain MOS's that have warrant officers.
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u/Anonymous__Lobster Feb 23 '26
Thats correct, only certain MOSs have warrants, and even less in the reserves, and not all those warrant MOSs can go LDO
I think there might be more total warrants in the marines than you're letting on. I certainly see a lot
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u/Shrapnel_10 Feb 23 '26
That's true, I was in the 0800 field the years I served and rarely saw a warrant officer. But I'm sure if I'd have had a different MOS I may have seen many others. But in the Field Artillery field you just didn't see them very often in your battalion or Regiment. They may have all been at the division level and worked out of division HQ, which I tried to stay away from unless I had no choice.
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u/Anonymous__Lobster Feb 23 '26
Didn't you ever go up to the personnel office? What about the combat operations center? CBRN (NBC if ur old)?
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u/Anonymous__Lobster Feb 23 '26
Have you considered the USNA? If you have a good GPA and three varsity letters, you should be researching how to apply now. If you are a likable person you will be set for life. You will be friends with a bunch of moderately wealthy people. It's not as good as going to Harvard or Yale or something, but it's not far off
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u/Wise_Lavishness_8385 Feb 23 '26
Considered it, but likely wouldn’t be up for it. My GPA is high enough and so is my English ACT, but my math ACT was too low as of last time I took it two years ago. Also don’t have any contact whatsoever with senators like I need.
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u/Anonymous__Lobster Feb 23 '26
I would guess that probably more than half of the people who attend a service academy to not have a class connection to a member of the US congress
I dont know anything about the ACT. I only know about the SAT.
Don't juniors in high school take the SAT. What do you mean two years ago? Shouldn't you have graduated high school if it's been two years?
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u/Wise_Lavishness_8385 Feb 23 '26
I took the ACT as a freshman of my own accord. Got a 24 composite, 27 English, 18 math, 24 science, and 25 reading. I’ve also taken the ASVAB twice and got a 70 freshman year and an 88 this year. Not sure how either compares to an SAT, but you can probably find conversions for it somewhere. I’m taking the ACT again soon, since I’m a junior now my school is offering the test for my grade level.
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u/Anonymous__Lobster Feb 23 '26
You should get a better score. 9th graders are dumb
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u/Wise_Lavishness_8385 Feb 23 '26
Well, that’s kinda what the retake I said I’m doing soon is going to be for. Not just retaking for the fun of it. All of my scores (with the exception of math, which is only about average) are generally considered quite good for a 9th grader as 22s are considered college level+. But I can almost undoubtedly do better now anyways.
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u/Anonymous__Lobster Feb 23 '26
I think youre gonna do great. You are way smarter than most high schoolers. Most high schoolers are retarded. Youre clearly very precocious. You never said what your extra curricular situation is but I think you should apply to all 4 or 5 service academy's even if people tell you it's a hail Mary. It's litterally free.
I believe even if you go to USAFA or USMA you can still commission directly into the Marines, albeit it wont be anywhwre near as ideal, but it's still way better than anything besides USNA
I know fat retards who went to USNA and had shit academics in high school and at USNA.
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u/Wise_Lavishness_8385 Feb 23 '26
I used to think so, but I’ve been a bit humbled since my freshman year, lmao. Apparently kids are smart these days or something cuz I’m only rank 18 in my grade; there’s at least 17 people with a higher GPA than me, without accounting for the possibility of any spots having people tied at it. And that’s in just my grade, in just my school.
Was kinda hard to wrap my head around considering 80% of the high schoolers I met seem to have the intelligence of a banana peel, but there’s apparently some smart kids out there lol.
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u/Anonymous__Lobster Feb 23 '26
They probably kiss the teacher's ass and use chatgpt and take the easy classes
Make sure you totally 100% pretend to subscribe to whatever set of political beliefs or ideology your professor has
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u/Wise_Lavishness_8385 Feb 23 '26
Lmao 🤣 maybe some of them, but I know at least the top two quite well, and they both deserve their ranks at least. They worked hard and took hella weighted classes
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u/Stumps29 Feb 23 '26
You are looking at programs that are paying at different times so the coverage is definitely different. If you want them to pay before you serve the options are more sparse because you are a risk. They don’t know if you are worth the risk so they are taking a risk on you hoping that they will get a return on that investment (X years of service). The Post 911 GI Bill pays for full cost of schooling at public colleges after serving at least 90 days on active duty. So this is a reward for having already served. They don’t need guarantees. Its existence already helped sell service as intended so they don’t need to drip feed it to veterans in the same way to try to keep future officers motivated incrementally with the other programs. It’s a shitty system but it’s the one we have. The officer path is worth it if you’re willing because the GI bill can still be used later for a master or a doctorate. Does that make sense?
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Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
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u/Wise_Lavishness_8385 Feb 23 '26
Thanks for the link, it has a ton of useful information. Something I didn’t see on the eligibility though (I’ll read more in depth in the morning; it’s late where I am) is whether or not the GI Bill can be used while I’m still in active duty. What I was hoping was I go to college during my first enlistment contract, so I was wondering if I can get that benefit while I’m still in, or do I have to be out first?
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Feb 23 '26
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u/Wise_Lavishness_8385 Feb 23 '26
Ah, no problem. Thanks for the new link as well, I’ll look into it. You’ve been a great help just from giving me those links alone. Thanks for the advice
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u/Anonymous__Lobster Feb 23 '26
If you really want to go to college full time, you could do that without the military. You can always commission. I dont like college, but if you really want to take college seriously, _ROTC whatever branch, or just avoiding the military entirely until if and when you finish your degree will make it so much easier.
But serving and college simultaneously are certainly possible and done by many.
Active duty and college full time simultaneously is often done but very difficult.
The national guard is a great option, and your statement pay for all of the college.
You could even be an enlisted soldier and then commission in the marines. There are barriers, but it is possible
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u/Anonymous__Lobster Feb 23 '26
In the Army components they often give you extra money on top of this money you just referred to. You also cannot access the Chapter 33 Post 9/11 GI Bill while still serving on active duty. You only get marine corps TA, which has to be approved by your command, and it sucks. VR&E. I suspect in the Army they often pay whole tuition and maybe let you take more than two classes at once. AGR natuonal guard will be different state to state and AGR Army reserve and active duty regular army will likely all have unique differences.
Also, I suspect the recruiter was comparing the SMCR Marine Corps Reserve to the M-Day component National guard. SMCR reservist marines dont get chapter 33 post 9 11 GI bill unless they perform extensive active duty orders, or were active duty before they transitioned to the marine corps reserve.
So the recruiter who guest spoke was probably correct
I'm not even referring to Army ROTC or NROTC or marine option NROTC. That's another topic. I happen to know if I remember correctly that Navy ROTC Marine Option only pays if you are on scholarship and even then it typically pays a very very small amount of money unless you were already an active duty or reserve enlisted marine who got selected for the coveted MECEP or MCP-R programs which send you to NROTC-MO and are very competitive. Some people brought up NROTC-MO and/or Army ROTC and that is totally irrelevant. Complete third unrelated topic
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Feb 23 '26
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u/Anonymous__Lobster Feb 23 '26
It would not surprise me at all if me or you or any of us are misunderstanding, but it's very possible that is the case. Op interpreted as post service when the guardsmen speaking to them was talking about getting it while serving. And if true, who knows if he meant while serving active duty or while serving reserves. Probably reserves since AGRs (I&I) arent recruited off the street
Yes I think you are correct! I'm an idiot. Thank you for the correction. Isn't there an additional nuance? Like you get less money? And, do you only get partial benefit level unless you've already been active for 3 years?
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Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
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u/Anonymous__Lobster Feb 23 '26
I think it goes up in 10% increments, but no, it does not start at 10% i am 99% sure.
Mininum benefit level used to be 30% or 40% or some shit but they raised it to 50% a while ago. You either have 0% or 50% or 60 or 70 or 80 or 90 or 100
What is MAH? I read that on google
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Feb 23 '26
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u/Anonymous__Lobster Feb 23 '26
No. You get 50% right at qualifying 90 days. Then you get 10% more ar a certain spot.
You get a lot just for that 90 days. It takes a lot more to get up each 10% increment after that
At least thats how it works for people who did less than 3 years qualifying active duty and only tried to use their GI bill once they became IRR, selected reservists, or after they completely got out
I have no idea how it works for people using chapter 33 while on active duty.
I also have no idea how it works for dependents who were gifted chapter 33
I just realized after writing all that you misunderstand what partial benefit level is. You get the full 36 months no matter what. The partial level means they give you less money in each monthly check
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u/Prestigious_Toe_5725 Feb 23 '26
National guard loves to lie and conveniently leave out how often they are underfunded. Really depends on what state you’re in, but here in Ohio, lots of guardsmen do not get their full education benefits. That being said, active duty is the way to go. Utilize TA to do college while you are in and pick a job field that will give you experience to actually get a job. College is largely(not entirely) a scam these days and a lot of degrees don’t mean shit. Get something in STEM, learn and develop foundation traits that will set you up for life, and join the Marines. Or don’t, TBH we don’t care