Lizadel Yarisantos said she had no intention of joining the ROTC during her senior year at Taylorsville High School.
But when a recruiter came to her school and offered her a full-ride scholarship to the U if she participated in the program, she immediately changed her mind.
“The program became groundbreaking for me,” said Yarisantos, a freshman in international studies. “(ROTC) helped me find myself a little better.”
The number of scholarships is about to increase.
In an effort to increase the number of high school and college Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets, the U.S. Army recently increased the scholarship budget for U’s ROTC program by $1 million.
Lt. Col. Grant Stanfield, admissions officer for the U’s Army ROTC program, said the Army is aggressively searching for new second lieutenants and paying for school is one of the best ways to encourage new recruits.
The U usually receives around $250,000 in scholarship funds for ROTC cadets, and now has more money than they need.
Stanfield said the ROTC program plans to increase recruitment and they hope to have another 50 cadets registered by September 2009.
However, even with increased recruitment, Stanfield said he estimates about $300,000 to $500,000 of the additional funds will not be used. He said other universities and colleges with ROTC programs will be able to apply for the extra funds if the U doesn’t use it.
The U has about $850,000 in excess scholarship funds to recruit more students through scholarships.
“If the Army says we don’t need as many (cadets), they don’t give us as much money,” Stanfield said. “Right now, the need is great for military (personnel).”
“It’s across the country even, we’re in a scholarship-rich environment right now,” he said.
Stanfield said the U has been sending out recruitment officers to local high schools and it hopes to gain 40 to 50 new freshmen next August.
For fall enrollment, the number of enlisted ROTC cadets is higher than ever, with 129 cadets in the program. About 80 to 95 percent of those cadets have full-ride scholarships, some of which include tuition, housing, food and a monthly stipend.
To receive a scholarship, students must have at least a 2.5 GPA and a score of 19 on the ACT. The scholarships range from $72,000 to $156,000 depending on how long students plan to stay in the military and the type of scholarship they receive.
“Serving in the Army is one of the most honorable things a student can do,” Stanfield said.
The U sends out recruits to major events on campus, including the U’s Career Day, Nurse Day in February and the Major Expo in the Union in September.
Recruits also visit drilling competitions for the local high school Junior ROTC programs. Lt. Col. Jack Sturgeon said the U has funds available this year and he is happy about the situation.
“We are in a good situation where we have the funds available,” he said. “We don’t always have them.”
Sturgeon said besides the scholarship, the U gives all Army ROTC students a monthly tax-free stipend of up to $500, and if they are studying a foreign language, they can receive an extra stipend.
The military wants to encourage cadets to speak a second language for overseas missions.
“Besides financial benefits, we hope that the young men and young women have a strong desire to serve their country,” Sturgeon said. “If not, they won’t make it in the Army because we are a nation at war.”
Sturgeon said freshmen enrollment in the Army ROTC has doubled since 2007.
Students have one year to use the scholarship for free. They must then decide to join the Army after graduation or pay back their scholarship if they drop out of ROTC.
Sturgeon said the Army ROTC is one of the premier leadership training programs in the world and can be highly impressive to small and large businesses for students if they leave the Army.
He said none of the cadets have walked away in the past few years except to go on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Clint Chamberlain came back from an LDS mission in Russia in 2001 and spent five years as a police officer for the Salt Lake City Police Department.
He was able to continue his education with an ROTC scholarship. Chamberlain is now a cadet in the U’s ROTC program and a junior in economics at Westminster College, which does not have an ROTC program. He supports his family of three and said he appreciates the scholarship money ROTC gave him.
“I wouldn’t be (able to go) to Westminster without a scholarship,” Chamberlain said.
Courtesy Lt. Col Grant StanfieldCadet Clint Chamberlain, a Business/Economics Major and Captain Max Hanna, a Sophomore ROTC instructor participate in an ROTC activity. Some students join ROTC as a way to pay for school and the number of scholarships offered by the program will be increasing.