MSUB Army ROTC provides scholarship opportunities, leadership training, upper division placement, and a future career to college nursing students. Students may enroll as a freshman, sophomore, or as late as their junior year in college. Upon successful completion of the program, students are commissioned as officers in the Army Nurse Corps, and serve as nurses at military hospitals and medical facilities in the active Army.

Financial Benefits

There are two, three, and four year scholarships available to nursing students. These scholarships provide:

  • 100% tuition and mandatory fees
  • $1200 for textbooks per year
  • Monthly tax free stipend from $300-500 per month to defray the cost of living
  • Paid NCLEX fees

MSU Bozeman and MSU Billings Army ROTC share five guaranteed upper division slots every year. This allows Army ROTC Nursing cadets to complete their degree without having to worry about receiving upper division placement through the School of Nursing.

Nursing Student Responsibilities

If you want to try the program out first, there is no obligation for taking the class during your Freshman and Sophomore year. It’s like test driving a car. See if it’s for you. If not, there is no obligation. If it is, apply for a scholarship.

  • Attend ROTC classes (meets 1 time per week)
  • Attend physical training sessions (3 times per week)
  • Attend field training exercises (once a semester)
  • Attend and successfully complete the Leadership Development and Assessment Course (5 weeks at Fort Lewis, WA) during the summer following the Junior year
  • Maintain a GPA of 2.5
  • Receive a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and pass the nursing state board examination (NCLEX)

Additional Opportunities for Army Nursing Cadets

Nursing students have the opportunity to attend the Nurse Summer Training Program (NSTP) between their junior and senior years in the nursing program. After completing the Leadership Development and Assessment Course, nursing students can request to work in an Army hospital for three weeks at locations across the globe, to include Hawaii, Korea, Germany, and in the United States. Each student will be assigned an Army Nurse Corps officer as their preceptor/instructor to guide them through the nursing process. The student will learn valuable management and leadership skills and have the opportunity to apply them in a health care environment, setting themselves ahead of their peers when they return to campus. The student can request to work in the nursing specialty of their choice. Students are paid for the three weeks, and all travel and room & board expenses are paid for by the Army.

Upon Commissioning and Graduation

You will have an opportunity to receive a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps. After commissioning, you will attend the Officer Basic Course at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas, en route to your first clinical assignment as an Army Nurse. Assignments are based on your input of location preference and your performance throughout both the nursing and ROTC programs. After just one year at your initial assignment, you will have the opportunity to attend a clinical specialty course in one of the following areas: Preoperative Nursing, OB/GYN Nursing, Critical Care Nursing, and Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing. As of 2008, starting annual salary for a 2nd Lieutenant is around $45,000. Army Nursing Officers can expect to make around $65,000 after four years of service, and over $85,000 after ten years of service. In addition to the salary, Army Nursing Officers receive 30 days of paid vacation per year, have full medical and dental coverage for their entire immediate family, and are eligible for retirement benefits after 20 years of service (retiring at 42 based on the average college graduate’s age).

Service Obligation

An individual incurs no obligation to the military through application for a scholarship or initial scholarship acceptance. An obligation occurs only at the time that the military begins paying for a student’s education. Active duty commitment for scholarship students is four years. You then have the choice to exit active duty and complete four years in the National Guard, Army Reserves, or Inactive Ready Reserves. National Guard and Army Reserves require serving as an Army Nurse Corps Officer one weekend a month and for two weeks every summer. Inactive Ready Reserves requires only that your name is placed on a roster for call-up in a national emergency.