Hello,

I am a current nursing student in the 4th semester (5 more to go!) of a BSN program. I have been looking into military nursing lately for many reasons (great opportunities, leadership training, money) and I have met with a medical recruiter and an ROTC director. I have learned a lot about the process so far but I feel like each person I talk to who is in the military wants me to follow a certain path, rather than educating me on all my opportunities, and then letting me pick the best route for me. For example, when I met with the ROTC director, he only discussed the ROTC route and made it seem like all other options were impossible.

So my question for you all: is the HPLRP still available to nursing students, and how I go about going this route? I am not against doing ROTC, but whatever path I choose I want to have a guarantee that the Army (or navy or air force) will help me in paying back my loans before I commit to anything. The ROTC director said I could possibly qualify for a loan for the last 2 years of my program, but I already have about 50k in loans (from another degree) that I am worried about paying off.

If the HPLRP is not available, are there any other routes? I know that I can apply after I graduate, but from my understanding, they are extremely selective and I may or may not qualify.

I obviously still have a lot to learn about military nursing but I want to fully understand the programs that are out there to help me pay for school and pay back my loans. Thanks for all of your help!!

I will be blunt, the military is EXTREMELY hard to crack into now, gone are the days of yesteryear (early 2000s) when if you had a BSN you were given a red carpet ride into bonuses and loan repayment. Everyone and their dog wants to jump onto the military gravy train for all the things you mentioned.

I'm confused. ROTC loan? ROTC offers scholarship, not loans, in exchange for years of service. If the ROTC recruiting officer was offering you a scholarship I would take it as HPLRP for a generic BSN nowadays is getting rarer and extremely competitive if they still even have it as an option...

I'd go ROTC, not only do they pay for the rest of your school you are commissioning from a regular commissioning source (WP, OCS ROTC etc) and can relate more to the rest of the officers in the Army. In addition, you will pick up some Army experience a long the way so you aren't culture shocked as a direct commission.

The 50k from your previous degree isn't the military's problem

Sorry about that, I did mean scholarship. And you have confirmed most of what I've gathered online about nursing in the military. As for the scholarship, he said that if this were the 2008/09 era, he probably would've offered the scholarship to me on the spot during our first meeting. But since it's not, he said I would have to apply for this scholarship. He wouldn't really tell me how competitive this 2 year scholarship would be, just that it is something that is a possibility. He recommended I take the Army PT course this spring to see if I enjoy the Army atmosphere, then I would take the summer training program to "catch up" to the other students who have been taking classes during their fresh/soph year.

I guess my question now is, if I don't get the 2 year scholarship, is it still worth it to do ROTC and be commissioned when I graduate? Don't get me wrong, it would be much less appealing with no extra money being offered to help pay for school, but the way I look at it, I'm going to be paying back the loans whether I am a civilian nurse or an army nurse. I just want to make the best decision to help me in my career as a nurse.

Sorry about that, I did mean scholarship. And you have confirmed most of what I've gathered online about nursing in the military. As for the scholarship, he said that if this were the 2008/09 era, he probably would've offered the scholarship to me on the spot during our first meeting. But since it's not, he said I would have to apply for this scholarship. He wouldn't really tell me how competitive this 2 year scholarship would be, just that it is something that is a possibility. He recommended I take the Army PT course this spring to see if I enjoy the Army atmosphere, then I would take the summer training program to "catch up" to the other students who have been taking classes during their fresh/soph year.

I guess my question now is, if I don't get the 2 year scholarship, is it still worth it to do ROTC and be commissioned when I graduate? Don't get me wrong, it would be much less appealing with no extra money being offered to help pay for school, but the way I look at it, I'm going to be paying back the loans whether I am a civilian nurse or an army nurse. I just want to make the best decision to help me in my career as a nurse.

You can be contracted into Army ROTC which means while you don't get a scholarship you will commission. Whether that is AD or reserves depends on the needs of the Army and how well you do at school and ROTC. You are ranked in ROTC on a OML list which factors in GPA, PT scores, extra currics and how well you do in ROTC (aka LDAC (mandatory course that evaluates you during the summer) and your PMS recommendation score.) Score high enough you get AD, barely get by and you will go reserves.

A few years ago everybody got AD, now not so much.

nrryan, what I get from your posts is that it's all about the money. The services are broke -- they're not handing out a lot of money right now. Make sure if you go this route, you're doing it for the right reasons, or you'll be miserable. Just my opinion. Best of luck in the remainder of your program!