navy NCP is taxed 28% ??!!

[Dino]

I really want to join the Navy and have applied for the NCP, the problem is with tuition, travel to school, books, fees, PDA, health insurance etc.. etc.. all said and told will cost 51,000. Does the Navy offer a loan repayment plan or something to offset this huge expense of going to nursing school? I am in a situation where I am older have a masters degree and still owe 19k from previous schooling. Taxing of 28% on the money from the NCP that is supposed to pay for school is ridiculous. By my calculations if they pay 10k in two installments, one when you atart school and one when you finish, after taxes that's only around 7500, which doesn't even cover one semester in a 2nd degree program. Why don't they have it listed as a scholarship rather than a bonus as it is for medical students, dental etc..? If nurses are not as in demand as physicians in the military, they shouldn't give nursing students less money, they should just make getting the NCP more competative. Not offering the same deal as for pharmacy, medical students etc.. is short changing the people who want to become nurses and serve in the military.

Nursing school is not cheap, especially when they want the BSN which has no greater clinical skill level than an associate RN in which people can get for only cost 7,000 at a local community college.

Are there any other ways the Navy can help pay off these tuition fees along the way? This is a big decision for me, having to suffer repaying loans while in the Navy while a pharmacy student or podiatrist does not does not seem right.