For students not possessing a four year NROTC scholarship, there is one NROTC course of action available:
- Join the NROTC Purdue program without a scholarship as a “College Program” option. With this path you will be competing for a “Sideload Scholarship” (i.e. a 2 or 3 year NROTC scholarship) which could be awarded either at the end of either your Freshman or Sophomore year. Please be aware that the number of scholarships is limited to about 180 nationally for freshmen of the academic year. Based on funding outlooks, we do not anticipate this number to grow (it may contract further) for the upcoming year. As a result of the limited numbers of Sideload Scholarships available, we recommend to remain competitive for Sideload Scholarships students maintain their GPA above 3.50, physical fitness scores in the “Outstanding” range or 250+ for Marine Options, and high military aptitude scores.
As the NROTC program is designed as a four year training continuum, we cannot accept students who are classified as Juniors or Seniors in college. However, there are other non-NROTC options such as Officer Candidate School (OCS) and the Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate Program (NUPOC) that may be viable routes to obtain a commission as an officer in the United States Navy or Marine Corps. For more information on this please contact your local Navy or Marine Corps Officer recruiter.
For further clarifications or explanation please contact us at (765) 494-2055 and nrotcbo@purdue.edu for Navy Option inquiries or westonr@purdue.edu for Marine Option inquires.
