Something Wolfy said in the thread about doing computing for the military made me wonder. Do you think as many people in the US would join the military if it weren't for the fact that they need their college paid for? Does it seem a little... dodgy to coerce people into doing that because your tuition costs are so high?

As a second thought, how high are your tuition costs? I've graduated a three year physics course and owe roughly £11,000 ($20,000)

...I'm actually kind of thinking about doing that. College in Canada is insane - I'm paying $5000 per year in tuition, then I still have to pay to live in the city. I've taken student loans for the past two years but those aren't that great. I'll have paid $22500 in tuition alone by the time I graduate.

I'm not one of these gung-ho military kids but the army makes it all go away. They pay for everything.

I owe £16km and I won't lie, I was nearly very tempted by get army/air force sponsorship myself. It was only the looong service required to pay it off that put me off.

Oh yeah, just realised I gave the wrong figure. I owe £11,00 in student loans, but that's living costs too. My tuition was £1,100 a year, with about £150 paid by the government (as I'm from a single parent family)

Money is one of the main reasons that people join the armed forces in the US. I come from a military family as well as having many friends who are in the marines, army and navy. None of them would have joined if they weren't in some rough circumstances at the time. My brother joined for the army's sign-on bonus and then went AWOL once he realized what he got himself in to just to pay his bills (it's amazing how easy it is to get out these days). That's why I always tell people to go in to nursing. Huge demand, great money, great benefits and many hospitals will pay for your tuition if you'll work for them after school. If I didn't have a weak stomach, I would have gone in to nursing.

No I definately wouldnt think about army funds.
But only cos i REALLY dont like the army.

I know my situation is difficult, ie, i've had 2 years of funds for a course i quit, and i want to start a new one, but i'm not allowed a new loan apparently, and Tuition fees have increased by a factor of 3

I'll find other ways.

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elseif(getThingFlags(source) & 0x4){
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else{
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That's more or less what my mum said, MentatMM. Basically that the vast majority of the US armed forces are from low income backgrounds and join because it's a job for life, with excellent benefits.

Oh no! $22,500 for a full four years tuition!

Private college (not a state or community college, so most colleges that exist) average about $20,000 a year in the USA.

After factoring in room and board, most Ivy League schools (Harvard, Yale, etc.) are $40,000 a year.

nursing is a very tough major, i thought about it, but i will be an accountant out of college, making roughly 45-55k, and im going to live at home so ill be able to pay off my loans rather quickly.

That's my point dud. The government is putting the money into the military, which then sponsors tuition in exchange for students joining. Doesn't anyone feel annoyed that they could just subsidise tuition?

isnt RIT like 30,000$ a year including room + Board? or is that excluding?

Public institutions are subsidized. Tuition at the Cal State system is around $3000 a year.

One of my dad's best friends joined the Air Force to pay for his way through medical school. He stayed for a good portion of time (8 years I believe). Rose up to rank of "major." He recommended what he did for school to me. Kind of wish I did it too.

I was thinking about joining the Air Force.

Then Ruthy and kyle90 told me that the Stargate program doesn't exist.

That's a good deal when you consider how much it costs to go to med school and that they pay you quite well for the years that you serve in addition to paying all your school costs.

No, because then there would be no incentive to join the military and there will be even more students wasting my tax dollars to be burger-flippers with a business degree.

IMO, people who join the military for monetary reasons are almost sure to be disappointed. Unless you are the kind of person who thrives in that environment, you'll probably be miserable.

However, that's not to say I'm going to throw my benefits like that out the window, of course I'll (probably) use my GI Bill, if I get the chance, but that isn't why I joined.

But for US citizens, realize, EVERY SERVICE has the EXACT SAME college benefits. Some will give you a bigger bonus (not a reason to choose one service over another) and some will try to sweeten the deal with a guaranteed job contract, but even that 'guarantee' isn't a sure thing. They also all use the EXACT same pay scale.

But yes, maevie, I think it's regrettable that the first thing a recruiter tells you about when they approach you is college. Except for the Marine recruiters. In my experience, they realize that you have been smacked about the head with college already and would rather talk about being a Marine and blowing **** up.

At 200,000 after 4 years, I'd go into the military.... if I could.

The Mrines are looking for a different breed. They want people who want to be there first and foremost.

That's what they want you to think. Why would their slogan be "Step into the blue" if they didn't have a Stargate? They want you to think the blue part is the sky since it's the Air Force, but you can't step into the sky...

But stargate's aren't blue. They're wavy watery blue-purple thingamajiggies. I wonder what kind of top secret technology they are talking about though if they have some blue thing.

Geez, just apply to a uni in scotland already. You don't have to pay any fees until you want accomodation in the halls.

When I rode the Greyhound in March, there were tons of army recruiting posters, fliers, etc. all over the stations and stationary. The ticket booklet was the most succinct on the matter. It had a picture of soldiers fighting at the bottom, the background was an American flag which blended into a pile of $100 bills as it went upwards and there was only one word written at the top. MONEY, in all capital letters.

By contrast, when I was on an airplane back in January, the ticket booklet was covered in pictures of animals, security warnings, and such. So yes, they're definitely targeting the less wealthy (and potentially less literate/educated) market with that particular campaign.

I plan to buy a scanner sometime soon, at which point I'll post the related image if I can find it and there's still interest.

If I remember rightly Scots get further subsidies for going to uni in Scotland but you don't get it in England and non-Scots pay the usual fees they would if they were from anywhere else. I've not met a single Scotsman in my time at uni, meanwhile we've got arse-loads of people from all over the rest of the UK and from China, Malaysia, the middle east, India and Nigeria and a smattering of other nationalities.

I'm not even going to an Ivy and I'm paying $40,000

I think non-scots might have to pay some fees, but it works out at less than in Engalnd anyway. There was a thing on the news a while back about people being annoyed about all the med students coming to Scotland for cheaper education, then going back over the border when their courses were finished. :/

But ... its Scotland.

I mean, i love Braveheart as much as the next bloke with any highland blood in his viens, but i aint moving there.

Besides, i dont know if any good uni's do games design.

if(getThingFlags(source) & 0x8){
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elseif(getThingFlags(source) & 0x4){
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else{
  do a dude}

Abertay and Perth both do it I think.

my school is about 28,000 or more (including room & board, but not including textbooks- but I'm getting a lot of financial aid) and while I guess it could seem a littte dodgy, but the governemnt can't sponser private institutions like that - state schools are a lot lower (but much less financial aid). one of the only problems with that is out of state tuition for state schools is still really high and they still don't give much financial aid. Actually, I do have to say that I think it's pretty brilliant of the gov't to do that.

There would be little tuition change by doing that as the number of people sponsored by the military is low compaired to the number of students overall. I like the fact that the military is willing and able to take care of its people.

I'm not denying that, Roach (I was wondering how long it would take you to get here :p). I just feel as though alot of people are joining for the wrong reasons, though... I suppose without it, there'd be little reason to join. Which I suppose goes a long way to explain the recruitment crisis our military is having.

I didn't get involved earlier because college funding isn't my primary reason for joining

And I'm one of those that believe that people shouldn't join purely for money, so I agree, too many people are joining for the wrong reasons.

I'd agree with Maevie about it being a worry why people join up, although I can't really blame someone if they did join the armed forces to pay for uni. I'm just glad I never had to pay fees up front as I would never have been able to afford uni otherwise.

My bill is about $25000AUD (I think), but I don't have to start paying it back until I earn ~$37000pa and then the government only takes ~1-2% of my pay.

...It's a lot if you aren't loaded, and that figure doesn't include my living expenses, like I said.

It's also a lot if you aren't entering a field that pays, like law or medicine.

Tuition? $31k, about another $7k for housing, plus costs for food, books and crap, comes out to around $45k a year... Not Ivy league, but still a top 20 university, so the cost is expected. But of course I don't even have to pay 10% of that thanks to rich old alumni...

not necessarily even Ivy League - I think Drexel costs about 40,000 though I'm not entirely sure on that

It probably is the wrong reason to join, but it's a smart and effictive recruiting technique. Consider that everyone who signs up knows what they're getting into; it's a well known fact that the military is more than merely 'demanding'. That's why so many people don't do it (you have to figure, college is so expensive and there's only a relatively small poriton of people who go into the military to pay it off, more people would go if they didn't realize the sacrifice necessary to be in the military). *shrug* I tihnk it's kind of cool that it's an option.

Thats not that expensive compared to the U.S.
But then again state schools are about that expensive here... perhaps that is the sort of thing you are going to. Private schools are depressingly expensive. If my sister keeps going to the school she is going to, she'll be 100,000 dollars in debt by the time she graduates. I don't think she realizes how poor she will be when she has to get out into the world if she doesn't transfer somewhere else. But on the military topic, it is a good way if you can't pay for college, etc. It can be tough paying for college, and the military can help you out with that. But nothing is free, as they say.

I don't really get what you mean by state and private colleges. I don't think we have that in Canada.

State schools are public schools. They recieve state and feeral funding. Private schools are don't.

My tuition costs throughout school averaged around $20,000 a semester (including books and fees but not housing). Take into account that I took two main semesters, and 3 courses every summer for 5 years... Feh.