The number of cadets enrolled in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at Northeastern University has jumped more than 60 percent over the past year, according to Lt. Col. Kate Scanlon, commander of the battalion.
The increase from 90 to nearly 150 cadets, Scanlon said, reflects a national trend that has seen commissioning requirements to produce lieutenants jump from 3,000 during the 2003 fiscal year to an expected 5,350 during the 2011 fiscal year.
ROTC’s Liberty Battalion headquartered at Northeastern produces one of the largest groups of army officers, said Scanlon. She attributed the skyrocketing enrollment to the greater number of scholarships available from Congress and the program’s ability to build leadership qualities.
“ROTC is one of the best leadership programs in the world, and students see the benefits of that,” she said, noting that students are taking advantage of a scholarship opportunity that offers a 20 percent tuition grant and covers roughly half of room and board.
In addition to scholarships and potential bonuses for completing leadership training courses, Scanlon said students often join the ROTC to demonstrate their patriotism.
“Some students join for the adventure and some want to feel a sense of service to the country,” she said.
“We receive emails from former Northeastern cadets stationed in Iraq, or in other units, as well as recent graduates who want to explain the importance of what they are currently doing and provide relevance to what the cadets are training for,” Scanlon said. “Sometimes it is hard for a student in college to put into context what he will be doing five years from now and our graduates are able to do that.”
For students interested in ROTC scholarships, Scanlon considers those who are academically and physically qualified.
“My No. 1 priority is GPA and my No. 2 priority is physical fitness,” Scanlon said, noting that scholarship-eligible students must complete a specified total of push-ups and sit-ups as well as a two-mile run within given time limits. “My No. 3 priority is leadership skills and No. 4 is soldier skills. If you’re smart enough, fit enough and understand leadership concepts,” Scanlon said, “anyone can master soldier skills.”
The program maintains a 66 percent retention rate from students’ freshman to sophomore year, 91 percent from sophomore to junior year and from junior to senior year and 100 percent from senior year, Scanlon said.
By Jason Kornwitz
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