About Navy
The Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) prepares officers for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps via Navy Option, Marine Option, and (at select units) Navy Nurse Option commissioning paths. Approximately 76 host university programs operate nationwide.
Top 6 Navy programs by corps size
Top questions about Navy
How competitive is the NROTC national scholarship?
The NROTC 4-year national scholarship is one of the most selective ROTC awards — successful applicants usually pair a rigorous course load and strong test scores with athletics and leadership roles. The Marine option runs its own, similarly competitive board with heavier emphasis on physical fitness. Students who miss the national award can enroll as college-program midshipmen and compete for sideload scholarships once in the unit.
What service obligation comes with Navy ROTC?
Navy-option scholarship midshipmen typically owe a minimum of five years of active-duty service after commissioning, with longer commitments for aviation training pipelines. Marine-option and nurse-option graduates generally owe four years. College-program (non-scholarship) midshipmen incur their obligation when they accept advanced standing or a scholarship, not before.
What does NROTC look like week to week?
Midshipmen take one naval science class each semester, attend a weekly leadership lab or drill period, and complete unit physical training several times a week. Summers add the biggest difference from other branches: a training cruise or CORTRAMID each year, aboard ships, submarines, aviation squadrons, or with Marine units.
What does an NROTC scholarship actually cover?
The national scholarship pays full tuition and mandatory fees at the crosstown or host school, plus a book stipend and a monthly subsistence allowance that rises by class year. It does not cover room and board, though many partner universities add their own housing grants for NROTC scholarship recipients — worth checking school by school.
Navy units by state
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