Enrollment Requirements

In accordance with governing directives outlined by the Navy, the requirements for membership in NROTC are:

  • U.S. Citizenship, a Naturalized U.S. Citizen or in process of becoming a Naturalized U.S. Citizen (See Note 1)
  • Not less than 17 years old and not yet 23 by September 1 of the year starting college.
  • Must not have reached 27th birthday upon graduation and commissioning.
  • Applicants with prior military service may be eligible for age adjustments for amount of time equal to their prior service, on month-by-month basis, for maximum of 36 months, if they will not reach their 29th birthday upon commissioning.
  • Applicants must have no criminal record of military or civilian offenses pending or federal convictions.
  • High school graduation or equivalency certificate by August 1 of year of entrance into four-year Navy ROTC Scholarship program.
  • No moral obligations or personal convictions that prevent conscientious bearing of arms and supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic or to taking an oath to perform such acts.
  • Medically qualified by Navy or Marine Corps standards.
  • You must not have any body piercing or tattoos that violate Navy or Marine Corps policy.
  • Navy and Nurse Option Only
    • Students with 30 or more semester hours or students with 45 or more quarter hours of college credit upon submission of the online application are not eligible for the NROTC National Scholarship. It is recommended that these students contact the Professors of Naval Science at the Host University's NROTC Unit to discuss other scholarship opportunities.
      • College credits do not count until an applicant has graduated high school and completed a term of college; then all college credits earned (prior to and after high school graduation) count towards the eligibility requirements.
      • If you are a high school graduate and complete a term of college prior to submitting your application, all college credits earned (in high school and in college) are counted towards the credit limit.
      • If you are a high school graduate and are currently attending/enrolled in college, all college credits anticipated to be earned during the application year (defined as April to December) will count towards the credit limit

NOTE 1: 

Scholarship selectees must be a U.S Citizen in order to activate the scholarship. Scholarship selectees must obtain their U.S. citizenship and activate their scholarship within the first academic year after the stated scholarship offer begin date listed in their scholarship notification letter or their scholarship offer will be rescinded. retroactive benefits will not be approved for those selectees who delayed activating their scholarship due to not obtaining their U.S. citizenship. Applicants with dual citizenship may apply and, if selected, activate their scholarship but must renounce their citizenship to the other country and surrender the passport for that country in order to continue in the Navy ROTC Program.

NOTE 2: 

The academic requirements for initial enrollment and subsequent maintenance of good standing in NROTC are a cumulative grade point average of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale and academic credit hours satisfactory to VMI. Programs of "probation" and "leave of absence" are used to assist a midshipman who may have academic problems. However, if a midshipman cannot overcome his/her academic difficulties within a reasonable number of semesters, he/she will no longer be enrolled.

The Commanding Officer of the NROTC Unit, VMI, who is also the Professor of Naval Science (PNS), determines who will be enrolled, placed on probation, leave of absence, or no longer enrolled.

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