Expert: Cynthia Bedell - 6/26/2008

Question
Hello Cynthia,
    I am currently an enlisted soldier in the Army.  I have completed my Bachelor of Arts.  I wanted to join the army and come in under the OCS program and get commissioned but i opted for the loan repayment program instead and came in as enlisted.
    Now that I have been in a year i'm not sure that was the best decision overall but its the decision that I made and i'm determined to make it work.  So i decided to put my OCS packet together and I am currently working on it now.
    Since I already have my Bachelor's Degree I have been recently thinking about going to Law School or Pharmacy School.  How can I get the Army to pay for either one of those schools?  What programs are there if any for me to get those schools paid for?  Are my chances and opportunities better for advanced schooling being paid for if I do go to OCS and become an officer?  Or are there paid school opportunities as well for me on the enlisted side?
    I read about The Green to Gold program I think it's called but from what I read it seemed more geared to someone who didn't have a degree and was trying to get one.  I think their was another section of it that would pay for 2 years for me to get my Maters but that didn't apply to me with what I wanted to do.  
    If you could shed any light on this for me and let me know what resources that are available to me as a soldier.
I thank you very much.

Answer
Dear Tshaka --

Full time advanced degree study in the fields you have interest are most usually sponsored for successful officers at the rank of captain or higher.  So going to OCS now, would set you up for grad school about 4 years from now.  The Army Advanced Civil Schooling program is a very competitive program, but if you want to pursue a field in which the Army has difficulty recruiting officers, you may well get sponsored.

You can get tuition assistance to take classes part time now, in any field that will lead to a masters degree.  To pursue part time study visit your local education office on base.  They will have many programs for you to consider and will tell you how to apply for tuition assistance, and what the payments can be.

For a law program, you should contact the Judge Advocate General's recruiting and training coordinator to find out their requirements.  For a Pharmacist's program, you should contact the Medical Corps recruiting and training coordinator to get their requirements.

In some circumstances, you can get into the Green to Gold program on a 2-3 year scholarship to get an advanced degree.  Again, you would need to pursue a degree in which the Army has difficulty recruiting officers.  Engineering and Science are two areas that would get good consideration.  Although foreign area studies and language for Arabic or other Middle Eastern or Central Asian country will probably get high consideration too.

Also, consider whether you are a good candidate for the Uniformed Services University of Health Science.  This is a four-year military medical school that you attend full-time as your military mission.  All students are second lieutenants, when you graduate you are promoted to captain, and sent off to various military hospitals to do your residence training and get additional board certification for the state you are in.  To explore this option more, please see this web site:  http://www.usuhs.mil/prospectivestudents.html

There are many options available to you.  I hope you find a good one that works for you.  Please write back, if additional questions arise.  Thank you for your service.