Naval Academy Applications Up 50%

I personally would not encourage my children to join the military as a way to gain further education. It is a tempting lure to join and get a free education, should a person stick with the degree program and then serve their country, i.e., follow the program as it was intended.

If either of my children wanted to join the military to serve their country, that is their decision (I'd want to know about it, of course), although I wouldn't encourage it. To be frank, when one joins the military, they do so to serve their country. If a person wants to go to college, they go to college. I guess what I'm trying to say it that, if either of my children signed up with the military in order to get a college education, and they were actually called to duty, they could be killed, and never get that education.

I think if people re-read my earlier responses, they would see that only the best and brightest students get admitted to the Military Academies. Those are students who could get accepted to almost any university that they applied to, with good scholarships anyway, so they aren't interested in attending just for the free tuition...they have a desire to serve the U.S. as well as get excellent engineering training and developing their leadership capabilities. They are commissioned officers upon graduation, but if they change their mind prior to graduation about serving in the military, there is a way to pay back the costs incurred. It's a steep price, however, over $300K.

healthy11, you are right, I did mis-read the question. I'm still quite upset with this boy's decision to sign the contract without telling his parents.

Let me answer the question again...I personally will have trouble sending my son away. I don't like binding agreements even though sometimes they are good for you (such as job contracts!:) I feel that I should have a choice to change my mind if I wanted to. As tempting as it sounds, I also believe that the reason to go to the forces should be different than say for instance free education. OK healthy, I think I got this time! :) Thanks for correcting me. Cheers

I imagine that enrollment will surge at the moment, with the stunning NAVY SEAL resuce of the captain off the Somali coast. The resuce was truly amazing and the Navy couldn't ask for a better recruitment tool.
Also with the tough economic times a free education is very appealing for some.