Joining the Military AFTER college to pay off debt?

<p>Are there any programs where i can join the military for a # of years to pay off my debt upon graduating from college?</p>

<p>Yes, but I would caution you to examine your desires very carefully. If you want to serve in the military, it is a good deal. However, if you are doing it for the money, you will likely be miserable.</p>

<p>A lot of people join the military for the money. It is sometimes the best option available. When you need a job and money, it isn’t about what is the best choice as much as what is the least miserable alternative.</p>

<p>Does joining the military pay off federal loans? </p>

<p>Does it pay off private loans as well?</p>

<p>what kind of loans do you have? How much will you have by the time you graduate?</p>

<p>[Student</a> Loan Repayment Program](<a href=“Military Benefits News and Resources | Military.com”>Military Benefits News and Resources | Military.com)</p>

<p>Here is a bit about the various programs. They aren’t easy to get into though and the amounts paid will vary.</p>

<p>i mean it think joining the navy would be fun…i am also incredibly fit (2 college varsity sports) …</p>

<p>anyone have any more advice?</p>

<p>Every join has a contract - when you join the military, you’ll sign a contract for 8 years of duty; anywhere from 2 to 6 years of that will be active duty. Most contracts are at least 4 years of active duty. After that you serve the remainder of the time in the Inactive Ready Reserve, which means that you aren’t training or drilling but you can be called up at any time to serve in the military if there’s a conflict (this happens very infrequently).</p>

<p>Another alternative is to join the Reserves and do the military part time, and use the extra money to pay off your debts. Sometimes the Reserves also offers loan repayment and can pay for graduate school.</p>

<p>Unless you are really afraid of being deployed or something, I don’t see why you wouldn’t. Chances are you will only have to serve active duty for four years. It’s a guaranteed job - if you get in, you WILL be employed for 4 years no matter how crappy the economy is, and you’ll get fast-paced experience and promotions, plus all the benefits (health care, tax free housing allowance, extra pay for TDYs and deployments, tax free shopping on base, etc.)</p>

<p>There are a lot of other unspoken, unofficial benefits too - my fiance’s active duty AF and he rides the subway for free as long as he’s in uniform; people give him free stuff all the time, people literally come up to him on the street and thank him out of the blue; flight attendants don’t charge him for checked baggage; he gets bumped to first class all the time. I would never tell anyone to join for that stuff but if you already have the inclination, the American public respects military members.</p>

<p>The military doesn’t pay off private student loans, though; just the federal ones. I’m planning on joining the Reserves myself, or possibly going active duty when I graduate from grad school.</p>

<p>You should carefully think about your decision. If you do, go the officer route.</p>

<p>In a perfect world, you would find a situation where you could get college aid from the military, but not have to do active duty overseas service until after the worst violence has ended in Afghanistan (hopefully a couple years).</p>

<p>However, that didn’t work for my nephew. He joined the army reserves as an enlisted to help pay for college. They suddenly pulled him out of college and sent him to Iraq for a year. Fortunately, the college gave him a tuition refund. </p>

<p>When looking at benefits, make sure you look at recent information. The benefits were greatly improved last year.</p>

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This is no such thing as a free lunch. If you sign up for the military then you go where and when they say. In a perfect world there would be world peace and we wouldn’t need a military (or scholarships sponsored by them).</p>