To amend title 10, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Defense to issue regulations providing for the reimbursement of certain educational expenses for students determined to be medically ineligible for continued participation in the Senior Reserve Officers' Training Corps.
This bill would require the Department of Defense to issue regulations that reimburse certain educational expenses for students in the Senior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (SROTC) who are medically found ineligible to continue in the program. Specifically, if a student is participating in an SROTC unit while a decision on eligibility for financial assistance (under existing ROTC provisions) is pending, and the student is later deemed ineligible solely for medical reasons, the regulations must provide reimbursement for reasonable education-related expenses incurred during that period. The bill also creates a formal claim process and sets a 90-day deadline for reimbursing approved claims. In short, the bill creates a safeguard to cover costs (like tuition, fees, lab costs, and room/board as applicable) for students who were paying for college while their ROTC financial aid eligibility was being decided and who are later ruled ineligible for medical reasons.