Plenty of ink has been spilled by pundits lamenting the decline of opportunity for young Americans and the seeming lack of social mobility afflicting those inhabiting the lowest rungs of the income spectrum. A university education has long been viewed as a remedy to this problem, as a Bachelor’s Degree can signify to an employer a student’s strong character, intellectual capabilities, and multidisciplinary skill set. While it seems a no-brainer to pursue an undergraduate degree, the question facing countless high school seniors often becomes: how can I afford it? 

For more than a century, America’s defense establishment, ever in need of qualified individuals willing to serve the country, has sought to answer this question for millions of America’s young adults through the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). In short, the various branches of America’s Armed Forces offer degree-seekers a bargain – we can help pay for your education if you commit to rigorous officer candidate training during school and pledge a commitment to service for a period of time after graduating.

However, there is a limit to the benefits offered to cadets across the nation. While each ROTC program can allocate a certain number of four-year scholarships to high-performing cadets, most cadets subsist on two or three-year scholarships, having to finance their freshman and sophomore year tuition and living expenses on their own. While in theory this arrangement would not seem to pose any problems, many ROTC programs discourage cadets from pursuing work outside of school so they can focus on maintaining high grade point averages and fulfilling various extracurricular ROTC requirements.

This presents a significant conundrum for non-resident cadets in Arizona’s public universities, many of whom are forced to pay north of $28,000 per year in out-of-state tuition fees and more than $10,000 in annual living expenses prior to their ROTC scholarships kicking in during their sophomore or junior years. 

To address these challenges, State Sen. Wendy Rogers , R-Flagstaff, recently introduced a bill that would grant in-state student status to contracted ROTC cadets. If passed into law, SB1021 would make Arizona the second state in the union (after Tennessee) to guarantee in-state residency to contracted ROTC cadets. Once implemented, the measure could save non-scholarship cadets and those with less than four-year scholarships thousands of dollars in tuition expenses, thereby helping to stave off the accruement of debilitating student debt.

Detractors of this legislation might point to the fact that a cadet could simply enlist in the Arizona National Guard or a Reserve component of the Armed Forces to receive in-state student status. While true, signing such an enlistment contract for a National Guard/Reserve component generally precludes a cadet from being able to pursue a career in an active duty component after graduation. 

It seems if AmeriCorps volunteers, the dependents of service members, and certain immigrant students can qualify for in-state residency, principles of fairness might suggest that contracted ROTC cadets ought to gain some financial breathing room in the form of in-state student status. Moreover, should SB1021 pass into law, Arizona’s public university ROTC programs may well have an easier time meeting retention goals. 

Given Arizona’s status as the home state of revered military heroes and veterans like Barry Goldwater, John McCain, and Pat Tillman, Arizona lawmakers would be well-placed to support the state’s young officer candidates and provide a reasonable measure of financial flexibility to our country’s future military leaders.

Mark Habelt is a recent graduate of ASU’s Army ROTC program and a second lieutenant in the Arizona Army National Guard.