ROTC cadets from Eastern Michigan University formed the color guard for a memorial ceremony held at Lawrence Technological University earlier this year.
Beginning with the spring semester that starts in January, Lawrence Technological University students can enroll in an affiliate Army ROTC program and take the full ROTC curriculum that can lead to a commission as an Army officer.
LTU is now an affiliate of the Army ROTC program offered by the Department of Military Science and Leadership at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. All the ROTC courses will be taught at EMU by Army instructors.
The LTU students will be able to earn a minor in military science and leadership at LTU.
The new ROTC program at LTU comes at a time when the Army is reducing its force and has cancelled more than a dozen ROTC programs around the country. LTU is bucking that trend because of its high proportion of students majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, the STEM subjects, according to Director of eLearning Services Richard Bush, the faculty advisor to LTU’s student veterans group.
“While the Army is becoming smaller, it is also becoming increasingly dependent on engineers, scientists and technologists to develop and operate sophisticated weapons systems that improve survivability on the battlefield for the warfighter,” Bush said. “LTU’s focus on STEM likely tilted the decision in our favor.”
The ROTC curriculum also supplements LTU’s own leadership curriculum that is required for all LTU undergraduate degrees. ROTC courses can be used to meet LTU’s leadership requirements.
“From an organizational standpoint, leadership training is extremely relevant to both managing corporations and defending our nation,” Bush said. “In many ways, an ROTC graduate is better prepared to lead in the corporate world.”
LTU already has an Air Force ROTC program.
An information session about LTU’s new ROTC program will be held on Thursday, Sept. 25, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in room C405 in the Taubman Student Services Center on LTU’s campus in Southfield.
Completion of the ROTC curriculum and some additional Army training programs may qualify an LTU student for a contract with the Army to become a commissioned officer following graduation. Students who commit to four years of active duty and four years of reserve duty could have all of their tuition expenses paid for by the Army. After four years of active duty, an Army officer can expect to earn a compensation package of more than $78,000 plus health coverage.
“There are a wide range of options for students to participate in ROTC”, said Bush. “Some of the options carry no obligation to join the Army, while others open up a range of career opportunities as an Army officer.”
Lawrence Tech offers tuition discounts to veterans. It is certified for the GI Bill and participates in the Yellow Ribbon Program, a federal initiative that helps veterans reduce the cost of higher education.
Last November LTU ranked first in Michigan in the inaugural ranking of the best colleges for veterans compiled by U.S. News and World Report. LTU is also on the latest Military Friendly Schools list compiled by Victory Media, the publisher of G.I. Jobs magazine.
Lawrence Technological University, www.ltu.edu, is a private university founded in 1932 that offers more than 100 programs through the doctoral level in its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and Management. PayScale lists Lawrence Tech among the nation’s top 100 universities for the salaries of its graduates, and highest in the Detroit metropolitan area. Lawrence Tech is also listed in the top tier of Midwestern universities by U.S. News and World Report and the Princeton Review. Students benefit from small class sizes and experienced faculty who provide a real-world, hands-on, “theory and practice” education with an emphasis on leadership. Activities on Lawrence Tech’s 102-acre campus include over 60 student clubs and organizations and a growing roster of NAIA varsity sports.