The University's Army ROTC has experienced an overall decrease in enrollment since last year but retention remains steady, according to the University Army ROTC Chairman, Lieutenant Colonel Hampton Hite.
According to Hite, University Army ROTC enrollment is down 10 percent from last year.
Some believe the possibility of deployment to Iraq is turning more prospective students away. Students commissioned through the University ROTC program are very likely to be deployed within 18 months, according to Hite.
"I think that the war on terror is taking its toll," he said. "We've had a deployment rate of 75 to 80 percent. Some people don't find that very appealing and I think our numbers are down because of it."
Many of the ROTC program participants at the University decide to join the Army National or Army Reserves expecting not to be deployed but then are anyway, Hite said.
In contrast to Hite's claims, national ROTC enrollment has remained steady, according Major Mark Van Hout, retention program office for the Army Cadet Command Headquarters.
"People aren't bailing," Van Hout said. "They're getting in for the same reason, staying in for the same reason, getting out for the same reason. The world situation has not changed people's attitudes necessarily."
Although enrollment in the University program is down 10 percent from last year, the number of commissions has increased during the past four years. Between 1996 and 2000, the University ROTC program commissioned 11 cadets per year, and since 2001 the number has increased to between 13 and 15 cadet commissions each year.
"Enrollment is down but those that are joining and staying through is steady, which is obviously the main thing the army is concerned with," Hite said.
The Army has taken measures to recruit and retain more students. For example, the University ROTC program has an unlimited scholarship budget, according to Hite.
"With the class of 2005, 2006, 2007, it was very competitive to win a scholarship," he said. "With the class of 2008, we've been funded at 100 percent, and it looks like the same for 2009. I still have scholarships available for the class of 2007 and 2008."
The University's program, which also includes students from Liberty University and Piedmont Virginia Community College, currently has 60 students.
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