Looking for a way to pay for your college tuition and have a job offer ready and waiting for you when you get your diploma? Well, the Army needs more than a few good men and women – and you might want to check out some of the programs available to ROTC – Reserve Officer Training Corps – students.

“The Army is a growth industry,” said Col. Stephen Carney, head of the ROTC detachment at Norwich University, the oldest private military college in the U.S. “You would think OK, it’s enlisted soldiers and (non-commissioned officers) that really make the Army run, but we need officers, too.”

Norwich University reports an increase of over 3 times the number of Army ROTC students from last year, and the majority of the 273 colleges and universities with ROTC scholarship programs are reporting similar growth. ROTC programs are even finding a niche in prestige universities like Dartmouth. And the Army isn’t the only uniformed service that is offering ROTC scholarships – the Air Force and the Navy are expanding their programs, with the Marines drawing candidates from participants in Navy programs.

Historically, ROTC programs have attracted students with a family history of military service or those individuals who are particularly attracted to military life and the idea of service to their country. However, the current economic downturn has college-bound students looking for alternative ways to underwrite tuition and other school-related expenses.

As for the Army, these scholarships are a sound investment in a 21st century military. More officers are needed to lead brigade combat teams and says one Army spokesperson, “Before, a brigade staff might have two or maybe three majors in it, now it’s not unusual to have seven eight or nine…a brigade might have had eight or 10 captains. Now there might be 15 or 20.”

Currently, it is estimated that the Army needs 3,000 additional majors and captains, and producing them can take years. A sure way of bringing candidates along is via ROTC programs where scholarship recipients graduate college with a degree and as second lieutenants.

And even with the war in Iraq requiring multiple deployments and the conflict in Afghanistan requiring more troops, ROTC scholarship applications continue to increase and program retention rates are high.

If you are considering applying for an ROTC scholarship, it is important to get all the facts. Top-Colleges is an excellent resource, with links to participating colleges and universities and valuable on-line articles about ROTC programs and military benefits. For the right candidates, an ROTC scholarship can be more than a way to pay for a college education, it can be a gateway to a career.