The Sentinel

WIU campus loses ROTC program in Army restructuring

ROTC students on field training exercise

Military_Material/PIXABAY

The Army plans to reduce its ROTC scholarship budget and consolidate smaller programs. Here is how it affects cadets on campuses across Illinois.

SNS - The U.S. Army has announced a significant overhaul of its Senior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program, an initiative known as “ROTC Reset,” aimed at modernizing officer production while addressing long-term budget pressures and demographic shifts.

The restructuring will consolidate ROTC host schools, reduce command brigades from eight to six, and reclassify or close underperforming programs. At the heart of the restructuring lies a potential $100 million cut to the ROTC scholarship program over the next four years.

Though still under review, internal projections suggest this reduction could impact roughly 2,000 scholarships, a move that would hit college-bound cadets hard. While the number of cadets trained annually—approximately 18,000—will remain unchanged, the Army is shifting toward a more centralized and cost-efficient model designed to eliminate redundancies and better align resources with commissioning needs.

Army ROTC college scholarships, which cover full tuition and provide monthly stipends, have historically served as one of the Army’s most powerful tools to attract and commission young officers. With around 3,000 scholarships awarded annually, the program has been one of the largest merit-based financial aid sources in the country. Army officials maintain that no final decisions have been made, but critics warn that decreased scholarship support could hinder recruitment and long-term readiness.

The effects of the reset are will be felt in Illinois, where Western Illinois University was notified its ROTC program close next May. The school, which currently enrolls 44 cadets, is one of ten nationwide selected for full deactivation. Additionally, Northern Illinois University and Loyola University will see their ROTC programs downgraded to extension units, meaning training will continue on campus, but administrative oversight will shift to another host institution.

The restructuring also affects cadets at Bradley University in Peoria, as well as the University of Chicago and Chicago State University. They will no longer host cadre members on campus, but cadets will have options to continue in an Army ROTC program by receiving training and education at a nearby approved campus.

ROTC programs at Eastern Illinois University, Illinois State, and the University of Illinois are not affected in the cost-cutting measures.

Cadet Command officials have stated that current cadets at all affected institutions will be able to complete their commissioning requirements, and no immediate cuts to training quality or capacity are anticipated. However, the realignment reflects the Army’s intent to adapt to falling college enrollments in the Midwest and Northeast, and to prioritize investment in regions with stronger cadet output and enrollment trends.

Below is a list of the ROTC units that will be deactivated around the country and other planned restructuring efforts by the Army.

These institutions will no longer have an affiliation with Army ROTC.

California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo (Calif.)
University of Northern Iowa (Iowa)
Western Illinois University (Ill.)
Truman State University (Mo.)
Elizabeth City State University (N.C.)
Saint Augustine's University (N.C.)
Clarkson University (N.Y.)
John Carroll University (Ohio)
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (Wis.)
West Virginia State University (W.Va.)

List of Host Units Reclassifying to Extension Units

These institutions will retain cadre members on their campus and Cadets will continue receiving training and education there, but the program will merge administrative and logistical support with a retained host unit.

Auburn University at Montgomery (Ala.)
Tuskegee University (Ala.)
University of South Alabama (Ala.)
University of Arkansas Pine Bluff (Ark.)
California State University - San Bernardino (Calif.)
Howard University (District of Columbia)
Augusta University (Ga.)
University of Idaho (Idaho)
Loyola University - Chicago (Ill.)
Northern Illinois University (Ill.)
Tulane University (La.)
Northeastern University (Mass.)
Loyola University - Maryland (Md.)
Lincoln University (Mo.)
Alcorn State University (Miss.)
Duke University (N.C.)
Wake Forest University (N.C.)
University of North Dakota (N.D.)
Seton Hall University (N.J.)
St. John's University (N.Y.)
University of Akron (Ohio)
University of Toledo (Ohio)
Xavier University (Ohio)
Commonwealth University - Lock Haven (Pa.)
Dickinson College (Pa.)
Drexel University (Pa.)
Slippery Rock University (Pa.)
Providence College (R.I.)
Furman University (S.C.)
Wofford College (S.C.)
Tennessee Technological University (Tenn.)
University of Memphis (Tenn.)
Prairie View A&M University (Texas)
St. Mary’s University (Texas)
Stephen F Austin State University (Texas)
Hampton University (Va.)
Norfolk State University (Va.)
Eastern Washington University (Wash.)
University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point (Wis.)
Marshall University (W.Va.)

Hosts Reclassifying to Crosstown relationships

These institutions will no longer host cadre members on their campuses, but Cadets will have options to continue an Army ROTC program while receiving training and education at a nearby campus.

Southern University and A&M College (La.)
Eastern Michigan University (Mich.)
Niagara University (N.Y.)
Central State University (Ohio)
University of Richmond (Va.)
Carson-Newman University (Tenn.)

Extension Units being inactivated

These institutions will no longer have an affiliation with Army ROTC.

University of California at Merced (Calif.)
Buena Vista University (Iowa)
University of Dubuque (Iowa)
Idaho State University (Idaho)
University of Nebraska - Kearney (Neb.)
Millersville University (Pa.)
Pennsylvania Western University - Clarion (Pa.)
Texas A&M International University (Texas)
St. Norbert College (Wis.)

Extension Units Reclassifying to Crosstown relationships

These institutions will no longer host cadre members on their campuses, but Cadets will have options to continue in an Army ROTC program while receiving training and education at a nearby campus.

California State University - Los Angeles (Calif.)
University of California – San Diego (Calif.)
University of Northern Colorado (Colo.)
University of Miami (Fla.)
Georgia Southern (Armstrong Campus) (Ga.)
Northwest Nazarene University (Idaho)
Bradley University (Ill.)
University of Chicago (Ill.)
Chicago State University (Ill.)
Indiana University Northwest (Ind.)
Hood College (Md.)
Winona State University (Minn.)
Lindenwood University (Mo.)
Davidson College (N.C.)
Interamerican University (Metro San Juan) (Puerto Rico)
Western Oregon University (Ore.)
Tennessee State University (Tenn.)
Texas A&M University San Antonio (Texas)
Longwood University (Va.)

LIST SOURCE: US Army

10 ways the GOP budget will make life worse for Americans

For the first time, states will have to take on a significant share of funding SNAP. New work requirements for SNAP will have little effect on employment, but will cause more children to go hungry.

by Sarah Anderson and Lindsay Koshgarian
OtherWords

The GOP’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which narrowly passed Congress and was recently signed by President Trump, represents the largest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich since chattel slavery.

Here are just 10 of the worst things about it.

1. It’s going to kill people.

Cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, combined with new administrative hurdles, could result in an estimated 51,000 preventable deaths per year. The new law and other actions by the Trump administration will strip health insurance from 17 million people.

2. It will be an apocalypse for rural hospitals.

The budget restricts the provider taxes that many states use to fund Medicaid. The threat is particularly severe for rural hospitals, which rely heavily on Medicaid revenue. More than 700 rural hospitals are already at risk of closure — and at least 338 are at increased risk due to changes in this budget.

3. It takes food from the mouths of hungry people.

New work requirements for SNAP benefits will take food assistance from millions, including children and veterans. As with Medicaid, new work requirements for SNAP will have little effect on employment, but will cause more children to go hungry.

4. It squeezes states on SNAP.

For the first time, states will have to take on a significant share of funding SNAP. This unprecedented shift will likely lead many states to cut enrollees or even terminate food aid altogether.

5. It bars lawfully present immigrants from aid.

Hundreds of thousands of lawfully present immigrants, including children, will lose access to Medicaid, the Children’ s Health Insurance Program, Medicare, ACA tax credits, and SNAP benefits. And 2.6 million U.S. citizen children who live with only an undocumented adult are expected to lose their Child Tax Credit.

6. It terrorizes immigrant families.

The GOP budget provides $170 billion to arrest, detain, deport, and wall off migrants. That includes $45 billion for new immigration detention centers, including family detention facilities — a vast increase that will primarily benefit private companies contracted to build and run them.

7. It takes from the poor to give to the rich.

The bill’s tax policies will overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest households. A Yale analysis of the bill’s combined tax and spending policies finds that the poorest 20 percent of households will suffer a net income loss of $700 per year on average, while the top 1 percent will get a $30,000 increase.

8. Corporations will take the spoils for themselves.

The budget keeps the corporate tax rate at 21 percent, a drastic reduction from the 35 percent rate from before the first Trump tax cuts in 2018 — despite the fact that ordinary workers have not benefited from this rate reduction.

9. It rewards polluters while raising energy costs.

The budget also includes more than $1 billion in new tax breaks and subsidies for the fossil fuel industry, accelerating climate change while costing taxpayers. It also allows oil and gas companies to avoid paying fees for polluting methane leaks, a major cause of climate change.

Meanwhile, cuts to clean energy subsidies could raise household energy bills by $415 a year over the next decade.

Photo: Dariusz Sankowski/Pixabay

The Big Beautiful Bill gives the Pentagon billions of dollars to spend with private contractors.

10. It funds war and enriches war profiteers.

The bill gives the Pentagon a $150 billion boost, bringing overall Pentagon spending to over $1 trillion — a record high. That includes $25 billion for the “Golden Dome,” a missile defense system that’s economically and physically impossible but would enrich wealthy Pentagon contractors like Elon Musk.

Instead, Congress should harness America’s abundant wealth to create a moral economy that works for all of us. By fairly taxing the wealthy and big corporations, reducing our bloated military budget, and de-militarizing immigration policy, we could free up more than enough public funds to ensure we can all survive and thrive.

We have no excuse for not investing our national resources in ways that reflect our Constitutional values: to establish justice, domestic tranquility, real security, and the general welfare for all.

Sarah Anderson directs the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies. Lindsay Koshgarian directs the IPS National Priorities Project. They produced a longer version of this analysis for Repairers of the Breach. This version was distributed by OtherWords.org.