Although a recent study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics found that public institutions outmatch their private counterparts when it comes to ROTC, Georgetown University’s own Army ROTC is thriving.

The report, which is entitled “Services and Support Programs for Military Service Members and Veterans at Postsecondary Institutions,” is based on survey responses from more than 1400 two- and four-year colleges. The study claims to be the first nationally representative data on the subject and has raised questions about ROTC and veteran programs at schools across the country.

Georgetown ROTC is a member of The Hoya Battalion, which also includes The George Washington University, American University and The Catholic University of America. According to Lieutenant Colonel Michael Donahue, who oversees The Hoya Battalion, many of the national differences in funding depend on the size of the training staff, or cadre, in each university’s ROTC program.

“The Army funds every ROTC program most directly through the number of cadre assigned to the school, and that’s dependent upon the number of cadets,” Donahue said.

According to Donahue, Georgetown’s high production of cadets allows its ROTC program to receive more funding than most state schools — providing its cadets with more resources.

A school’s ROTC training budget is partly determined by its commission quota, or its ability to produce a required number of cadets at a specific level of performance. Although certain programs do not meet these standards and receive less funding by consequence, Georgetown still overproduces cadets each year. This has resulted in the program’s increased selectivity and funding.

The amount of money that the battalion receives from the Army, however, varies annually because it is dependent on the budget allocated by the Department of Defense. The battalion primarily uses these funds to conduct training and to pay equipment and uniforms costs.

The Army also funds cadet scholarships, which vary according to tuition costs. According to Cadet Noah Taylor (SFS ’17), state schools have lower tuition costs and therefore attract more cadets, which results in more funding for their ROTC programs.

“Tuition at the public and state schools is cheaper, so they want to delegate their resources to maximizing the number of cadets they can process,” Taylor said. “The incentive the state tries to make to keep top students in the state is to have lower tuition for in-state scholars. The Army is emphasizing an enticement in the form of more scholarships for in-state tuition for veterans and ROTC cadets in in-state schools.”

Taylor is one of 91 cadets in the 143-person battalion who are on scholarship. According to Alex Klock, a junior at the University of Connecticut, UConn’s 160-person Nathan Hall Battalion only has four cadets from each grade who are on scholarship.

Georgetown ROTC also touts a mentorship program: Seniors meet with cadets to discuss their adjustment to ROTC as well as Georgetown academics.

“We’ve had instances where the chain of command has come forward and raised to the cadre’s awareness that a cadet seems to be struggling,” Donahue said. “That’s been a huge help for us because we can talk to them, and we direct them to where they can get resources.”

This caring-for-the-whole-person initiative has had tangible results. According to physical and written evaluations given to rising seniors each summer, The Hoya Battalion overachieves compared to other programs nationwide.

“Georgetown has fallen above the average year after year,” Donahue said. “Our average cadet outperforms the average cadet in the country.”