Green to Gold offers enlisted Soldiers with two years of service an opportunity to attend college and participate in an ROTC program to become a commissioned officer. Soldiers can choose to leave active duty to attend college and be eligible for scholarships or stay on active duty to take advantage of their military benefits.

Capt. ZoÎy Jackson, the scholarship and enrollment officer for the Georgetown University Army ROTC program, is the Green to Gold guru for the National Capital Region. In addition to Georgetown, she represents the Army Cadet Command at George Washington University, American University, Catholic University and the Institute for World Politics.

‘‘With all of the options [in the Green to Gold program], you have to be accepted before you apply for the Green to Gold program,” Jackson warned.

Soldiers generally have to start the application process at least a year before they plan to start school, because of the stringent requirements of schools and the Green to Gold program itself.

The deadline for a Soldier to apply for Green to Gold, starting in the fall semester, is April 1. At most high-priced schools, like the ones in the D.C. area, if a Soldier doesn’t apply as soon as possible and request ‘‘early action” (an expedited notification of acceptance), they’ll miss that deadline, Jackson said.

The program has three different options Soldiers can choose from, each with its own benefits and requirements: the Active Duty Option, the Scholarship Option and the Non-Scholarship Option.

The Active Duty Option is a two-year program that offers Soldiers a chance to retain their active duty status and the associated benefits (for example, housing, subsistence allowances, G.I. Bill, tuition assistance and salary) while finishing a degree. Soldiers pursuing this option must have at least 60 college credits (junior status) before enrollment.

‘‘This option is ideal for enlisted Soldiers who have dependents,” said Jackson.

The Scholarship Option awards two, three and four-year scholarships to Soldiers to attend school. The scholarship length is chosen based on credits previously earned (a Soldier with a year of school will be considered for the three-year scholarship. If the Soldier doesn’t have any college credits, he needs to have at least a 19 on the ACT or a 920 on the SAT.

In this option, the Soldier is granted an honorable early discharge in order to attend ROTC and earn a commission. Scholarship winners receive tuition or room and board support, money for textbooks and supplies, a monthly stipend (from $350 as a freshman to $500 as a senior), pay for attending the Leader Development and Assessment Course between junior and senior years, G.I. Bill benefits if eligible and eligibility for other incentives offered by certain schools.

‘‘The benefit of this option is, at the end of the program, they can join the Army Reserve or National Guard [rather than stay on active duty],” Jackson explained.

In order to be eligible for this option, the Soldier has to be less than 31 years of age on December 31 the year they’ll graduate. They must have two years of active duty service as well as three months of active duty for every one month of specialized training. The Soldier also needs a GT score of 110 or greater, score a minimum of 60 points in each APFT event in the 6 months before enrollment, a high school or college GPA of at least 2.5 on a 4.0 scale, and be eligible to reenlist.

The Non-Scholarship Option is available to any enlisted Soldier with two years of service. The Soldier is eligible for G.I. Bill money and the same monthly stipend as scholarship winners, but they also have the option to participate in the Simultaneous Membership Program Army Reserve or National Guard as an ROTC cadet. Under the SMP, the Soldier can collect Reserve Component pay (E-5) as well as any other state or school benefits offered to Reserve and National Guard Soldiers.

Like the Scholarship Option, this program grants the Soldier an honorable early discharge. The requirements for this program include being accepted as an academic junior with a cumulative GPA of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale.

After graduating and being commissioned, Soldiers are obligated to serve in the military for eight years — at least four years on active duty for scholarship winners, at least three years on active duty for non-scholarship students and a full eight years on active duty for those taking the Active Duty Option.

Last year, Green to Gold received 346 qualified applications. Of those 346, 75 were awarded four-year scholarships, 25 were offered three-year scholarships, 10 were offered two-year scholarships, 200 took the two-year Active Duty Option and 36 entered the program without a scholarship. All of the scholarships are conditionally awarded, pending the Soldier meeting eligibility requirements to be discharged and contracted into ROTC.

For more information on the Green to Gold program, contact Jackson at (202) 687-7008, or contact Shelley Caywood at the Fort Myer Education Center, (703) 696-1579.