Salaries for federal workers across the country were impacted by the recently resolved government shutdown, but the lapse in appropriations did not reach ROTC students at Notre Dame, whose stipends were unaffected during the shutdown.
Limited changes in training
Lt. Col. William Kobbe, a professor of military science at the University of Notre Dame working with the Army ROTC program, described his perception of the shutdown’s impact.
“There has been little to no impact on their day-to-day leadership development experience. This is our number one mission, to recruit, educate, develop and inspire senior ROTC cadets in order to commission officers of character for the total Army,” Kobbe said.
Echoing the same perspective that the shutdown did not significantly impact ROTC programs, Lt. Col. James Delongchamp, director of public affairs for the U.S. Army Cadet Command, confirmed in a statement to The Observer after the reopening of the government that “Senior ROTC cadet life does not change drastically during a lapse in appropriations, but programs continue to train cadets with all resources available to commission future Army officers of character,” he wrote.
Benjamin Nickerson, Naval Service Training Command public affairs officer, confirmed that this was true for naval cadets as well. “There was no interruption to training during the shutdown. Naval Science Instructors are active-duty service members assigned to universities, and they continue to train Midshipmen for the duration of the lapse in appropriations,” Nickerson wrote.
Rachael Parks, a captain of the U.S. Air Force and public affairs officer, elaborated on the smaller ways in which the shutdown did impact ROTC programs.
“The lapse in appropriations impacted Air Force ROTC much like the rest of the Department of War. Some extracurricular activities were postponed, but routinely scheduled military training and academic classes progressed like usual. No matter where our nation is in the decision-making process around budget or policy, our program continues to develop leaders of character,” Parks wrote.
An ROTC student granted anonymity after ROTC students were asked by ROTC leadership not to speak to The Observer said that Notre Dame’s ROTC students were not permitted to do “open facing events” during the shutdown. The student noted that this impacted color guard and football game flyovers and also caused the cancellation of several guest speakers.
This was confirmed by Parks, who wrote, “If cadets have planned extracurricular activities that include community engagement, those activities may be limited.”
Effect on employees
According to Delongchamp, civilian employees working for senior ROTC programs were furloughed as of Oct. 1, 2025 until the government reopened.
Each ROTC program keeps a list of employees who are not required to work when furloughed, Delongchamp said, but noted that group is a minority of employees. He said those required to work fell on the training and development side of operations while those exempt from working were largely responsible for administrative and recruitment responsibilities.
Within Army ROTC at Notre Dame, The Observer confirmed that at least recruiting operations officer Christopher Pratt and administrative specialist Connie Pearson were furloughed.
Despite a Notre Dame Army ROTC recruiting officer being furloughed, Kobbe said recruiting has not been affected.
“There has been no change. Right now, the first board for national scholarships is occurring this week as normal. We have done mission analysis to ensure that there is no impact to our candidates,” said Kobbe.
Parks explained that Air Force ROTC is run by “cadre of active-duty officers and enlisted personnel.”
Air Force cadre, who are paid by the Defense Department, worked during the government shutdown and were paid as normal, according to Parks. Air Force civilian personnel are paid by the University and thus were unaffected during the shutdown.
Student stipends
Student stipends did not seem to have been impacted during the shutdown. Delongchamp, Kobbe, Nickerson, and an anonymous student confirmed to The Observer that Notre Dame ROTC students continued to receive stipends during the lapse in appropriations.
However, some Air Force ROTC students’ stipends were delayed.
“Some students experienced minor delays in their stipend payment, but monthly stipends were distributed during the lapse,” Parks said.
Tuition delays
ROTC tuition payments to the University were delayed as a result of the shutdown.
Regarding the shutdown’s impact on tuition, senior assistant provost Jim Frabutt explained that the specifics come down to ROTC leadership and the Office of Student Accounts, but said ROTC students would not be punished for their tuition not coming in on time.
“We will not let their schedules or their enrollment or their registration be impacted, and we will sort it out when it is able to be sorted out,” Frabutt said.
Gene Pilawski, senior director of the Office of Student Accounts, explained that ROTC scholarships internally function in much the same way as any other scholarship that a student would receive from an outside organization.
Pilawski explained that the scholarship delays are minimal at this time.
“Historically it has been either October or November when ROTC funds have been received, so for us to be waiting at this point, the government shutdown is just prolonging that a little bit more. We are not holding families responsible for or asking them to pay anything that the government ROTC branches are going to be covering at a later point. We are giving families all the assurances to say we do not want you to pay that,” Pilawski said.
He reaffirmed that the funds are still expected to arrive, even if a little late.
"The branches have reached out to us and basically said, ‘The money is coming.’ They have said we should be expecting payments within two to four weeks after the government shutdown has been resolved” Pilawski explained.
