The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

So I want to centralize this discussion, has anyone heard anything about paying the government back? For anyone who has quit part way through phase II, have you had any taxes taken as repayment?

I know it was previously stated that the service secretaries have to submit our stuff to DFAS, and that means there are three government agencies involved, which means this is going to be slow. I am trying to prep to leave and just want to know whats out there, and see if we can get a lot of info on one topic.

Are you saying you are trying to get out of your contract and avoid doing your part after they paid for your schooling and fulfilled theirs? I don't get that, honestly. If that's what you are asking about, it's not honorable.

guest wrote:Are you saying you are trying to get out of your contract and avoid doing your part after they paid for your schooling and fulfilled theirs? I don't get that, honestly. If that's what you are asking about, it's not honorable.

I'm not the OP, but I too would like to know if payback has started for anyone. I've been lied to about pay, benefits, and advancement and my career has been set back by the scholarship. Just take a look at these message boards and you'll see that this is a common thread among us.

guest wrote:Are you saying you are trying to get out of your contract and avoid doing your part after they paid for your schooling and fulfilled theirs? I don't get that, honestly. If that's what you are asking about, it's not honorable.

I signed up with the understanding I would be given technical work, the most technical thing I have done is watch contractors work on a server as I babysat them as our government rep. My brain is rotting, my boss is shady, and I was told that technical work was for junior engineers... I have been here less than a year, how junior should I be to get tech work?
Contracts have opt out clauses, that's how they work, if you get married to someone who abuses you, you get a divorce, and I want to divorce the DoD. But, SMART keeps changing the wording on its divorce clause, and I would like to know what's really happening to other abused SMARTs.
I know that the government pissed a bunch of money away on me, and a lot of people like me and no one is putting us to use. I would like to do the honorable and ethical thing and give it back and get the hell out of my miserable base.

I take it no one has still started pay back yet? Anybody have any idea what repayment terms might possibly look like? Is there any precedent to gauge expectations by?

I want to see if anyone has heard any updates on this topic?
Even rumors, whispers, or hearsay will do.
Is SMART even able to accept a lump sum payment ? (e.g. If some company wishes to buy us out?)

I've heard it would effectively take an act of congress to fix the problem. I don't know if this is strictly true, but the fact is that the program was not created with the authority to seek reimbursement.

It's not up to the SMART staff to fix this, it's more like the DOD has to decide to let them, which requires political coordination.

I am also considering quitting in phase 2. All we do is documentation. I took this scholarship understanding that we would work as engineers in a DOD lab. Nothing technical and I'm starting to lose my mind. I would wade it out, but I'm just miserable. I'm willing to pay back the government.

Has anyone quit in phase 2? What happens, if anything? How do the taxes I paid on my stipend get factored in to the pay back?

guest wrote:Are you saying you are trying to get out of your contract and avoid doing your part after they paid for your schooling and fulfilled theirs? I don't get that, honestly. If that's what you are asking about, it's not honorable.

Buying out of a contract is not dishonorable, it's central to the capitalistic, pursuit of happiness, ideals of the United States. Tell me what is honarble about collecting salary while doing virtually nothing useful for our country ? Especially after having received cutting edge, specialized training. I'm not saying every government employee is useless, and I'm not saying everyone in industry is productive, but if you find yourself in a situation where you aren't making full use of your skills then by all means try to be useful and contribute to society and this country! That's honorable, blindly wasting your life to fulfill a beurocratic requirement is not.