Bugsmasher
Another Non-qual SWO Ensign
The educational background preferences probably extend from the manning requirements the Navy needs at the time. I continuously hear how desperate the Navy is for nuke-types, for which the "Tier 1" majors listed in that XLS are preferred. Meanwhile, there is plenty of demand for pilots and FOs for which, as you said, a variety of educational backgrounds is fine and even encouraged.
I'd venture a guess that rating the majors for scholarships is just another way to funnel money towards potential nukes, only this time through ROTC instead of NUPOC/OCS (with the signing bonus). As an engineer myself, I don't have a problem financially rewarding those who choose to go through a more challenging program in college, especially if the Navy requires people with those backgrounds. I don't know how the numbers work out in terms of scholarship vs. non-scholarship ROTC mids, but expecting 85% of the scholarships to go to hardcore engineering majors is probably excessive. Having a technical background should be a boost, but not having one shouldn't be a dealbreaker.
I'd venture a guess that rating the majors for scholarships is just another way to funnel money towards potential nukes, only this time through ROTC instead of NUPOC/OCS (with the signing bonus). As an engineer myself, I don't have a problem financially rewarding those who choose to go through a more challenging program in college, especially if the Navy requires people with those backgrounds. I don't know how the numbers work out in terms of scholarship vs. non-scholarship ROTC mids, but expecting 85% of the scholarships to go to hardcore engineering majors is probably excessive. Having a technical background should be a boost, but not having one shouldn't be a dealbreaker.
